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Blogs |
What
Is A Blog And What Is It Used For?
For many years, blogs were just text-based websites that kept records
of days, quite similar to a captain's log on a ship. Nowadays the word
blog is short for web log, which is a website where fresh content, in
the form of text posts, videos, photos, is presented in a chronological
order.
One of the most important features of blogs is the easy
interaction they provide. Blogs give your readers a chance, not only to
read and connect with you, but also to comment and discuss the
information that you're sharing. People interested in what you write
will comment on your blog giving you feedback which can eventually
become the basis for more content. Even those who have different
opinions will express their views and are more likely to return to your
site to read updated comments.
If you already have a web site, adding a blog will enhance your web
presence. Providing your readers and customers with fresh content on a
daily, or weekly basis can keep your business running even during lean
months. Blogs also offer small business owners, with little web design
knowledge, and small budgets the opportunity to establish a
professional web presence at a much lower cost. A completely customized
blog design and installation is much less expensive than a traditional
html or flash website design.
Blogs have become an important traffic generation tool for marketers
and companies. It's possibly the easier and most efficient way to
create and maintain connections with staff, customers, colleagues and
peers, and best of all, to ensure consistent indexing and listings in
search engines.
What
is a blogging platform?
To set up a blog you will need a blogging platform. A blogging platform
is a computer software program that allows you to write posts and to
update your blog in a very simple and efficient manner.
There is a large variety of blogging platforms to help individuals and
businesses establish and run their own blogs. Some blogging platforms
are on sites totally dedicated to blogging while others are part of
social networking and content management programs. The two most well
known blogging platforms are:
Blogger:
https://www.blogger.com
- Blogger is owned by Google, and is so easy to use that even a
completely unexperienced, non tech savvy person is capable of setting
up a blog in minutes. With Blogger you can archive your blog on your
own site, with all the benefits of self hosting but with none of the
update headaches. Blogger blogs can be set up under your own domain
name or use a sub-domain created at Blogger
(yourblogname.blogspot.com).
Blogger doesn't use plugins like
Wordpress, but does let you use your own theme, within certain limits.
A huge community has been built around Blogger, but unlike
Wordpress.com it allows commercial based blogs as well as non
commercial. Blogger is definitely a great option despite being less
flexible than either version of Wordpress hosted blogs.
Wordpress:
http://wordpress.org
- You have two options with Wordpress blogs: Wordpress hosted and self
hosted.
Getting a Wordpress hosted (at http://wordpress.com) is very similar to
hosting it yourself, without actually needing to take care of any
installation. Its disadvantages, like with Blogger, include being at
the mercy of a third party site.
Hosted Wordpress blogs only offer the very basics of Wordpress
blogging: they offer a choice of themes and plugins but you can't
design your own theme or select a specific theme unless it's already
installed on the site. The same applies to plugins. Also it is
important to know that Wordpress hosted services do not allow its use
for commercial purposes.
For anyone that is serious about blogging, a self hosted
Wordpress is by far one of the most popular options. You can
install your blog anywhere on your site, and it is completely within
your control, which means you can choose what you would like to have
running – an important feature if you are looking to add the ability to
do things like email information to people, or run polls. Or
your own advertising in some cases.
By far and away, the easiest way to install Wordpress is via Fantastico
– most cpanel hosts offer both Fantastico and the ability to install up
to date Wordpress. However, according to experts, there are some
security issues with Fantastico wordpress installation.
Other
blogging platforms are:
Livejournal: http://www.livejournal.com
Drupal: http://www.drupal.org
Joomla: http://www.joomla.org
Type Pad: http://www.typepad.com
The
basic steps to starting a blog
1.
Topic
- The first and most important
step is to define what you are
going to blog about. Blogs are designed around a theme – and the more
focused your theme, the more likely you'll attract interested people.
Avoid the most common new bloggers' mistake: lack of a clearly defined
topic.
You can choose your topic considering your hobbies, a specific
skill or expertise you have, or the type of business you're running.
Once you have defined that, you should build a list of keywords around
it and try to include some of them in every post. Keep your posts as
focused as possible on the overall topic of your blog.
2.
Configuration - Make sure you have configured everything.
This
includes profile settings, plugins, links, RSS feeds and any other
information that needs to be completed – several plugins and themes
require some work to make them usable.
3.
Content -
Write (or
outsource) some content. Create at least five posts, preferably more,
upload them to your site and set up a publishing schedule. Fresh,
updated and attractive content is fundamental to succeeding in
blogging.
4.
Traffic - Most people think that blogging is just posting
content.
That's simply not true. A Blog needs just as much attention as any
other site when it comes to driving traffic, specially if you want to
make much of an impact. However, driving traffic to your blog can be
fairly simple and will not require much time: a) Ping each of your
posts at ping-o-matic or a similar service; b) Social bookmark your
posts; c) Submit to feed aggregators; d) Post comments on other blogs
with a link to your blog; e) Contact other bloggers in your niche and
propose a link exchange; f) Publish some of your posts on article
directories; g) Use your blog url in your signature line.
Recommended
Reading
Hundreds if not thousands of books, ebooks, tutorials and manuals have
been written about blogs, blogging, blogging methods, blog setup, etc.
Some contain valid, useful information, some release very generic
information in order to upsell you a more expensive product that again
will leave a lot of blanks to be filled.
There are also some excellent blog coaching programs out there,
unfortunately at prices that not everyone can afford to pay.
If you are interested in blogging I have put together a package with
basic to medium training on Wordpress blogs that you can download for
free here.
What you will find inside: A detailed guide on how to set up
and
install a Wordpress blog and plugins, best free and paid plugins,
sources of free
and paid templates, how to drive traffic, 100 WP templates, etc.
Go and download it now. It's been scanned for viruses and it's yours for free.
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