4 Must-Haves for Every Mom Blog

With all the conferences, articles, podcasts, and radio shows dedicated to helping you make your mom blog better I thought I would add to the discussion again this week with four things I strongly believe every mom should have on her blog. All of these bloggy must-haves are pretty simple, but they’re so crucial you want to make sure you have your bases covered.

Contact Information:  You wouldn’t believe how often I search for moms when I have an opportunity to present and I can’t find contact information. If it’s frustrating to me and I am a mom blogger and don’t mind digging around on your blog, think how frustrating it is to a marketer or PR person who wants to contact you. If you don’t ever want to be contacted and you have purposefully omitted your email address, that’s one thing. But if you want any and all opportunities to come your way make sure that you place your email address where everyone can see it. Place it either on your blog’s homepage, on a dedicated contact page, or on your about page. Heck, put it on all three!

Domain Name: Do you know what a PR rep asked me one day? She asked if it’s worth it to even approach mom bloggers who haven’t purchased a domain name. It all depends on the blog, right? All mom blogs are different. But if PR people are starting to find subtle clues that differentiate “serious” mom bloggers from “less-than-serious” mom bloggers, it’s best to buy your domain name and appear professional to those who are looking.

Link to Twitter: Increasingly Twitter is becoming a strong indicator of how influential mom bloggers are. Be sure to share your twitter feed somewhere on your blog. Most PR people know to follow your feed and find your Twitter page and follower numbers. Or, you can make it easy for everyone and simply post your TwitterCounter badge on your blog.

Review and Disclosure Policy: Many savvy mom bloggers and marketers have stressed the importance of having a review and disclosure policy on your blog. The disclosure helps inform your readers what they can expect from you as a blogger and product reviewer. And your review policy will inform PR reps what they can expect from you when they send you a product or if they are inquiring about sending you a product for review. If you don’t return products that you’ve reviewed make sure to clearly state that in your review policy. Or, if you only review products in a certain niche like beauty or babies, be sure to state that as well. Elizabeth Edwards at Mom Reviews does a stellar job of placing her review and disclosure policies where everyone can see them. She’s a great example to follow.