BY: J O N AT H A N N G & A N I L S U KU L

BLOGGING

HISTORY OF BLOGGING

• The first blog was links.net• Established by a college student Justin Hall in 1994• Was then dubbed “Weblog” in 1999 which reflected the

process of logging on the web • In 1999 it was then shortened to “blog” • 5 years later it was deemed the word of the year by

Webster's.

WHAT IS BLOGGING

• Many blogs focus on specific issues i.e. Save the Wales however many can be online journals of thoughts and feelings• Blog, short form for the word “weblog”• Verb – “a website that contains an online personal journal

with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks as provided by the writer” (Webster's Dictionary).

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BLOGGING AND MICRO-BLOGGING

• 1) Length• 2) Time• 3) Subscriptions• 4) Addressability – Harder to see the replies

IS BLOGGING FOR B2B OR B2C

• The main focus of blogging is to get your message out there to individuals who are in a similar community as yours• B2c blogging is the best as you are able to

interact with consumers, share ideas and gather information about your target market and what they feel or think towards your product

PROFIT V.S. NON PROFIT BLOGGING

• Blogging is best used for non profit organizations• Lets donors know where funds are going• Lets consumers know how their funds are being used• Keeps customers up to date with new information about

various efforts world wide.

HOW CAN IT BE USED FOR BUSINESSES

• Can be used as a tool to communicate with customers • Low cost alternative to having a web presence• Quick and easy to update• Gives business owners a chance to share ideas on a

global level • Keep connected with customers

HOW CAN BLOGGING HELP BUSINESSES

• Blogging is easy to use, many blog sites offer a simple interface to allow the blogger to provide up to date information with a few clicks. There is no special computer skills needed. This is much more convenient to do than having to contact a webmaster to update a company website if you would like to share updates more quickly. • Blogging is a much lower cost and time

alternative to having to learn html or contracting a webmaster to create a professional website. It puts the owner in control of when and what is being posted.

HOW CAN BLOGGING HELP BUSINESSES

• Ability to share multimedia easily such as videos and pictures of products or services your business offers. This is a great opportunity to showcase your business and what it offers as opposed to television or print advertisements. • Not only can you use those multimedia tools to

market your business, you can also use it to be seen as an expert if the blog content also has supporting information such as ‘how to videos’ or pictures of different uses for your products.

HOW CAN BLOGGING HELP BUSINESSES

• If a company already has an established website, a blog can serve as a secondary website to compliment the main site. This can be in a form of an educational blog whereby it teaches consumers how to use the product or service, or an informative blog that keeps customers up to date with reviews or news of upcoming products in which you could be seen as an expert, thus also generating more incoming traffic which could lead main company site.

HOW CAN BLOGGING HELP BUSINESSES

• Blogs can also help businesses internally as well as they can be used as a communication tool to advise employees of any recent company news or announcements. It can also be used as a database for employees to reference back to. 

EXAMPLES (PROFIT V.S. NON PROFIT)

Non-Profit • UNICEF• World Vision • Red Cross Profit Huffington Post - $2 300 000 – per month

-make money based on pay per clickPerez Hilton - $450 000 / month-Money made through advertising BannersCar Advise - $70 000/ month- Money made through banners

ONLINE BLOGGING TOOLS

• MoFuse – Allows you to take your blog mobile by creating a mobile website in which consumers are able to view content of your blog on their phones• SiteMeter – analytics that measures visits, clicks

entry and exit times of users and helps you use that information to make a more efficient blog

CONTINUED

• MyBlogLog – gives you a chance to get to know your readers and allows you to interact with them in a more effective way • Conduit – if your blog is a niche blog it allows you

to create a toolbar in which users are able to download it and keep up to date on any new updates

HOSTED V.S. NON-HOSTED SITES

• What does it mean to have a hosted blog as opposed to non hosted? • To have a non hosted blog you can use various

popular blog platforms but pay a third party site like go daddy to establish your own site • Examples of hosted :• Wordpress• Blogger• Tumblr • Live Journal

IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF BLOGS

• Some important elements of a blog• Easy to read• Integration with social media • Visually appealing • Search box

BLOGGING SOFTWARE

• Tumblr• Free• An in-between option that is a cross between

wordpress and twitter

• Posterous • Free• Mobile blogging

BLOGGING SOFTWARE

• Wordpress.org• Downloadable blog software that the user has full control

over• Layout• Design• Host on another site

• Wordpress.com• Free version of wordpress• Cannot modify

BLOGGING SOFTWARE

• Blogger• Owned by google • Cannot modify• url provided (.blogspot.com)

BLOGGING SOFTWARE

• Typepad • Professional blogging software • Users provided with own URL • Plus: $8.95• Unlimited: $14.95• Premium: $29.95

• Moveable Type • Blogging software that can be used as CMS• Free blogging software• Professional version costly, provides users with SEO,

Facebook and Twitter integration and management.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU BLOG?

• Depends on what your blog goals are.• Lots of traffic vs select followers• Depends on your blog audience. • Hobby blog vs resource blog • More blog posts = attract new visitors by allowing

your blog to be found on search engines better and frequent updates keep visitors coming back.

BLOG ROLL

• List of links to other blogs of interest to the blogger.• General blog etiquette is if someone adds you to

their blog roll you should reciprocate the link. • Great traffic driving tools, the more blog rolls that

you are on, the more chances new visitors will come to your blog. • Blogs with many incoming links are usually

ranked higher by search engines which can also increase your traffic.

RRS MANAGEMENT

• Real Simple Syndication allows bloggers or website owners to automatically send content updates through an aggregator in a simplified form, usually with links to the full content. • An aggregator is usually installed in the web

browser or desktop application • Also called RSS readers, feed readers or news

readers. • Can be useful to track subscribers

PERMALINKS

• A link to an individual blog post• Important if you need to refer to an exact post,

otherwise you will just link to your main blog homepage. • As the blog updates, old posts get achieved and

becomes harder to find specific posts for readers.

RESOURCES TO START BLOGGING

• Choosing domain name• Google AdWords keyword tool• Helps you pick the most popular name that consumers

levitate towards

• KnowEm • Helps you search social networks to see if the domain

name is taken

CONTINUED

• Hosting your domain • Website you choose to establish blog could host for you

but if you want to diversify your blog here are some sites that could help• GoDaddy – starting from $11.99• NameCheap – starting from $8.99• Network Solutions – Ranging in prices (anilsukul.com $34.99

for 1 year contract)

CONTINUED

• Analytics • Google Analytics • Feedburner • Handles your rrs feed

CONTINUED

• Backups • Servers usually have backup features• VaultPress• $15/month

CONTINUED

• Google XML Sitemaps – Wordpress• Creates site map to help viewers navigate webpage

easily

CONTINUED

• All in on SEO Package – Wordpress• Allows for easy SEO • Optimizes wordpress blog post

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