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Many people are blogging today. Yes, it seems that the whole world is blogging. But just how easy ... or hard is it to start a blog? After searching through the web for some easy step-by-step guide for blogging, I found that there were not many clear and concise guides that can help a real beginner to start blogging. With that, I have decided to start one myself and hope that my efforts will help many others to start their own blogs.
Blogs in Plain English
By Lee LeFever
Blogs in Plain English
A video for people who wonder why blogs are such a big deal. This video comes in an unbranded "presentation quality" version that can be licensed for use in the workplace. http://www.commoncraft.com/store-item/blogs
Runtime: 178
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288 Comments:
curated content from YouTube
What is a blog?
You really need to know what is a blog in the first place
Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.
- A Wikipedia Definition
- A weblog (usually shortened to blog, but occasionally spelled web log or weblog) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order).
- A ProBlogger Definition
- By Darren Rowse from ProBlogger
Want to know more about blogging? Read this book
The rough guide to blogging
You might have heard about how blogs have taken the world by storm. Are you wondering why blogs are so popular today and yet you do not have one? Well, fret not, this book will certainly help you along your way.
The Rough Guide to Blogging 1 (Rough Guide Reference) (Rough Guide Internet/Computing)
Amazon Price: $10.13 (as of 12/19/2009) 
Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
Getting started on your very own blog
A YouTube Video explaining what is a blog
Step #1 : Decide what you want to blog about
Unless of course you already know what you want to tell the world about
Seems simple enough, but many people jump into blogging without first considering what they want to talk about. Its all about content, content and content. Is there something you know that people will want to know? Say .... Rhubarb Pie ? Step #2 : Create your own blog in Blogger
Its as simple as 1-2-3-4
Blogger is one of the easiest place to create and host a blog. They make the whole process so seamless and straight forward.
- 1. Create a Blog at Blogger
- a. Register and create an account
b. Name your blog
c. Choose a template
d. Publish your blog
That's it ! - 2. Additional material you might want to read
- If you want to know more about creating blogs, you may want to read this additional material. Otherwise, its optional and you may skip to step #3.
Here's a video to show you how
Step #3 : Go and promote your blog
You do want to drive traffic to your blog don't you?
- 1. Promote your blog
- This article is a great step-by-step article on what to do to promote your blog. Go through it at your own pace. You will find many tips and tricks on how to drive traffic to your blog and website.
- 2. Set up your feeds
- Feeds often come with either RSS or ATOM specifications. If you use Blogger, it is most likely to be the ATOM format. Many feed aggregators or websites tend to use the older RSS format. Use Feedburner to create a feed that can generate both formats.
a. Register
b. Burn your feed
Its that easy ! - 3. Register your blog with Technorati
- Technorati is THE place where people go to when they want to search for blogs. Any blogger worth his/her salt will want to register or "claim" their blog at Technorati. With Technorati, it is even simpler to register your blog if you are using Blogger.
a. Register your account
b. Claim your blog using the feed created in step 2
c. Track your blog's performance
That's it ! - 4. Register your blog with IceRocket
- IceRocket is another Internet search engine specialized in searching weblogs (or blogs). Backed by Mark Cuban, IceRocket is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, USA. Its simpler to register than Technorati. You don't even have to register. Just follow the above link to "Add your Blog". I'm not too sure how effective this site is, I'm still monitoring the situation after adding my blog a few days ago.
- 5. Register your blog with PubSub
- PubSub is yet again another Internet search engine for searching blogs. The site operates by storing a user's search term, making it a subscription, and checking it against posts on blogs which ping the search engine. When a new match is found, the user is notified, even if it occurs months after the initial search. This feature has led PubSub to call itself a matching engine.
You need to register to use this service. After which you need to go to your account's homepage, look for the "Add your feed" link on the left side bar. Then follow the instructions to add your feed. I'm also not too sure about the effectiveness of this site, I will monitor the situation and let you guys know soon.
Results can be read on the service's website or on an optional sidebar, available for both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. - 6. Register with Google Site Maps
- Search engines such as Google discover information about your site by employing software known as "spiders" to crawl the web. Once the spiders find a site, they follow links within the site to gather information about all the pages. The spiders periodically revisit sites to find new or changed content. Google Sitemaps is an experiment in web crawling. By using Sitemaps to inform and direct Google's crawlers, Google hopes to expand its coverage of the web and speed up the discovery and addition of pages to their index.
Google Search Ranking Explained
Step #4: Drive Traffic to your Website
Increase traffic using a free SEO service called HitTail
Step #5 : Set a monitor for your blog
You should track and monitor your blog
- Register your blog trace at tracksy.com
- Monitoring your blog statistics is so easy using this website. If your blog is on Blogger, its even easier with tracksy as it embeds all the neccessary track and trace code for you automatically. tracksy's reports are also very comprehensive. Try it !
Step #6 : Enjoy your blog !
Well, that's it ! You've created your first blog !
Well done ! That's it ! You have created your first blog. Now remember, keep your content constantly updated. Only if you do this "will they come !". Have fun ! Step #7: Improve your blogs
Read these if you want to do more for your blogging
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byStep #8: Learn about viral marketing
Improving your blog by reaching out using viral marketing
The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 12/19/2009)
The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Blogs, News Releases, Online Video, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 12/19/2009)
Connected Marketing: The Viral, Buzz and Word of Mouth Revolution
Amazon Price: $39.06 (as of 12/19/2009)
Step #9: Learn about blogging from Squidoo lensmasters
Read these if you want do learn more from the lensmasters
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byStep #10: Use my favourite blogging toolset
If you want to drive traffic to your blog, do use these !
This list of cool and exciting tools and websites are used by many people for various aspects of blogging.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byStep #11: Learn from the best blogs
To be the best, learn from the best
The best way to learn about how to design a very good blog is to learn from others whose blogs are among the best on the net. These blogs usually have a very high ranking on Technorati. The ranks shown are the blogs' ranking on Technorati as of 14 June 2006.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWant to know why these people create such great blogs? Read this !
The secret power of blogging
Many people have discovered that they can promote themselves, their businesses, their organisations or their pet topic by using free blogs. Learn more about why people use blogs and how to build a great blog.
The Secret Power of Blogging: How to Promote and Market Your Business, Organization, or Cause With Free Blogs
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 12/19/2009)
Usually ships in 24 hours
Follow the PRO himself on Twitter
Mr. Problooger - Darren Rowse
Darren is a full-time blogger and makes his money from his set of blogs.
- problogger
- aka Darren Rowse
- 84,367 followers
- 42,765 following
-
- @OfficeDivvy no, why do you ask?
-
- New at ProBlogger: ProBlogger Readable on… http://goo.gl/fb/sTgn #bloggingtoolsandservices #probloggersitenews
-
- Reading: Should We Be Worried AboutFast Food Content? - http://is.gd/5tC6p
-
- aweber may have a problem with spam http://bit.ly/7ASwCv http://bit.ly/6QacB7 - I've had complaints from 10 subscribers today too :-(
-
- @inBloome which Santa app is that? X would love that
-
- Am told that tonight is our 'Christmas admin night' at our place. Kind of sad Christmas has come to a place it needs admin!
-
- @LiewZY looking into it with aweber. I know we have never given our list away!
-
- Sprout Wealth - http://bit.ly/89dpTg - a new ebook by @sarahprout "A BOOK THAT SHARES THE AMAZING SUCCESS STORIES OF BUSINESSWOMEN..."
-
- Starting to think about a redesign for problogger for 2010. So many options!
-
- LOL'ing at all the offers to move into my dream condo with their families. #ThisCultCouldHaveLegs
powered by Twitter
Step #12: Learn about Google Page Rank
Wanna see your website appear in Google search results?
Today Google is the most used search engine on the planet. Anyone who wants to increase the visibility of their website must inevitably learn about Google Page Rank and how to get their website indexed and ranked by Google. Learn how to do this here.
- Google Pagerank Explained
- So what is Google Pagerank? How did this concept make Google's founders one of the richest guys in the world today in such a short time? Read about it here.
What is Google Page Rank
Good introductory material to the Google Page Rank, but the video doesn't quite end properly. Still, its worth watching for all you beginners out there.
Step #13: Improve your Google Page Ranking!
Step #14: Read books on Blogging from Amazon
Need more reference materials for blogging ? Try these !
Blogging For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
Amazon Price: $14.29 (as of 12/19/2009)
Blogging For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
Amazon Price: (as of 12/19/2009)
Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))
Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 12/19/2009)
That's it ! You're done !
If you have got this far, you are definitely on your way to creating great blogs
Hi there ! Thanks for dropping by. I do hope that you enjoy this lens. If you do, please give me your feedback. If you don't, I would really appreciate it if you could leave your comments so that I can work at improving this lens. Thanks a million !
submit
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- WhitneyWells WhitneyWells Mar 5, 2008 @ 8:38 pm
- Really good lens Chris, lots of valuable information! I'll defintely look into your advice!
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- staceyapeitos staceyapeitos May 2, 2007 @ 7:34 am
- 5 stars, Chris. I'll be referring back to this lens regularly.
I look at a lot of artists' blogs and slideshows from slide.com is becoming a popular feature.
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Reply
- chrisyeo chrisyeo Jun 12, 2006 @ 8:34 am
- This new module is really cool. Its a great way to get feedback from the community. Thanks Squidoo team!
Please rate me on Squidoo !
Hi! Thanks for dropping by. For all of you who have supported my work here, thanks. And for all of you who really like what I presented here, please rate me using the stars at the top of the page ...... 5 stars hopefully ! Here's my favorite link:
What's Happening Today?
Where technology impacts ordinary lives
Ever felt that you can't keep up with the fast changing pace of technology? Suffering from information overload? Gadget obsolescence? The purpose of this blog is to examine how technology impacts our everyday lives. It chronicles the impact of technology on the life of an ordinary guy living in ordinary Singapore. So .... here we go, a blog called "Open Book"
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byMy Blogs
Chronicling how technology and spirituality impacts our everyday lives
What has technology got to do with spirituality? Well, a human race immersed in technology alone will not survive if it doesn't find its soul and spirit. Everyone has a heart shaped vacuum that yearns for a creator, regardless of the technology prevailing at the time.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byMy Lenses in Squidoo
Power under focus
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAbout Me
Technoprenuer, Businessman, Engineer, Christian, Father of 3
Hiya, thanks for taking the time to read my lenses. If you want to know a little bit more about me, do take a look at my websites. Thanks and have a nice day.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHey, why don't we work together ?
Come on ! Let's network !
Hello there ! If you think that my work here interests you, then maybe we can work together and create a network of links. All you need to do is:1. Contact me using the "Contact the Lensmaster" link, that's the one located on the right side bar just beneath my profile
2. Tell me which blog or lens you want me to link to and feature in my blogs or lenses
3. If its a lens, I will go there and rate your lens
4. Please put a link to:
www.squidoo.com/blogging-101/
in a module within your lens or a link in your blog
5. Please rate me
6. That's it !
by chrisyeo
About Me
My name is Chris and I live in Singapore.
Creating an online presence is something that has been keeping me very busy everyday. I do have...
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