Author: art rogers
Better Blogging: The Beginning
Monday, April 14th, 2008 @ 12:01 am
I’ve recently found a ton of information from the pro-bloggers, those that design a lot of the blogging software, about how to blog better. I am sifting through that load of information and then will pass on to those who may read what I learn. Of course, I’ll be linking to the originators of these ideas, so you can go straight to the source, if you want.
I talked with a fellow pastor last week and he was on his way on a Mission Trip. I asked if he would be blogging the trip the way I did Vietnam. He said that he wasn’t set up for it, but really thought it was an effective tool for communicating. I promised to help him set up when he got back from his trip.
My friend was right. Blogging is a powerful form of communication and also is highly effective to those who read. The questions are, “Who is reading?” “Can we reach those that don’t know us?” If we can do it well, then we stand a better chance of getting the message out.
With that in mind, no matter who you are, I am embarking on another tech series to help you blog better and more efficiently. Hopefully, it will save you time and you can reach others. I can say that my feed subscriptions have doubled this week since I’ve been doing a few things differently. I haven’t even really gotten started.
This series will have a little something for everyone. If you are a lurker (someone who just reads and doesn’t even comment) there will even be stuff for you. Nevertheless, I will be aiming mostly toward those who already blog.
In this series, I plan to address:
- where to blog (service and software)
- content choice
- how to blog for better search engine results
- all kinds of software to help you do cool stuff - for free
- what to do WHEN your rss feed gets scraped and used by a splog (spam blog)
- how to get it done quickly and efficiently
- more…
While I am gearing up for this, I want to offer you a chance to ask questions now that might form an answer post. Now’s your chance. Just ask away in the comment section.
If you haven’t switched to Firefox yet, give it a whirl now. A lot of what I will be writing about will have to do with it. For those who don’t understand what and why, I’ll explain:
Firefox is a browser, like Internet Explorer from Microsoft. The primary difference is that Firefox is what is called “Open Source,” which means that people other than those who own and run Firefox are free to develop “add-ons” and “scripts” that can be installed in the browser to customize it to your liking. It works for Apple or PC, so whatever your native operating system, you can use this browser.
The up side of open source is that you have MANY people working to make things better for you. The down side is that some people will write intentionally malicious software to mess others up and you might be a victim. However, this is usually avoided easily. Choose add-ons from Firefox’s site and Scripts that have been downloaded significantly by others (if others use it and it is malware - malicious software - then they will report it and it will be taken down). I’ve never had a problem with anything I’ve used in over two years of using Firefox.
The main reason I switched is that almost all the pros use it. I figured they knew something worth knowing. Astoundingly, I was right. They did.
After I switched, I found that Firefox is the standard in “compliance” - which is to say, it is the best browser for interpreting the computer language in which web sites are written. In Firefox, everything seems to appear as it was intended.
For instance, my site, when viewed in Internet Explorer, has the “footer” at the top of the site between the sidebar and the content columns. In Firefox, it is at the bottom of the page, where it was designed to be. If you use Internet Explorer all the time, try Firefox for a week. You will be absolutely amazed at how different the websites you visit look. Some change drastically. Next in the series, I will give you a huge list of all kinds of tweaks you can do for Firefox to customize it.
Some of these updates will help you blog better and some will help you read better, so whatever you do in the blogosphere, there will something for you there.
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April 14th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
This promises to be a helpful series!
A couple questions.
What are the downsides for a blogspot user such as myself to make the switch to Word Press? I may be one of the few who have not made the switch. But I fear losing readers if I make the switch (not confident all my subscribers will update their RSS feeds).
Also, for someone who isn’t tech savy and who doesn’t have the time to become an expert, who out there would give my blog a professional makeover for a reasonable price? Any thoughts?
April 15th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Hey, Aaron.
The first downside is that you WILL lose some readers who are grabbing your feed, but won’t, for whatever reasons, make the switch. I’ve actually switched twice and have considered moving away from 12W because of all the SBC baggage that goes along with it, but it is SOOOO hard to re-establish myself with Google, that I’ll probably stay here.
If you are not well known to google, however, I’d encourage you to make the switch. There is a lot that you can do with your own domain and software that being a blogspot blogger keeps you from doing. Mostly, it has to do with performance and bandwidth. I left blogger because it was giving me grief, eating my template and letting pornographic spam through.
As for those who could help, Joe Kennedy, Micah Fries and David Phillips are all good at it and might be willing to help.
I pray you are well.