Manage Your Avatar So People Can Find Your Blog

As I’ve been reading posts and comments at various WordPress blogs, I’ve found more than a few bloggers whose avatar does not link to their blog site. If you’re one of those people and that’s what you intended, skip the rest of this post and move on to something more interesting.

If you’re reading this thinking what the heck is she talking about?, then maybe you’ll find this useful.

Evey time you leave a comment at a blog site or one of the forums, it leaves your avatar and your public display name along with your comment. If the blog at which you left a comment has the “Recent Comments” widget displayed (as mine does), you may also see your avatar and public display name there as well.

So what, right?

Well, I find the avatars useful as a quick link (public display names provide a link too). I just click on the avatar and like magic, I’m virtually transported to another blog where I can check out their action. Cool!!

I can do that unless the avatar is linked to another web site (not blog site)— or to nothing at all. If you happen to click on one of those avatars, you’ll either get to a web site or an error message such as: “the URL is not valid and cannot be loaded” , or “sorry we couldn’t find that site”, or some other message that lets you know you’re not where you thought you’d be.

And depending on how a blogger sets up their profile, their public display name is not necessarily the same as the blog name (my public display name is Nancy, my blog name is Another Writer’s Space). So, it may be very difficult or impossible for someone to locate them from a comment if their avatar is not linked to their blog site.

Luckily there’s an easy way to check your link—or lack of it, and fix it.

First go to “My Account” in the WordPress menu bar displayed at the top of your blog, and select “Edit Profile”.

Under “Contact Info” you’ll find “Website”. This is where you’ll enter the complete URL to your blog site. (Mine is http://nancyluckhurst.wordpress.com).

If you have a separate web site and want your avatar linked to it instead of to your blog site, enter the web site URL instead. Just remember, doing so may confuse the person who is trying to get to your blog. ( I put a link to my editing services web site on my “About Me” page and also my “Favorite Links” page, so that people who visit my blog can easily get there if they’d like to check that out too).

After you’ve entered your blog site’s complete URL, you’ll need to save your changes. Scroll down to the bottom of the “Edit Profile” page; you’ll find an “update profile” button. If you don’t click on this, none of your changes will be saved and you’ll have to go back and re-enter them.

Finally, go leave a comment somewhere (remember, it’s International Leave A Comment Week!) and check it to make sure the avatar link is functioning. If not, you probably just made a typo, so go back and re-edit your profile.

Posting comments with a linked avatar should start increasing the traffic to your blog. Give it a try.