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What Is Blogging? |
By:
Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank |
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What Is Blogging?
Blogs have been around for many years but have recently become
somewhat a new ‘craze’. A Blog is short for Web Log is basically
an online journal. They can be set up at little to no cost at
all, and can be used for a wide variety of things. Some bloggers
just blog for the fun of it, while others tend to use their
blogs for business reasons.
The following are just a few ways blogs can be used:
1) Updates Keep customers/clients up to date on changes to your
website. Also new product announcement and new related websites.
2) Reviews You can give opinions, advice and personal
recommendations on specific products or services related to your
field.
3) Personal and Business uses Blogs are a great way to keep
track of your goals and plans just by open writing.
4) Stress Reliever Jot down your vents, gripes, thoughts. Some
also find general writing therapeutic.
5) Search Engine Optimization Search Engines love text and
content. You can also include links to your website which equal
backward links which in turn equals high ranking.
6) Money Makers Yes, you can make money with your blog by
providing readers with quality copy writing and a few affiliate
links.
So how is a blog set up? There are several options you can
choose from when starting your own blog, and a few are:
1) Using a free service such as Blogger.com (
http://www.blogger.com ).
2) Using Blogger.com (or other free blog provider) with your own
domain name that you can purchase through places such as Mommy’s
Helper Domain & Hosting Services (
http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/web-hosting.html ) .
3) You can also choose a paid services such as Blogit.com (
http://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Affil/?51483 ) for as little as
$5.95 a month.
You have your blog set up, but how do you get visitors to it and
get them comming back? Along with general advertising, here are
a few more ideas:
1) Directories There are many directories that you can submit
your blog to such as BlogWise.com ( http://www.blogwise.com/ )
To find more simply do a search for blog directories.
2) Link Exchange Place links on your website to your blog and
visa versa.
3) Syndicate Your Blog For example you can now give your
visitors the option of having your blog headlines right on their
MyYahoo! Page. (example -
http://add.my.yahoo.com/rss?url=http%3A//www.2wahms.blogspot.com
) This makes it much simpler for your readers to quickly skim
the topic headlines and an added benefit to you the blogger to
keep your visitors up to date.
You also have the choice of letting your readers comments on
your blog. Most services have these features and can be a great
tool to keep your blog interactive between you and your readers.
With all the spam filters and spam blockers available or
sometimes even automatically installed in email programs, it’s
getting harder every day to keep in constant contact with your
visitors/customers and/or clients. Blogs have shed some new
light in this aspect giving you a better way to communicate.
Most blog services are very user friendly. If you can run simple
programs such as MSWord or Word Perfect then you have the
knowledge to maintain your own blog. There’s no need to even
have html knowledge. In essence, anyone can have his or her own
blog.
Happy Blogging!
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Article Source: http://www.powerdirectory.net/articles/article52663.html |
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