Web Blogs, Defined, Explained and Understood

What are Blogs?

Having heard the term previously but not having paid much attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the term blog does not conjure pleasant images.

Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about people's personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be.

Where Did Blogs Come From?

The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid 1990's. Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear, as the art of blogging did not really take hold until 1999. The original "weblogs" were link-driven sites with personal commentaries. The very first blogs were human guided Internet web tours. While initially thought of as diaries or online journals, blogs have evolved into the latest fresh web content.

The Future of Blogs

A buzz word in techie circles, "blogging" is the wave of the future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be a new way to communicate with existing and potential customers it deserves at the very least a cursory look.

Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals?

Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is the trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not beneficial to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep fresh, attractive content on their websites to lure visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content is a necessity for online businesses, both for purposes of being found by search engines but also because it gives visitors a reason to come back.

Now that we have established that blogs are not only trendy but also beneficial to businesses, its important to understand how they can be used to your advantage. We currently manage and update two blogs on a daily basis. The first is our new business blog at:

http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm

This professional business blog allows us the opportunity to tell potential, or existing customers industry news, updates, or generally how mobile or paging software can be used in specific situations to alleviate problems. The bottom line is we control the content. Its updated daily, which increases the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis and it helps with page rank because it's been submitted to all the blogging directories. Initially started on a whim we've found it beneficial to report tips, tricks or make visitors aware of new regulations related to the mobile or paging industry.

The second blog we manage is at:

http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html

This blog is less formal and contains marketing tips, or promotional advice for software developers or online marketers. We found that we had overflow from our monthly newsletter. Generating a daily blog would require very little effort and would assist us in creating fresh content which our readers told us was of significant interest.

Blogs & Your Business

The bottom line is you need to determine how a blog will benefit your business, determine a schedule and adhere to it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect it. Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct attention to areas of your business that you want to showcase; you direct the content but let your readers guide you.

Creating a Blog

There are numerous online tools that can be used to create a blog. We found that because of security concerns, it would just be best to use a standard html program. In our case we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really not much more complicated than typing an email. The content is then sent via FTP to a web server. If you want to test the waters there are online web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly. The most popular web based tool is likely Blogger http://www.blogger.com.

Other Advantages to Blogs

While you may initially create a blog for your existing customers, you may find that you can attract new customers by illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There are numerous websites that act as "blog search engines", be sure to submit your sites to these websites to increase your exposure. This will also help with your page rank and possibly increase the likelihood you will receive decent ranking with Google. You can also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content and gain additional exposure.

Starting Your Own Blog

I was sitting in my local Internet Cafe yesterday, I like to get away from my "home office" from time to time and it's a great place to go for a cup of Espresso and to meet interesting people.

The rather attractive lady sitting next to me was typing away furiously and, when she had finished, I asked her what she was writing - I'm interested in learning how other people use the Internet... some people call that being nosey!

It turns out she was a "Blogger" and she was updating her web site through a web browser. She was really interested in vegetarian cookery and she was adding a new restaurant review to her blog.

If you spend any time at all online these days you simply can't avoid reading something about blogs, they are becoming increasingly more popular; and they are a great way of building an online presence without the need for any technical knowledge. A blog is an abbreviation of the term 'web log' which is a relatively simple content management system.

Quite a few years ago, web surfers began collecting information and interesting links that they encountered during their online travels. As time passed they started to create logs of the information that they collected and they soon started to develop their own web logs. These web logs enabled them to update the information and links as often as they wished.

Blogs are more permanent than posts to an online forum or to a discussion list, they are much more dynamic than the traditional style home pages. They are also more personal than standard journaling, and definitely more public than diaries. A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary site. So, there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.

There are a few common characteristics of a blog, but there may be slight variations within the classification. Some blogs provide succinct descriptions of links within the chosen theme of the blog. Some others contain commentary and links to the news of the day. A few are endless stream of blurts about the writer's day. Others are - political blogs, intellectual blogs, some are hilarious and some topic driven. They are all - Weblogs.

As mentioned earlier, blogs are posts that are short, informal and sometimes deeply personal no matter what the topic of discussion is. They can be characterized by their conversational tone.

If a person has a web presence but is disappointed with static homepage - if an elegant treatment of posts on a global platform is what they want, then 'blogging' provides an ideal platform. They may also consider blogging if they are seeking feedback from their chosen audience.

Weblogs are definitely the mavericks of the online world. Two of their greatest strengths are their ability to filter and disseminate information to a widely dispersed audience, and their position outside the mainstream of mass media.

There are many different options available to the new and seasoned blogger alike. Some blog scripts are available for you to install on your own domain and these require at least a basic understanding of FTP and HTML. There are many hosted blog services available some free and some paid. If you are serious about blogging then I would strongly recommend that you use the best system that you can afford and that meets your needs.

I personally have used the "Moveable Type" stand-alone script and although quite complex to install, I found it very easy to use. My recommended choice of hosted blogging service would have to be the Blog4Cash.com system that includes a wide variety of high quality features and has a built in two tier affiliate scheme that enables you to generate a recurring income from all your referrals!

How to Write A Blog... And Survive

The question of the day is "Should you start a Blog?"

People all over the planet are blogging. Companies, CEOs, lawyers, journalists, stewardesses. Even dogs and babies.

Why? Because they can. It's that simple.

Blogging requires little or no learning curve. If you can type, speak into a phone, bark, chew, record a holiday movie, you can blog.

Blogs have taken publishing out of the domain of those who know HTML and designing, to make this powerful tool available to the rest of us.

That holiday in the Far East, your grandma's birthday, you company's latest product offering, your new recipe for rum cake, your daughter's first step, your pet's antics, what you thought of the Garfield movie - you can blog all this and more.

A blog is an online journal or diary. Which makes it ideal for voicing your opinion, recording your pregnancy blahs or announcing your company's latest acquisition.

People are using them to communicate with family, for education, for business, and almost anything else you can think of.

But one thing not all blogs get is a readership.

Unless your blog is only for your family or your business colleagues, you're probably writing with the hope that someone will read about what you think.

So many blogs are started with little or no purpose. If you want to blog and survive, first start by answering your why.

If you're writing only for the search engine spiders, then be prepared for no one but them to read your keyword-rich spam.

Blogs demand a readership. And for that you have to write about something worth reading.

Here are some tips to follow if you want human beings to read your blogs.

1. Stay on topic

Opinions are fine, but unless you're the CEO of Microsoft, very few people will want to know what you ate for breakfast. If you started your blog to air your raves and rants about the latest movie you saw, better mention movies in at least every post you write.

2. Write in a conversational tone

Forget what your English professor taught you. Write the way you speak, or you'll end up sounding uptight and unnatural. And no one reads tightass copy... even from the CEO of Microsoft.

3. Be opinionated

Your blog is not a company brochure or a press release, but a way for people a.k.a. your target audience, to get to know the real you. The worst sin you can commmit is to bore your readers. Most people respond better to an honest airing of views than pleasant platitudes. And if you get a few rude or nasty comments in response to your posts, just accept the fact that you can't please everyone

4. Be funny

Infuse your posts with your natural wit for a better response from your target audience. And if not everyone appreciates your particular brand of humor, read the last sentence in the point above.

4. Stay informed

If you're writing about your profession, you'd better know what you are talking about. Word spreads at the speed of thought in the blogospere and if you're trying to become an authority on something you know very little of, prepare yourself for the brickbats.

5. Stay current

Write about the latest developments in your field. No one wants to read stuff that has been around for a long time, or that hundreds of other bloggers have chronicled.

6. Update frequently, but don't burnout

Most blogs die because of blogger burnout - bloggers trying to update too frequently. Stick to a publishing schedule that is humanly possible for you. If you've just updated your blog and find a story you want to share, save it for later.

On the other hand, don't post just because you think you have to stick to a schedule. Going a few days or even weeks without posting is fine if you really have nothing worth sharing.

So are you still wondering if you should blog?

If you think you can meet the requirements above, and know your why, then like the shoe people say - just do it.

Resistance is futile.

Blogger Secrets: Things You Probably Didn't Know

Blogging is a pretty popular activity online these days. It's a great way to connect with your audience on the Web and create a sense of community.

There are many ways to start your own weblog but one of the easiest is with a free service called "Blogger." Owned by Google, it's a feature-rich service that makes it simple to start a blog of your own.

If you think blogging is just about typing text, think again. There are many fun things you can do once you're up and running withyour very own blog.

1) Photo Blogging:
Post photos to your weblog with this free software called "Hello." Get it at http://hello.com. It makes it easy to upload photos to your blog.

2) Audio Blogging:
Post to your blog by phone. Once registered, you'll receive a special number. Call it, leave a message and it's immediately posted to your website as an MP3 audio file. To sign up, go to http://www.AudioBlogger.com

3) Email Posting:
Post to your blog by sending an email from any email application. To set it up, you'll need to log into your blogger account and go to "settings" then "email." You must specify if you want your posts to publish automatically or saved as drafts for later publishing. The subject of your email will be the title of your blog post, with the email body making up the rest of it.

4) Team Blogs:
This allows groups of people to contribute to one blog. One person must create the blog, then invite others to join in.

5) Templates:
Blogger has over 30 templates to choose from. Make sure you back up your blog before attempting any changes. There are also third party template providers you can choose designs from. See:
http://BlogSkins.com
http://BlogDesigns.com

6) Blogger Toolbars:
Google has one built into its toolbar that makes it a snap to post to your site while visiting any webpage you might want to comment on. Firefox also has a toolbar of its own with blogging components. See it at http://FireFoxToolbar.com/blogger or Google's at http://toolbar.google.com/

7) Feeds:
Blogger users can syndicate their content via an Atom Feed. Former Blogger Pro suscribers can choose between Atom and RSS formats. You can find this feature in your Blogging account under "settings," then "site feed." If you'd rather syndicate in RSS, your only choice is to use an outside service like http://FeedBurner.com

8) Comments:
If you'd like your readers to participate on your Blog, you'll want to turn on "comments." Found under "settings," you can choose from preferences like allowing anyone to post a comment, allowing only regular users to post comments, or allowing only members of the blog to post (if it's a team blog).

9) TagBoards:
Different from comments, TagBoards also allow your blog readers to post comments. These act more like a discussion board or chat room for your blog. However, they're not aimed at individual posts but attached to your entire site. You'll find free providers of this service at:
http://Tag-Board.com
http://ChatterBox.com

This is a great way to add a feeling of community.

10) PhotoBlogs:
If you'd like to share a lot of photos with your readers on a regular basis you may want to add a "photo album." You'll find many sites that offer this free service such as:
http://Shutterfly.com
http://Ofoto.com
http://DotPhoto.com

11) Polls:
Do you know what your readers think? Running polls on your site is a great way to get inside your readers minds and get them involved with your blog. A few free poll service providers are:
http://FreePolls.com
http://PollHost.com
http://BraveNet.com
http://WebPollCentral.com

12) Advertising:
If you'd like to run ads on your blog and get paid per click, you'll want to look at Google Adsense. Since Google owns Blogger too, they make it simple to add their advertising to your site. See http://tinyurl.com/3j3k8

13) Camera Phones:
If you have a SrintPCS cell phone with a built in camera you can send your pictures directly to Blogger. You'll need to set up an "email address" to post to. For instructions, see Blogger's Help section on "posting via email." On your phone it works like this: you snap a picture, select "share," pick your specific blogging email address, then ok. Your picture is uploaded.

14) Keyboard Shortcuts:
Blogger has many different keyboard shortcuts you can use while making a post.

cntrl + B= Bold
cntrl + I= Italics
cntrl + shift + A= Link
cntrl + d= Save as draft
cntrl + s= Publish Post
cntrl + shift + P = Preview

15) FTP:
You can host your blog on Blogger's server, or host it on your own via FTP access. You'll find this option under "settings" then "publishing."

16) Email Posts to a Friend:
If you'd like to allow your visitors to email your interesting posts to their friends you can enable this feature under "settings," basic tab, then where it says "show email post links?" say yes.

If you'd like to watch some free tutorials on "Learning Blogger," see these by Molly Holzschlng at http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=113

So what are you waiting for? Now that you know all of the really cool things you can do with Blogger, why not experiment. Who knows, maybe there's been a "born Blogger" hiding inside of you all along. Blog away my friend; the world is waiting.

Articles Build Blog Readership

Writing internet articles is a powerful way to add visitor traffic to your blog.

Articles provide tremendous personal and professional benefits as well.

Articles are in demand all over the internet. Many traditional websites want them for additional content, and will seek out the services of a good writer.

If you know your subject matter, you will have no shortage of takers for your writing efforts.

All you have to do is be on topic. In fact, if you want to write articles on almost any subject under the rainbow, all you have to do is contact several of the webmasters in your topic area. They will gladly place your articles prominently on their websites.

The great thing about the articles, is they are usually on subjects, that you write about all the time anyway. You don't need to do extra research, as you already have the knowledge required to a great job, right at your fingertips.

When a website owner publishes your article on the website, be certain to get a live link back to your site. Most website owners will be more than happy to have you provide a brief biography of you, a photograph of your smiling face, and information about your blog and your business.

As you place a number of articles on several websites, you will accomplish more than one goal.

You will obviously receive a few more visitors to your blog, as a result of your incoming link. The extra traffic will be from people who are already interested in your blog's subject matter.

You will establish yourself as an expert in your field, and other people will call upon your ideas and information. The recognition of others, who are interested in the same topics and site themes as yourself, could lead to some paying business in other ways.

The writing credits help to build a writing portfolio, that will serve you well, in the employment market. A series of published articles provides added power to your resume. In a highly competitive job market, the publication history could tip the balance in your favour.

You can also land freelance writing jobs on traditional websites. The ability to write interesting copy, on any topic, is a skill that is constantly in high demand.

Copywriting for sales and marketing, in particular, have an almost unlimited market. Every internet e-commerce website owner, or at least all of the ones that I know, want to increase their overall sales and profits.

If you can write sales and marketing copy, that will increase their sales numbers, you will never be short of writing assignments. You might even have to raise your writing fees.

Your blog will move higher in the search engine rankings. Google in particular, values theme and topic related incoming links. MSN Search and Yahoo also give high marks to incoming links, but to a slightly lesser degree than Google.

In any case, your blog will move higher in the search rankings for your most important keywords, as a result of those links. The end result of higher search engine placement is more visitor traffic for your blog.

Writing articles helps your blog in more ways than one.

It's time to add article writing and sales copywriting to your list of accomplishments.

Blog Wars: Attack Of The Splogs

The search engines, namely Google, are striking back at sploggers and their malevolent creations, the splogs.
According to media reports, Google has taken measures to impede those attempting to use its Blogger service to create and maintain fake blogs.

Blogger's official corporate blog mentioned the "spamalanche" that has search engines, blog search engines and net advertisers in a tizzy. They are now working together to eliminate the economic incentive for splogs by identifying them at their source - by domain - and not indexing them.

Can CAPTCHA Stop The Spamalanche?
The "CAPTCHA" test is a method by which automated programs that post or create blogs can be foiled--where the user is asked to type in a sequence of letters from a line that people can read, but computers can't decipher.

Blogger is currently working on ways to reduce false positives and ensure that once a blog with word verification has been established as legitimate, the blogger will no longer need to solve the CAPTCHA.

Why Create Splogs In The First Place?
Splogs generally fall into one of two categories, notes Mediapost: Link farms, which pack hundreds or even thousands of blogs with gibberish or recycled content, and contain multiple links to a particular Web site, which allow them to game Google's PageRank algorithm, creating artificially high organic search rankings; and spam blogs that simply recycle content with AdSense or other advertising on them in the hopes of making money from errant users clicking on the ads.

Splogs most often get their content by scraping - the process of sending an electronic copying bot to take everything it sees, recreating it on an unlimited number of instant documents, writes Jim Hedger. Literally millions of instant sites have sprung up over the past twelve months, most of which are free-hosted Blogs, containing content scraped out from the original sites.

Why Splogs Are Evil
An article by the Wall Street Journal notes that the splogs are a big source of frustration for several search-engine start-ups that focus on blog searches, such as IceRocket.com LLC, Technorati Inc. and Feedster Inc.

Jim Hedger makes some excellent points about why splogs are a menace to genuine bloggers.

Splogs are content thieves and can cause honest webmasters to get caught up in technical and financial issues by losing search engine listings and advertising revenue
Splogs use up blogging resources, especially those of Blogger and Blogspot
Slogs clog up the search results with crappy and irrelevant sites.
Splogs devalue the legitimate uses of blogs as communications and marketing tools
Splogs might lead future blog readers or users away from the growing blogosphere.
Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer of Intelliseek, a firm that monitors and searches blog content, said that spam blogs make it harder to convince companies to blog.

What Can You Do About Splogs?
It’s not just the engines that are fighting back. There are a few knights in shining armour out there, like Frank Gruber, a blogger in Chicago who became frustrated while encountering splogs in search engines, and recently launched a site called SplogReporter, reports the Wall Street Journal.

SplogReporter lets anyone submit the Web address of a suspected splog. Gruber has created an index to rate how "spammy" a blog is, and is building a database of splogs that he may share with search engines.

Google engineer, Matt Cutts, provided tips on how to report spam to Google on his blog. Use his tips to report spam and do your bit to clean up the blogosphere.

I first wrote about spam-blogs here, and recommended that instead of using blogs for spam, marketers must focus on building content-rich sites and getting high-value links to them.

Don't restrict yourself to just the SEO benefits of blogging. Appreciate the value that blogs can add to your marketing and public relations strategy and use them the way they were meant to be used - as cutting-edge and "cool" tools for communicating with your target audience.