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Showing posts from November, 2009

What is blogging?

The Internet plays a huge role in the lives of people on the entire planet; it is the fastest means to communicate with friends on the other side of the world and the richest source of information when you have to research for something. The latest trend and probably the most successful way of expressing oneself via the Internet is the blog. What does blogging actually mean? The whole concept revolves around the personal need to express feelings or thoughts, share opinions, spread news or simply have fun. A blog is actually a small individual web page more like a diary that you keep online; it receives regular updates and allows the use of links, photos, videos and extended documents. Many people were attracted by the “blogging” phenomenon thanks to the great opportunity of making themselves heard by a specific targeted audience. Blogs are not complex web pages, it entirely depends on what the creator wants to share with the world. When you've got great pieces of news, funny link

Vlogs – video blogs explained

What are vlogs exactly? The general term refers to a number of web pages that choose to use videos as journal entries instead of articles. Presented in a reverse chronological order, they find a great support in the use of photos and text; depending on the nature of the videos, there may be need of additional comments to make information relevant. The great part about vlogs is that they perfectly meet the present-day tendency of communicating via the Internet on a very familiar basis: when you see the person behind the text, the blog seems to actually live in from of you. Most video blogs use some form of web syndication in order to upload and spread the videos online and at the basis of every transmission lies the RSS technology or format. Presently, vlogs, may even be accessed on mobile devices such as pods and mobile phones. Though, the very vlog phenomenon started as a collective attempt, there are many individual video logs that are authored by people who make a hobby out of it.

The best blogging tools

Due to the extended dimensions that the blogging phenomenon has achieved, one can hardly image the richness of tools that bloggers may use to improve the performance of their pages in the web circuit. What tools should one look for? First of all you need to select a specific platform to set up for the blog, then other tools complete the picture in case you want to include photos or videos. Last but not least, you definitely need some special software to allow you to easily moderate the comments and fight unwanted mails, labeled as spam. Let's take a look at the way some tools can help you post entries on the blog with the help of the platforms. Due to the wide variety of available software, format may vary, nevertheless the working principle is the same: type the title and the text you want to accompany it in the platform. Not all tools provide italics, bold and large font sizes, and you may have to get this by using HTML in order to achieve the desired results. In case you have

The advantages of having a blog

Why do some create blogs and why do others read them? This is actually a ten points question since its answer covers the very working principle behind the entire phenomenon. First of all, we are not far from the truth when saying that bloggers are very much like journalists or columnists, and that the material we find on blogs is very often much more interesting than that in the media thanks to the personal touch writers include in their articles. Furthermore we cannot ignore the interactive dimension of blogs, which is probably the greatest advantage in itself: comment boxes for instant responses, links to documented materials, videos and pictures turn the blog into a magic puzzle. Blogging is trendy: no comment to that! Not only is it popular with people of all ages but it also makes one feel like blending in. You get an idea of what people appreciate in your writing, you get to comment and actually live some events of public interest, and you have the chance to speak up your mind.

RSS – what's it all about?

Before creating a blog as such, it is most advisable to learn what type of helping tools you may need to design and update the pages when necessary. One fine example is the famous RSS, a group of web feed formats that are mainly used to keep the blog content new and fresh as often as possible. Why is RSS the first choice of a large number of users? Simple, an RSS document includes the very text you have on the blog or a summary of the content in some other cases; thus, one can keep a close watch over the blog without checking the pages in detail. To give you a further glimpse into the utility of the tool, we should mention that the abbreviation RSS stands for Rich Site Summary. Therefore, besides the advantage of delivering fresh web content, RSS allows many Internet users who need to stay informed; thus you can easily retrieve whatever item of information you are interested in from a specific site. From this perspective, RSS comes as a great alternative to subscribing for email news

Photo blogging

Just like vlogs, photo blogs are born from the need to communicate and integrate in a community that has reached international dimensions. A photo blog mainly relies on photo sharing and publishing, while also using textual support as well. Nevertheless, when you visit a photo blog you'll understand where the focus really lies; the phenomenon deviated from blogging with the advent of the cameraphones that allow the instant photo sharing between web users. The big advantage of such pages is that they are very dynamic in nature as compared to traditional sites. There are photo blogs that belong to individual domains and others that use larger collective services such as Blogger. Widely accessible all over the web, photo blogs are managed with the help of specific software systems that enable content control. Thus, photo bloggers are able to upload materials and manage all posts without any restriction; the same unrestricted form is maintained for the access to photo blogs, since al

Personal blogging

The variant of the online diary, which we are all used to call blog, goes sometimes well beyond the boundaries of simple communication: there are great articles, essays and a lot of interactive stuff that create a very entertaining environment for any Internet user. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to even find future brilliant writers who shape their skill online; it all begins with the regular recording of personal thoughts, ideas, comments on books, films or music. Personal blogs also allow limitless space for the expression of critical opinions from various domains, not to mention that they preserve a record of one's development. Nevertheless, what most Internet experts advise is that one should keep personal and business blogging as separate activities, since mixing them can be detrimental particularly for the special online promotion of some products or services. Many analysts argue that personal blogging is often characterized by an ascending evolution since steady writing

Optimizing your blog for search engines

Competition is fierce online, and the top places on the search result pages are the most hunted for; therefore, any blog owner who tries to make money on the Internet needs to use a whole strategy to attract the best visitors and the highest traffic. The working principle for the blog optimization for search engines is the keyword. When you start the race for SEO (search engine optimization), you already have an advantage: blogs are usually the ones to receive more traffic then other complex sites due to their highly informational content. By keywords we mean those sentences or structures that a user types in the search box of an engine. Blogs mainly rely on articles that are regularly updated and re-freshened, so that they have something new to offer all the time. Before you write the blog content, you'll need to make a list with all the keywords related to your domain and which are most likely to be typed in the search box by Internet users. A brain-storming session is ideal to

Is blogging profitable?

For anyone eager to make some extra money, the Internet is probably the richest source of business opportunities, and blogging is one such great chance to generate income with low costs and little effort. How is that possible? At the beginning blogging started as the modern online diary, but it evolved towards new forms that presently provide both personal expression and money making advantages. Let's take a look at two main ways to turn a blog into a home-business. The starting point for any online commercial action is the creation of a highly interesting web page. Anyone running some form of business that could benefit from online promotion may choose blogging as a great form of advertising. A blog targets a special audience segment: those people interested in the products and services you offer. A blogger should therefore create a highly specific web page with content that is relevant for his or her field of activity. There may be references to the promoted products, or just l

How to promote your blog

Regardless of the reasons for which you have created a blog, it can become a success only if you know how to promote it: in other words, you have to attract traffic. There are several ways to do so, depending on what you aim at with your blog; first of all, you need to get a look on the web and see what the competition is like. Blogging is something you learn and improve as you acquire more experience; actually we could say there are no boundaries related to the possibility to promote something online. The best help you can get is from domains related to yours, by the use of friendly links. Once you've got the pages ready don't hesitate to have links to your blog posted on other sites, which you may have to do the same in exchange to help others. Nevertheless, it is good to mention here that you must pay attention to the web page quality to make sure that you don't promote something that contradicts your principles. Then, you should probably know that there are all sorts

How to make money blogging

There are two ways of making money blogging, one more profitable than the other. First of all, small business owners find a great advantage in the use of blogs that provide rich informational content and the opportunity for great marketing promotions. But let's take a look at how you can turn blogging into a profitable activity. There are two possibilities: you either get paid for allowing other business owners to advertise on your site or you can include the blog in one of the many affiliate programs that enjoy such a popularity on the Internet nowadays. In case you choose to exploit the advertising potential of your blog, the best program to work with is Google Adsense; you'll get paid every time an ad on your site gets clicked, regardless of whether this action converts into profit or not. The logical question that may rise here is: how can you get more clicks for the ads on the blog? Don't think about clicking your own ads to make some more money; fraud clicks are a v

How do I start blogging?

Presently, we can definitely say that online communications are probably the most successful and effective ones worldwide; they save money, time, while also allowing transactions, commercial advertising and even business administration. Blogging is part of this general trend of putting everything on the web, regardless of whether we are talking about business, hobbies or personal stuff. There are some basic guidelines that lie at the foundation of any blogs; therefore, we could say that you need the ABC of blogging before actually starting to enjoy it. The most important thing for the creation of the blog is the purpose: why do you create it for? There are some people who choose to create a blog on their own, whereas others prefer to hire some pro to set things on the right track. First of all, before starting the actual blogging project, you'll need to create a detailed plan in which to include: objectives, investment with the analysis of cost and profit, targeted audience, blog

Getting quality content for your blog

All Internet marketing guides stress the importance of using only quality content for the blog pages, yet, the question remains: how can one decide which is good content and which not? I simply suggest that we start from the very nature of the blog: a highly informational and personal site which tackles with subjects in a specific domain. Hence, when designing the blog, don't make it too complex, stick to the simple structures that allow users to perform actions easily on the page. The frame should also be very simple and the eventual ads and links need to naturally blend in the content of the blog as such. Web design provides the great advantage of using similar fonts and formats, so that only some elements on the page should stand out. Furthermore, you may have learned by now that you need to create the site content around some high-in-demand keywords that users type in the search box of the engine. The more the keywords, the higher the chances to have your blog appear in the f

Getting a blogging job

The blogging phenomenon has reached such dimensions that presently it has gained prominence on a market where competition is anything but mild. This is how it came that business owners actually hire people to optimize blogs and keep a close watch over what happens on the web; companies that use blogs to make the relationship with clients and employees more informal and efficient are usually the ones in need of finding people for blogging jobs. After all, it takes quite some time to update fresh materials, answer comments and post opinions. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to turn blogging into some form of home business. If you could make enough money to live decently, I'm sure you'd like to stay home in front of the computer instead of commuting every day to the other side of the city. However, don't make the mistake of thinking that income keeps coming without any effort on the blgger's part; on the contrary, to make a blog profitable, you need perseverance, knowled

Business blogging

Many large and small businesses alike have recently discovered the great advantages of blogging in maintaining good communication relationships with both employees and customers. It is obvious that for some people, blogs have become a means of sharing information and expertise at very advanced levels and this can only mean increased profit for the company. It is a common knowledge by now that small businesses profit the most from blogging. Why? Because a highly specific web page such as a blog, successfully substitutes an extensive online presence. Instead of a static page, you offer a very dynamic blog where feed-back is encouraged and various issues get tackled with. Many Internet experts consider blogs a very informal, yet popular way of developing business contacts, since, the informational content receives a different approach than in the case of classic promotion sites. Business owners can definitely enjoy great recommendations from users, but there are also dissatisfied custom

Blogging – ten sites you need to know

Now that you are part of the blogging phenomenon that has spread all around the world, or you simply aspire to learn something about the online community, there is plenty of assistance you can find online to help you optimize your own blog the best way you want. For instance, a host giant like www.xanga.com provides a great chance to start a blog on your own; it is a good opportunity for anyone interested in joining a world-wide community that shares pictures, videos, thoughts and points of view. Furthermore, you'll also get precious information from many domains. Another such great host site is www.myspace.com where you may register your blog under a variety of categories depending on the theme and topic. There is a wide selection of users and definitely good quality traffic if you make the blog worth visiting. For those who want to make some money with their blogs, by advertising, I strongly recommend www.adsense.com , a Google-joint program that enables bloggers to make

Blogging - making it pay

Maybe the starting point of a profitable blog is a great topic, but there is definitely more to the business than that. There are two options a blogger has when trying to make the page generate revenue from advertising: either to stay on top of other blogs or provide good-quality material that ensures a high readership. Though the former option may look like the true Internet promise, things are slightly different when you have to achieve a high ad click rate. Let's see the dos and don'ts of blogging when it comes to making money from advertising. First of all, you need to consider the number of readers you target with the blog articles, and set an average or modest click rate in case the domain you're dealing with is not a very common one. You may get valuable clicks, but they may not be enough to generate the income you need; therefore, always try to maintain a balance between the advertising rate you set for the blog and the amount of traffic you manage to draw by well

Blogging – What's it all about?

Blogging is one of the most popular Internet-related phenomenon that has incited the curiosity of millions of people all over the world; it represents a great opportunity for those who create blogs and for those who use them. Very often qualified as the trend of keeping personal diaries online, blogging is far more complex owing to the fact that every web log carries the touch of the owner's imagination, interest and wit. The range of topics blogs deal with is incredibly wide: from politics and economics to sky diving and snorkeling. The next very important aspect after blog content is actually the interactive format of the pages that allows users to take action on the site. Part of the history of blogging includes the very first attempts to run an account of one's personal life, and many of the blog owners liked to call themselves journalists or diarists. In the early days of blogging around the mid-90s, people enjoyed the experience of belonging to the online community that

Blogging 101

Once the secret of blogging was out, the interest in special tips and tricks to make it profitable soon knew a remarkable upsurge. The 101 revealed secrets for highly profitable blogs has actually become a common notion online, since the competition is tight, and achieving good blog traffic becomes crucial for the survival online. If you make a top ten list of the best ways to improve traffic and you simply post it on your blog, you could soon realize there are plenty of people who take it as a rule of the thumb and pass it on like a hot potato. One such blogging 101 trick is to get links or profiles on very popular websites that have already got a great name in the business. How can you convince them to accept your request? Well, sometimes it pretty much depends on good fortune, but usually, you'll have to email them an intention letter with a detail description of your blog. It would probably be a good idea if you looked for some online marketing tips before presenting the hot

Blog Traffic - Web 2.0 traffic tactics

The blogging phenomenon perfectly integrates in the second generation of web services know as Web 2.0 since this is the most convenient platform for all Internet moves. What is there for bloggers with Web 2.0? First of all, the whole aim of the new web-technology is to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users, on the one hand, and increase the usage rate on the other hand. The next legitimate question that rises here touches on the best ways to attract traffic in the conditions of the transition to blogs that are sources of highly functional content. First and foremost, we need to say here that with blogs web information is no longer centralized in terms of authority, not to mention that the freedom to use and re-use material is limitless. From a certain point of view blogs become a real market, in which content is the transaction environment. Hence, Web 2.0 traffic tactics mainly gravitate around the optimization of blog articles for advanced search on the search engines.