Business Blogging

Reaching Your Customers Educate customers about products Easy user-friendly interface New content displayed at the top Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Branding opportunities

Blog Parts and Pieces

Blog Header (1) This includes the title of your blog, which is the same or similar to the blog’s URL (web address). Along with a title in the header, very often there will be a subheading as well: For example – Problogger: Helping Bloggers Earn Money

Blog Calendar (2) Some bloggers include a small calendar on the sidebar, but this is not at all required. It’s just one of the many extras often available for bloggers to include.

Blog Archive (3) Archive of past posts is one of the elements that make a “blog” a “blog.” Allow readers easy access to previous posts Normally organized per month Reverse chronological order

Blog Search (4) A search box allows readers to search for specific key words Concept similar to a search engine for your blog Use key words and phrases

Article Categories & Recent Articles (5) Categories - Similar to monthly archives Organized per category Categories created by the blogger Readers can select per category of interest (6) Recent Articles- Lists the most recent posts Again in reverse chronological order

Favorite Links (7) Favorite sites are hot linked and added as a list. Aka Blog Roll Selected by the blogger Normally related to the blog topic Located in the side bar

RSS Feeds (8) RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication Sharing of content Notification of updates Use an aggregator aka feed reader Bloglines.com

Blog Article Title (9) Each post (article) needs a title Blogs made up of multiple posts Headline like a newspaper Use of key words SEO considerations

Blog Content & Permalink (10) Content is the text inside a post. Content = any writing on the web Your clever prose (11) Permalink is a hot link to an individual post Page for each single post

Comments (12) Comments include feedback from your blog readers. Readers “comment” to your post Leave open for anyone Or require approval for each comment Creates a conversation Often includes other links

Blog Lingo Blogosphere: blogging community Dashboard: blog control panel Blog Roll: list of blog URLs Page view: number of clicks Ranking: how high on search engines Stats: statistics Strikethroughs: deleted info

Locating Blogs Blogsearch.google.com Technorati.com Blogpulse.com Other blogs Let’s find some blogs!

Bloglines.com Free blog aggregator: Add blogs to bloglines via favorites.

Blog Etiquette Link Love Link inside text Add links to blog roll Include links in comments Give links Get links

Posting Comments Have something to say Part of the conversation Don’t spam Generates traffic

Blog Topic Brainstorming Passion! What kind of business do you run? What topics are related to it? What do you read about regularly? What activities are related to your work?

Blogging Preliminaries Blog purpose Type of blog –Filter/journal/k-blog/mix? Blog host Blog topic Title and subtitle Public or private Blog revenue

Starting a Blog Free Blog Networks: –Blogger.com –Wordpress.com –LiveJournal.com other blogs on the networks How is the site navigation? Try setting up your blog

Blog Software Options/Basics WYSIWYG software Freebies first Blog software - Blogger - Moveable Type - Typepad - Word Press Bells & whistle vs. tech savvy

Linking to Other Blogs Link love Be a good blogosphere neighbor Create a blog roll Link internally in posts Give links = get links No blogger is an island

What to Blog About? Tutorial, a “how-to” Review a book Pros and cons Answer a question Current event Interviews Post about a post Product/service news Related web news Interviews Company personnel

Visual Elements Bulleted text Easy to read Min. 1 image Short paragraphs Mix text/images Content related