Blogging and Marketing Resources for the Average Blogger and Business
Posts tagged Blogger
Go With What Got You There
Apr 26th
Somewhat of an off-topic post this time, but one that provides some balancing perspectives about yours truly. The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit is my way of sharing what I’m learning, as an average blogger, with other average bloggers. Usually, the topics are somewhat serious and an honest attempt is made at exploring them. Often, there’s a bit of humor that is enjoyed along the way.
Call it an alter ego, but more precisely, The New Blogged Word is a place on Google’s Blogger where this all began. Technically, there was a slightly different starting point, but I recently exported and imported that information into The NEW Blogged Word to align Google accounts.
Why am I sharing this? It’s important to remember that all our experiences adds to the body of blogging work that we develop. Blogger was a fine starting point for me and in fact, is a very lucrative and successful environment for many people. The seemless integration with Adsense (which has been enhanced recently) makes that a very nice one-two punch. My move to the WordPress platform was not a slight toward Blogger, but simply my way of experiencing a greater body of work – and learn more along the way.
Another reason for mentioning it is that it allows a reminder about staying true to your blog. Interjecting occasional humor in The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit is an extension of how I operate in business: serious about what I do, but have fun doing it. It would not be respectful to my readers if I strayed too far from that posture.
However, The New Blogged Word is just the opposite. That was the beginning. It has pictures of our Bathroom Remodel. It has my thoughts on my Countdown to Retirement. It even has my local area’s Memorable Merchants who have gone above and beyond in their operations. Just I would no sooner show a picture of my bathroom remodel on The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, I will do everything I can to not get too serious on The New Blogged Word. To butcher an old saying, “There’s a topic for each blog, and each blog should stay on topic.”
Although I’ve added a tag for The New Blogged Word, this may be one of very few times where I pitch it’s merits. However, you never know when something there relates here and here there.
Dave
Free Blogging, or Pay to Play?
Jan 26th
As with any topic that will cross the bow of this boat, there is an enormous quantity of quality arguments on both sides of this issue. I will of course try to break this down in simple terms, but provide additional reading for those who need it.
First, some definitions.
Hosted (free) blogs: A free service provided, allowing users to create their own blog in minutes, contained in the provider’s domain. For example, TheBloggedWord.Blogspot.com is my initial blogging effort, hosted by Google’s Blogger service. Free. Easy to set up. A great place to get started, which I did. When I realized I wanted to formalize by blogging activity, my strategy changed to “self-hosting” and The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit came to be, using WordPress, hosted on BlueHost.com.
Self-hosted blogs requiring a web hosting service: There are many Content Management Systems (CMS) available, both free and not, that allow the user to load that platform into the disk space rented through a web hosting provider. The domain name you register, at a cost, is completely your own.
There really are only a few questions you need to answer to determine which blogging platform approach is right for you:
- Why am I blogging?
- What are my goals?
- How technical am I?
When searching the web, I found many arguments for each side of the fence, but this article from ProBlogger is probably the best one with pros and cons clearly spelled out in one place. It’s a bit long, but a very good read.
Essentially:
If you are relatively new to blogging, interested in blogging as a hobby or as an enjoyable side activity and don’t want to learn or deal with technical issues, hosted blogging is for you. If you have some experience, are serious about focusing on growing and/or monetizing your blog and have a moderate amount of technical skills, a self-hosted solution is for you.
Yes, I know, this is not black and white. It has many shades of gray. But remember, The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit tries to provide simple perspectives to complex issues. You can make it as complex as you need it to be. Me? I’m a simple guy.
Dave
Choosing a Blogging Platform
Jan 25th
Top 100 Blogging Platforms from Royal.Pingdom.com
First, an orientation. With the many, many blogging platforms that exist, how does one begin to choose the one that’s right for them? If we used The Pareto Principle (the “80/20 Rule”) to sum up platform usage, we could say that 80% of the people use 20% of the blogging platforms. With Blogger and WordPress being the two big kids on the block, I might argue that our principle is more like 95/5. We could argue the actual numbers, but you get the point.
Let’s start with a look at a review from PC World. This is a simple view into an in-depth review of the top five platforms. Again, Blogger and WordPress appear, rated as the top free services, along with three for-fee sites: TypePad, Tripod, and Squarespace.
If you are just starting to blog, or simply want a free and easy-to-manage environment, Blogger or WordPress is the answer. In the next post, I’ll talk more about free, hosted blogging vs. self-hosting your own blog site. There are of course pros and cons to each, depending on your own expectations of what you want to get out of your blogging experience.
Consistent with The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit’s mission to provide differing perspectives, let’s look at a blog called Royal Pingdom. They took a run at understanding which blogging platforms are in use at the Top 100 sites as ranked by Technorati. Again, this may be of interest only to those of you who either have a considerable amount of experience, or like me, expect to have considerable experience in the future. Regardless, it is an interesting perspective.
For those of you with more of a web programming bent, here’s a link to Top 10 Free Blogging Platforms & Features for Web Designers. Several of the usual suspects appear, but as you can see, there are yet more. Again, there really is something for everyone based on the number and varied offerings available. It’s simply a matter of finding what’s right for you.
This has been a lot of words to simply say, “Get Started!” Start simple, evolve, enjoy and excel.
Dave
Entrecard Blog Review
May 16th
Posted by Dave in Uncategorized
4 comments
Trader’s Hub is the name of the site being reviewed here. This is based on the Blogger platform and I have to admit, it is a very unique template. With the essence of a wirebound personal planner, it combines the modern on-line world of blogging with the somewhat “dated” world of Franklin-Covey and Day Runner planning systems; a combination that works nicely. Without some sort of a tag line further describing what the Trader’s Hub is all about, I am struggling (even after reviewing a number of posts) to really gain a sense of this blog’s purpose. Something like “Random Perspectives from Palo Alto” or any such description of the purpose, focus, or lenses through which posts are made would be helpful.
One aspect of the planner layout that is a bit uncomfortable for me is the fact that on a 17″ screen at 1024×768 resolution, there is only 2 inches of the top of the ”planner” showing at the bottom due to a very large header area. Nice picture of a well crafted cup of coffee and a clever search box in the barrel of a fountain pen, but unfortunatly, a lot of space wasted. The title of the top blog post is all that shows – scrolling is necessary to read the post.
As an Entrecard member, I frequent member blogs for two reasons:
My recommendation to any Entrecard member: place your widget near the top of the page. If I have to scroll more than one mouse trackwheel spin, I loose interest quickly. Note that on the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, the widget is near the top and “above the fold” not requiring any scrolling.
Hats off the the Trader’s Hub for their “Bloggers Unite” section. I do a lot of work with schools, summer camps and our local food bank and appreciate the effort to bring attention to important causes.
The advertising widget from Slide.com is distracting. Widgets like these that scroll the ad blocks when visible on the screen takes my eye away from reading the post. Yes, I know they are supposed to do that, but my belief is that if I want to view the ad and click through, I will when I’m ready – and not pulled to it in an A.D.D. sort of way. My recommendation: no scrolling ads.
The ongoing “planner” motif provides for a long runway for ads. There seem to be so many, that I wonder if the author gets any traction on many of them. In addition, it seems to take several moments for the page to fully load – and I have a good, high-speed connection. A few key ads, places at high visibility areas (top header, top right panel, between posts, etc.) might do a lot better than trying to blanket the site. Take this with a grain of salt, though. While I am a student of blog monetization, I am just starting to get into that arena myself. My comments do not come from direct experience, only what I’ve read.
Since Entrecard is the underlying theme in the blog review it would seem appropriate to assess a releated post about the “Daily Drop List.” Not uncommon – many Entrecard members publish their top card exchange “droppers” as a way to collectively help each other identify bloggers most willing to return to your site and review, engage and drop cards. A good feature, but I have a question.
The drop list starts with:
My Entrecard Drop List
(Start, copy the code and embed this droplist in your blog! It will build up your links, improve your page rank and bounce rate, and increase your blog authority!)
What “code” should be copied? It’s not clear to me what should be copied and where it should be pasted. It then ends with:
Add your site here. Benefit everyone on this list including yourself. Join Today!
Again, not sure what to add and where.
A lot of effort has been put into The Trader’s Hub. In my opinion, if some of the clutter was removed and more emphasis was placed into defining the blog’s purpose and point of view, it could be vastly improved.
Dave