Why Blogs Appeal to People
What is a blog? A blog is a sort of journal, published on the web. It allows the author to
share his views, thoughts, and insight with the world. It may be used to show off writing
or journalism skills or to share a passion for a particular subject.
Blogs have become a part of the internet technology craze and have become exceedingly
popular. They offer writers freedom of speech with an audience that is world wide. It
gives people a chance to use the world as a sounding board for their emotions, thoughts,
and areas of expertise. They also offer readers the chance to bond with writers who think
similarly to them.
There are also financial benefits to owning and/or writing a blog. Blogging sites can
often be set up with banner ads that provide the blogger with a percentage of profits
generated from that advertisement. Other ads can be set up that pay a blogger a certain
amount for each time a reader clicks on the advertisement from the blog’s page. This is
an easy way to make a little extra money by writing and doing something that you love.
Another advantage to starting your own personal blog is that it gives people a chance to
gain confidence in themselves as writers. When a writer gains a readership, it makes the
writer feel that his work is presentable and can prove to be beneficial to others. It is
always nice to know that what you are doing is good and is being appreciated, especially
when that praise comes from someone that you do not even personally know. Writing
regularly and receiving regular, positive feedback can help to increase a writer’s self
esteem. An increase in self esteem can then in turn also help a writer to actually become
better at the writing itself. As they learn what readers like, the content they produce
becomes more relevant and more applicable to those blog visitors.
A blog can also be used as a way for beginning writers to express themselves without true
fear of rejection. Plenty of people are interested but have never made the leap into the
world of writing because they are afraid of being turned down or rejected by the public.
A blog allows them to write somewhat anonymously (or completely anonymously as they
desire) and not feel overly pressured or limited in that endeavor. No one really knows
who they are, so any negative comments do not necessarily affect them as personally.
They are free to express themselves and their thoughts without consequence. This can
help to strengthen self esteem as well and make them more comfortable with themselves
and with sharing their talents with the world.
Finally, blogs can be used as an amazing avenue for free advertising. Those who have a
limited budget can use blogs to promote products. It actually does not cost a singly
penny to write a blog posting and advertise a product. Readers can also instantly read
blog postings, making profit from the postings occur fairly quickly. It can be an great
marketing tool.
Understanding Blogs
Blog is actually a shortened version of the word “weblog.” The word is used as a noun
referring to the actual weblog and also as a verb meaning “to edit or post to one’s
weblog.”
A very simplified definition of a blog as used today would be as follows:
Blog: a journal displayed over the internet that is updated often and is meant for display
to the public; this journal is most often displayed in reverse chronological order.
There are a number of different types of blogs. Each is slightly different in how it is
written or in the way in which it is delivered to the audience.
Media – includes Vlogs (video blogs), linklogs (link blogs), and photologs (blogs of
photographs).
Device – Some blogs are categorized by the type of program used to compose the blog.
Some are done strictly on computer programs while others are moblogs, or those written
on mobile devices such as phones or PDAs.
Genre – A final descriptive element of the blog is the genre or topic area in which the
blog galls. For example, blogs typically fall into one subject area such as politics, travel,
consumer products, and/or others.
Most blogs have the same general structure, although some will vary slightly. Below is a
typical blog structure:
Title: This is the ‘headline’ for the post.
Body: This is the main content of the post.
Permalink: This is a url that will direct readers to a full length article, if available. This
option is not always used, especially in personal blogs.
Post Date: This tells the date and time of publication.
Comments: These are remarks that are left by readers regarding the post.
Categories (Tags): This is usually a listing of previous articles that are related to the
current article.
Trackbacks (pingback): These are links to other sites that are relevant to the particular
blog entry.
Now that you know what a blog is and how one is set up, how can you create one of your
own? Most blogs that are online today are fairly easy to maintain and do not require the
use of a web developer. They are pretty easy to navigate by any normal computer user.
Web applications can help you to easily create or make changes to your blog and to
promote your site to potential readers.
So what is a web application? It is something that can be used by regular internet users
via a network such as the World Wide Web. They are easy to use and require little
installation and memory space to run. With these applications, bloggers can make
updates from just about anywhere in the world as long as there is internet access. This
allows bloggers to easily maintain their blog without having to host their own server.
Many systems suc as Ecto, Elicit, and Blogger let maintain without even being online at
the time. Users can compose or edit without internet connection and simply connect to
publish the blog. Other applications allow a combination of blog and wiki, called bliki.
Should You Blog For Business
Before you jump on the bandwagon and start your own blog, you should understand what
a blog entails. Otherwise, you will begin writing and then lose interest. If you stop
blogging, then everything you have done up to that point will have been worth little.
How can you determine if a blog will actually benefit your business? You need to know
why people start blogs in the first place. You also need to know how to find the right
topic for you and how to find tools that will help your become an efficient, successful
blogger.
Articles and content are important for attracting and maintaining your client list. This
content can be provided in a variety of forms, and blog is one of the most popular today.
You can use your blog to connect your business to your readers in hopes of drawing
potential customers to your site.
You need to decide how you want to approach your blog. While it can be fun and
therapeutic to talk about your life, it will not necessarily attract many readers unless you
are a celebrity. Most people these days want people to give them advice on how to
become successful or they want information on a certain product or area of interest. Most
readers do not want to read an advertisement that is wrapped up in uninteresting content.
Instead, they need to see how the site owner can relate the product to real life.
Before you start a blog you should ask yourself a few questions. Do you really have
something to say? Do you have the time to devote to updating your blog regularly? Can
you provide information that would be relevant and important to someone else? How
will you use the blog to attract new visitors to your site?
One of the most important of those questions is whether you will have the time to write in
your blog regularly. You should be able to add something almost every day, with a
minimum of five times a week. Most of the blogs that show up in search engines actually
have multiple posts a day. You can read other blogs on similar topics and post a response
to those blogs. It is actually a common practice among bloggers. Cross-blog discussions
give new readers a reason to check out your blog if you post about a blog they read
regularly.
Besides that, you should consider the amount of website traffic you generally get. If you
have very little traffic, it will take more work to get your blog up and going and
successful. However, if you already have a lot of visitors to your site, then your blog will
be more likely to catch on quickly. Just realize that you may not become an overnight
success, but hard work will pay off in the end.
Your main goal with a commercial website is to gain profit. The way to do that is to
attract as many people as possible to your website and to maintain that client list by
enticing them to come back again and again. A blog is not for everyone or for every
business, but it may be exactly what you need!
Making Your Blog Interesting
Every blog is created differently. Many are classy and express a person’s individuality.
It is usually most interesting to read blogs that are more like that. People who take the
time to express themselves always offer something new or offer a new way in which to
view something you might already know. It is not so much about how well a person can
write grammatically as it is how well a person can capture and maintain the interest of
readers through showing a personal passion for a topic. If you have a subject about
which you are passionate, you may be the perfect person to create your own successful
blog.
While using search engine optimization to help potential readers find your blog is
important, it is equally important that you make your blog readable once they arrive at
your site. How can you ensure that your blog will be successful? Consider the following
tips.
First of all, find your niche. Most people have an area in which they are extremely
knowledgeable, if not experts. Choose something that you are both knowledgeable of
and interested in. This will help you to stay focused and current with your postings.
Next, take the time to let your readers know who you are. This does not mean you need
to post all of your personal information, but you need to let readers know where you are
coming from in your writing. A memorable name alone is not enough to maintain a solid
readership. Instead you must prove yourself as a reliable source.
After you have decided what your blog topic will and how to introduce yourself to the
blog-reading world, you need to determine what style you will use. Are you going to use
your blog as a board for story-telling? Do you want to establish yourself as a serious
writer seeking to educate readers on a particular topic? Or do you want a fresh place to
state your personal views in a casual daily forum? Few people are able to mix more than
one style of blog. If readers like your blog written in a certain way, they expect to see a
similarly posted entry the next time they visit.
In deciding the style of your blog, you also need to really focus on saying something that
is valuable. Sure, you could post a daily blog that was no more than an account of
everything you did on that day. But how many readers want to come back to a blog like
that? To make readers interested in what you have to say, you have to say something
important or take a fresh approach to an old story. Make your posting worth something
to someone.
After you start your blog, take care to write regularly. Many new blogs are started every
single day, but few make it after a few weeks. This can happen because writers were not
ready for the responsibility of having a blog and did not prepare adequately for it. If you
plan to make your blog a long term thing, you need to write regularly. While it is best to
write something daily, you can alternate or do two or three days a week. Remember that
you need to show readers that you offer new content often and also help your blog to
show up in search engine rankings as well.
Finally, use links to your advantage. There is nothing wrong with including a link to
another person’s webpage or a story if it adds relevance and reliability to your posting.
This helps your readers to actually gain a greater trust in you. Also link back to your own
previous postings if they relate to your current topic. Finally, include your link in all
email signatures and forum signatures where applicable.
If you take the time to prepare before jumping into a new blog, you are sure to be a
success. Contrary to what many believe, it is not something you can do overnight. It
takes work, but the benefits are worth the wait!
Increasing Website Traffic Through Blogs
It is no secret that blogs can do amazing things for a business. Now we are beginning to
realize just how powerful they are and how they can work to increase traffic to your
website in no time. By implementing some of the strategies below, you can do this
quickly and easily.
What is a blog? It is a place for you to share your thoughts, ideas, and vision to the
world. Reading blogs has become a hobby for many, and they use it to glean information
on various topics. If you can hook in these readers, you could potentially have up to one
million website visitors a day!
First of all, you need to be aware of the template used to create the look of your blog.
Create a large banner to be placed in the center of the top of the page. This shows people
quickly what the blog is about and who is running it. This can be a great hook to catch
people from the first time they view your site.
Choose carefully the look of your site because a person’s initial impression will come
solely from how aesthetically pleasing your blog is. If you do not want to take the time
to create your own template, you can find many templates available online that are free or
cost a very small amount. Use your favorite search engine to find these templates and
look around until you find the one that is perfect for you.
Next, you need to work on content for your site. What is content? Content refers to the
articles or postings that you write and publish on your blog. You can use some sort of
blogging software that will help you in easily creating content and publishing it. You can
also scour the internet for article sites that will provide content at little or no cost and will
allow you to post these on your site. Having relevant content will help your site maintain
a strong readership by always offering them something new and interesting.
Finally, you can use pinging services to help draw people to your website. Pinging
notifies the most popular search engines each time you make a change to your blog. This
helps to move your blog up in the ranks of popular websites, making it higher on the list
of ones which viewers find first. You can find a number of websites that offer pinging
services for free, so look around before selecting one.
There is no way to create a successful blog overnight. It is a combination of hard work
and interesting content. If you will take the time to create a unique template, write strong
content, and use available pinging services, you will have no trouble increasing website
traffic over time. It is important to stay focused and not allow yourself to get discouraged
too quickly. Once you build a readership, you will be able to keep them as long as you
are regular with postings and make sure that the information you provide is relevant.
Creating a Successful Blog
It is almost a necessity for an online business owner to have a blog these days. There are
all types of blogs out there: informative blogs, personal blogs, and marketing jobs, to
name a few. Now businesses have to compete using these blogs to receive a higher
ranking in the search engines.
In order to have a successful blog, you will need to insure that it is well-written. You will
also have to check to make sure it is designed well and that you can update it frequently
and regularly. You need to take the time to research and know your audience before you
start so you can be sure to target them appropriately.
But what if you are not trying to start a blog for business purposes? How can you create
a blog that is successful if you just want to have a blog? There are some tips you can
apply to help insure that your blog will do well.
First of all, select your topic. Since you aren’t using your blog for marketing your
product, you can write about anything that appeals to you. You can use a blog as your
own personal online journal or you can use it as your forum to comment on the news.
Just be sure to choose something you are passionate about, something that you know
well, and something that will allow you a chance to show the world the real you with all
your talents, knowledge, and ideas.
Secondly, write your blog as if you were conversing with a friend. Make your writing
conversational and free from a lot of technical jargon, unless you are directing it only
towards a very specific readership. Post frequently because having more content on your
blog will help more people to find it through search engines.
Use your blog to get your opinions out to the world. You are not moderated and you are
free to express yourself in whatever way you choose. However, do not use your blog to
insult people or try to damage businesses or organizations. Be wise in the decisions you
make regarding your blog usage. Remember that you are influencing people’s views and
they will be evaluating your credibility. If you are offensive, you may lose readership.
Finally, take time to promote your blog. Don’t be afraid to keep the URL for your blog
in the signature line of your emails. You never know when an email might cross the path
of someone who might be interested in what you have to say. If you publish a newsletter,
be sure to promote it there as well. Finally, you can join blog directories and post the link
there or join forums related to your topic and share your link with others.
If you do consider using a blog for business purposes, realize that it needs frequent
updating and good, solid content. Some people consider paying someone to maintain the
content aspect of the blog once it has been created. Many people make extra money
serving as content writers and prove to be beneficial to blog owners.
Build the Benefits of Your Blog
Build the Benefits of Your Blog
Blogging has many benefits, among them more publicity for your business, more hits for your company web site, and a better public image. However, these benefits will not automatically come to every blogger. You must work in order to build these advantages in your blog.
Step One: Make your blog a better publicity machine.
If you want to make your blog a publicity-boosting machine, you will have to make sure that you work at making your blog a marketing tool rather than a personal expression:
•Offer something for the media. Offering free articles that web users can reprint elsewhere and offering media kits can help make it easier for the media and other online users to generate publicity.
•Add pictures and ads to your blog that can promote your company. Small banner ads or promotions can let readers know what you are offering without bogging down your blog with sales copy.
•Do not be afraid to enthuse about your company. You can easily talk about your business without sounding like an annoying salesperson. For example, note the challenges you faced to start a new project or service in your business – this will help sell the new division or service without sounding too pushy.
Step Two: Create more hits
Some experts claim that many new blogs are created each second of the day. The sheer number of blogs makes it unlikely that others will find you unless you encourage hits:
•Link from your website to your blog for easy access. Also, include your blog’s address on your business cards and letterhead, along with your email address and your web site address.
•Offer incentives for reading. Whether it is a blog-readers-only contest with a great prize or a free ebook for blog readers, offering incentives is a great way to generate hits – and to please customers. Plus, you will get a sense from the responses how many readers you have.
•Write and speak about your blog. Whether you are writing an article or giving a speech, you can mention your company blog as a place to get more information about your business.
•Offer a newsletter. Many blog writers offer a newsletter to readers. This newsletter lets readers know when an update has been added – and ensures that the blog stays fresh in readers’ minds. It can also be a good way to keep track of how many readers a blog has and can be a good way to add more value-added content.
•Offer an RSS feed of your blog. Most blog software today does this, and it allows your blog to be “syndicated” in other online areas and often to cell phones, increasing your exposure and creating more readers.
Blog Basics
A blog is sometimes called web log or weblog. It is a type if online journal or diary, often including personal comments as well as web links and images. Many people keep a blog as a type of personal creative exercise, but you can easily use this popular online type of writing to market your business. Blogs are very popular right now and they can be a great and inexpensive way to contact more customers.
The great thing about blogs is that people read them for fun. Customers may be becoming more jaded about advertising, but they will gladly read a blog that has some interesting things to say. Many top companies are using blogs to deliver a better and more personal message about their companies – and the strategy seems to be working.
Starting a Blog
Starting a blog is as simple as finding a space online to write – and the time to write. To begin a blog, first develop a theme idea or blog idea. You may want to look at other people’s blogs to do so. In general, you will want to develop a central theme for your blog in the same way that columnists develop a theme for their articles. This helps ensure that your blog is not too “scattered.”
Next, find some place to publish your blog. There are a number of sites – both paying and free – that give bloggers a chance to publish their material. You may also want to simply set up your blog on your web site, especially if you already have an active web site.
Writing Your Blog
Once you have a place to publish your blog, you will have to set aside some time each week to develop new content. When writing your blog:
•Write simply and clearly. Use small paragraphs and spell check before uploading. Your readers will trust what you have to say if you say it well.
•Go easy on the advertising. The idea of a blog is to give readers something fun and exciting to read and look at. You will have more readers if you comment on the world and are entertaining, rather than just hype your product. Consider writing about your day, the atmosphere your workplace has, and culture, rather than just your company.
•Consider many types of content. Blogs allow you to upload images, create links, and allow users to make comments. Your blog will have many more readers if you make your blog exciting with these pluses.
Promoting Your Blog
Just putting your blog online is not enough. After all, there are many millions of blogs on the web right now, so unless your blog is on a high-traffic site, you may not get readers unless you advertise. You can easily advertise your blog without spending a cent by mentioning your blog in your emails and web pages or newsletters. You can also enter in online competitions – if your blog wins a prize you are more likely to get a constant flow of traffic to your blog. You can also ask ezines and other content providers to review your blog, which will also draw readers.
What is a Podcast Feed?
A podcast feed is a way of sharing files over the
internet. It involves the use of a small, machine
readable file that is regularily updated to reflect changes
in the files available for downloading. The internet
addresses of these files are embedded into the feed file
and can be automatically downloaded when wished. At
this time, podcasting tends to refer to the use of feeds to
share only media files. Podcasting originally occured as
a way to share audio mp3 files, and has only recently
begun incorporating video into podcasts. However, the
technology that allows the files to be shared is not
limited to such media files and there is not reason that
other files may be shared via podcast in the future.
Today, however, a podcast feed tends to refer to the use
of a feed to share media files. Most podcasts are done
with audio files, and the individual files that are created
and shared are called episodes. These audio files may
contain a variety of things; there are music, comedy,
news, technology, even podcasts about wine.
Podcasting, because of the low entry cost, especially for
audio podcasting allows nearly anyone who believes
they have something to say to broadcast it over the
internet. Even more established groups have found that
audio podcasting works well. Some radio stations
podcast portions of their content, sharing it over the
internet to allow listeners who missed a specific show
to catch up on it later. NPR now does this with its news
breaks, and the NPR show “This American Life” offers
a podcast of its shows to subscribers who pay a small
fee.
One of the newer innovations in podcast feeds is the
vlog, or videoblog. These blogs usually contain a feed
that distributes a video, rather than an audio file to feed
subscribers. Although that would not have been feasible
a few years ago, growing numbers of broadband
internet subscribers has meant that most users are able
to download large files, even video files, relatively
quickly. These video podcasts have been readily
accepted by mainstream news organizations. They have
found that podcasting portions of their content is a way
to share their tape and reach a wider audience. The BBC
currently does this with parts of its news content. Pieces
of the news show that is played over the airwaves is
taken and placed online, along with a link to the content
placed inside the RSS feed. Those who subscribe to the
BBC feed can download the news clip and watch in
from the comfort of their home computer.
In the future, podcast feeds may be used for a number of
purposes besides simply sharing media files. Some
analysts predict that the feed system could also be used
to share software updates, or any of a myriad of other
file types. For now, however, podcasting is dominated
by small audio and video files.
Podcast Downloads
Podcast downloads are a wonderful new online way to
share files. A podcast is a way to send files from a
distributor’s online site directly to the subscribers
computer, where they can view them whenever they
wish. A podcast works by having a small file called an
RSS file placed somewhere on the podcaster’s web
page. This RSS file is updated regularily, usually
automatically with text and links to new media files
available for downloading. The RSS file is then
accessed by the podcast client of the subscriber’s
computer. A podcast client is a small program that goes
online to look for the RSS files that the feed subscribers
wish to view. There are many podcast clients available
for every conceivable need, and most are free to
download and use.
The podcast download will be done when the podcast
client downloads and views the file from the feed’s
website. After finding the links to the media files
embedded in the RSS file, it will download those files
and store them on the computer, allowing the user to
view them whenever and as many times as they wish.
The podcast files may be of many things. There are
comedy shows done by people who enjoy creating and
writing a regular show, but aren’t able to do it as a
business. Some podcasts are music mixes, an mp3 file
that subscribers can play. Even some radio shows are
getting into podcasting, allowing subscribers to
download portions of their shows from the internet in
podcast form and play them on their home computer.
Podcast downloads could conceiveably be applied to
any type of file. The RSS files that allow the mainly
audio and video files now used in podcasting to be
downloaded can be customized to enclose almost any
type of file. This has led some analysts to believe that
podcasting could eventually be used to distribute
software updates, demonstration programs, and many
other types of files, moving beyond the simple use of
podcasting to share media files. All that would be
neccessary would be for the users to subscribe to the
feed with their podcast client. They could then stay
regularily updated for nearly anything.
Podcast downloads offer many different possibilities for
distribution of files across the internet. Because it is a
different mode of using the internet, allowing the data
to come to the user rather than the user having to visit
each site they enjoy, podcasting has the possibility of
changing the way the internet works. Content can be
given directly to the individual, easily and ever more
quickly as broadband use spreads. This means that what
the internet is will change drastically. The web changes
from something connected to in order to be used to
something that is integrated and connected with our
personal life.
