<<<Back to Table of Contents
This month, I’m blabbing about blogging. I’ve got a section in my own company blog, www.wildwoodinteractive.com where, among other topics, I’ve written about why people blog, guidelines for updating frequency and ideas for growing readership. It’s a large topic to cover, so for this column, I’ll focus on giving you an overview of blog software considerations. I’ll share a few of my favorite blog links, along with a resource for finding other blogs. I’ll also mention Twitter, a micro-blogging website, but I’ll restrain myself by only raving about it for a few sentences, despite my obsession with it.
My first serious foray into external blogging was at the beginning of last year, when I decided to lose weight by burning calories. It began as a journal to track progress, but then ... someone commented on it, and the magic began. Now I consistently have 10-20 people commenting on my posts, and I comment on theirs. I’ve found friendship, support, accountability and an excellent outlet for sharing with others what I’ve learned on my life-changing journey. Go to www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=CJROMB to see my SparkPeople blog.
Along the way, and from a good deal of separate research, I’ve learned a bit about blogging, too. Blogging, even on this small scale, has already yielded excellent rewards for me. In the past year, I’ve lost close to 40 pounds. Because I wanted to share what I’ve learned about weight loss, blogging and online communities, I’ve developed a seminar for it. The seminar attracted attention and created PR opportunities for me.
Blogging was unimaginably fun for me, so this past fall; I started a company blog, as well. It’s new, but I know from experience that if I continue to work on it, I’ll develop a definitive voice, and find an audience. I believe it’s easier to find an audience in tight-knit, special purpose online communities, like SparkPeople, than it is out in the “real world” of the public blogosphere. But every day, an amazing number of people attempt to do just that. According to Stephane Grenier, author of Blog Blazers, a new blog is created every 1.4 seconds. There are over 70 million blogs in existence, including approximately 1 million “dead blogs,” blogs that aren’t being updated. Every second there are 17 new posts.
Software Solutions
There are two primary choices for blogging software. The first is a hosted solution; the second is software you install on your hosting space. A hosted solution means the base application is already installed on the software company’s server. You sign up, and voilá, you have a blog. They maintain the code, add new features, and provide technical support. You can usually make some modifications to the look of the blog, and sometimes you can even publish the contents of the blog to your own domain name. You don’t have to worry about maintaining the software, only the content. This creates a low barrier to entry for starting a blog, but it also means you give up some amount of control over functionality, layout and design. And if you gain readership, it can be difficult to leave.
Examples of popular hosted blogging software are Blogger.com, TypePad.com, and LiveJournal.com. WordPress also has a hosted version available now at WordPress.com. Blogger, LiveJournal and WordPress are free, TypePad has a monthly fee.
If you’ve already got a company website, and want to include a blog, check with your hosting company or your IT service provider to find out what’s compatible with your website. We’ve embedded blogs in already existing websites when the software is compatible.
Alternatively, you can purchase a domain name and host your blog on server space through a web hosting company. Many of the software packages that you’d install on your own server space are moving towards a more automated installation process. Sometimes it’s as easy as clicking a button on a server control panel and answering a few questions. However, if you have your own server space, you’ll be responsible for more technical maintenance either by hiring it out or by learning how to do a little of it yourself. The benefit of this choice is that you have a much greater level of control over design, functionality, layout, branding, and growth. If your blog grows, and you want to offer products for sale, allow advertising that you make revenue from, or provide affiliate programs, you’ll most likely want to host your blog on your own server space.
The most popular blogging software is WordPress, and that’s the one I’m recommending here. All of our clients who have requested blogs, have mentioned or directly requested WordPress. Another option is Movable Type, available at movabletype.org.
The distinction between blogging software and a content management system (CMS) is quite blurry. Blogging software frequently has CMS functionality now, which means you can create and maintain web pages outside the blog structure. In turn, CMS packages usually include blogging capabilities, too. For example, Drupal, Expression Engine, and Joomla are frequently referred to as blogging software, but are actually content management systems with blogging functionality included.
WordPress new version has an excellent admin area for writing and managing content, layout and design. It has open source software, written in PHP. It uses a mySQL open source database, and runs in a Unix environment. There’s an extensive development community creating and contributing themes and other plug-ins and widgets for WordPress. A theme is a design for the blog. Plug-ins and widgets allow additional functionality, like embedded, modifiable slideshows to be included in your blog. Visit www.wordpress.org for the latest version of WordPress. Go to www.wordpress.org/extend/themes to find WordPress themes. Visit www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins for plug-in or www.codex.wordpress.org/Plugins/WordPress_Widgets for widgets. Widgets are also known as “sidebar accessories.”
For a custom look, you’ll need some technical experience or assistance so you can modify an already-existing WordPress theme, or create one from scratch. The amount of control you have over navigation, content and layout has increased significantly with recent software releases.
Having an installed copy on your own server space requires attention to more than just content. Pay attention to software upgrades and security patches to make sure your site is secure, and you have the latest capabilities. Regardless of which direction you go, remember to make regular backups of your content.
Interested in finding blogs for yourself? Visit Technorati at www.technorati.com. If you’re a blog reader, this is the best directory out there for finding blogs about any topic. If you’re a blogger, register your blog with them. Don’t let the number of blogs dissuade you. If you have a unique, compelling voice and you’re willing to put in the effort, there are readers who are interested in hearing what you have to say.
Don’t have time for a regular-sized blog? Sign up for Twitter. Twitter markets itself as a free micro-blog, giving you 140 characters at a time to express yourself. Twitter is one of the most interesting and valuable forms of communication to come along in quite awhile. I’m researching it, experimenting with it and learning more about it constantly. If you’re interested in learning how to use and take advantage of it, there’s blog posts all over the internet, including on my website at www.wildwoodinteractive.com. I wrote one recently about finding immediate (though probably fleeting) fame writing nerd pick-up lines. I hold seminars about LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Connie Reece and Sheila Scarborough also do workshops on social media.
As I said at the beginning, there’s an extraordinary amount of information I could share about blogging. I’ve given an overview here, in the hopes of whetting your appetite for expressing yourself or sharing your expertise. If you’ve got a favorite blog, I’d love to hear about it. You can reach me at cj@wildwoodinteractive.com.