Reading Roundup: What’s New in Blogging Lately?

So much stuff to pack into one weekly roundup here! If you’re thinking about growing your social platforms, or wrestling your inbox to submission, then read on…

Six Marks of Effective Content: The Lego Movie Edition // Copyblogger

Do all your blog posts meet these criteria? If not, then you might find they’re getting lost among the crowded blogosphere.

23 Tools and Tips for Social Media Marketers // Social Media Examiner

If you were listening a few weeks ago, you would have noticed me mention the BuzzSumo Chrome extension and how good it is for calculating tweets of your posts even though tweet shares are not being counted any more. This post recommends you download it for a ton of other cool features, and also give a heads up about Evernote hacks, Facebook security settings, sharing plugins, replay your live streams and more.

Create Coding Magic // Elembee

If you’re still in the beginner stages of coding, like me, then you won’t want to miss this free short video course on basic coding tricks for things like website tweaks and email signup buttons. I learned so much!

How to Spend Less Time on Email: 12 Tips For Keeping Your Inbox Under Control // Hubspot

If your inbox is anything like mine, you’d be desperate to keep it at a level that doesn’t make your brain explode. I like these tips (especially the ruthlessly unsubscribe bit, although I’ve had trouble with unroll.me before), but number 3 is my saviour.

7 Ways to Reach Your Target Market on Facebook // Social Media Today

Not all of these tips will be relevant, but they are useful. I’ve not heard good things about the Facebook business pages though, and plenty of people I’ve talked to would like to change theirs back. Have you had much luck with it?

How Snapchat is Targeting the Over-35 Crowd // LA Times

Because older people is where the money’s at, of course. But is that maybe where your audience is at, too?

The Untold Story Behind Vincent van Gogh’s Success // Jeff Goins

If you’ve hit a wall, or feel like you’re not getting where you should be by now, then read this. Then, read this.

Twitter’s New Rules Explicity Crack Down on “Hateful Conduct” // Mashable

If you were one of the people from last week who agreed with the BBC that the internet has gotten nastier recently, then take heart in knowing that Twitter has announced they will not tolerate “behavior designed to harass, intimidate or silence another user’s voice through fear”.

Case Study: How We Gained More than 100 Links for a Travel Website via Content Marketing // Moz

Jumping on a trend definitely helps. I like how they’ve broken tasks down to make it easier to understand and to replicate. More links: better search results.

The Top 8 Design Trends to Watch This Year // Hubspot

This infographic gives a fantastic visual representation of what’s going to be hot on blogs this year. Do any of them appeal to you? Is it time to give your blog a makeover?

What’s caught your eye this week?

Stacey Roberts is the Managing Editor of ProBlogger.net: a writer, blogger, and full-time word nerd balancing it all with being a stay-at-home mum. She writes about all this and more at Veggie Mama. Chat with her on Twitter @veggie_mama, follow on Pinterest for fun and useful tips, peek behind the curtain on Instagram, or be entertained on Facebook.