Blogging Basics 101

How We Communicate: FAQs for Beginning Bloggers

I just returned from BlogHer 2008 in San Franciso. I appeared on a panel with four other women called FAQs for Beginning Bloggers. Our panel was flat-out amazing. We met fantastic bloggers and answered many beginner questions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to answer everyone’s questions. I hope to talk to the BlogHer Three (Lisa, Jory, and Elisa) to discuss having this panel again next year and including a Birds of a Feather Room so we can continue our discussions.

Below you will find my notes from my portion of the panel. After each of the presenters (me, Michele Mitchell of Scribbit, Nelly Yusopova of Webgrrls International, and Shazia Mistry of Adventures in Motherhood) gave a short overview of some basic FAQs, we broke into smaller groups discuss platform-specific questions (i.e., TypePad, Blogger, and WordPress).

We have also compiled a Blogging Resources Document (pdf) for you to download.

In addition, you can find Nelly’s notes at WebGrrrls and Michele’s notes at Scribbit.

How do I find basic html resources to help me remember how to do things like strike-thrus etc.?

When I research information for Blogging Basics 101, I start with a Google search of key words. I also go to each of the three main platforms (Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress) and search their help files with those same key words. More often than not, I find what I’m looking for.

The following five sites are excellent resources for all bloggers to refresh your memory on how to do things like strike-throughs or add a button to your sidebar.

• Blogging Basics 101: This site starts from the beginning and walks you through everything from choosing your blog host and choosing a blog name to figuring out how to do a strike-through and customize your sidebars.
• Blogger Buster: Blogger users should have this one in their bookmarks. Everything you want to know and then some about how to manage and customize your Blogger blog.
• Edublogger: This site is specifically written for people who design, develop, and use educational blogs. However, the information spans niches and is valuable to all bloggers. The author uses many screen captures to make instructions especially easy to follow.
• BlogWell: This site offers everything from theory and design articles to HTML and CSS instruction for WordPress. It is targeted to small businesses and non-profits.
• Lorelle on WordPress: As the name suggests, this blog focuses on WordPress.org and WordPress.com blogs and how to take them to the next level. Lorelle provides tips, advice, and techniques for WordPress bloggers.

What are and how do I create permalinks?

A permalink is the link to an individual blog post. These are important because if you ever need to link to an exact blog entry (e.g., for a carnival or an archived post), you use the permalink as your link. It's poor blog etiquette not to use the permalink.

If you don't use the permalink, you'll just be linking to your main blog page. The problem with that is that, as you post new blog entries, the newest entry appears at the top of your main blog page and the other entries are pushed down on the page. The entry your readers are looking for may be down at the bottom of the page or already in the archives; your reader has no idea where to find the entry! If they click over to your site expecting to see a post specific to a carnival and they see a different post, they may not take the time to find the "real" post they're looking for.

You can find the permalink link under any blog entry. However, not all blog hosts/designs handle permalinks the same way.

• Typepad: There's a link that actually says Permalink under the entry.
• Blogger: The link varies. It's usually the time stamp of the post or the title.
• WordPress: Has a link at the bottom of the post named Permalink and/or the title of the post.

What kind of basic sections should I have in my blog?

I take this to mean What should I place in my sidebar? Your sidebar is your list of things you want to keep handy for your readers and for yourself. Your sidebar is offering your readers something in addition to the day’s post. However, too many links in the sidebar can clutter your design and overwhelm your audience. Keep things clean and orderly.

• Recent Posts/Most popular posts/Archives: You don’t need all three. Just choose one of these.
• Categories or Search: I find that search works well for my blogs, because I have a long list of categories. The search takes up less space and is an easy-to-install widget from Widgetbox.
• About Me/E-mail/Contact information: This is your opportunity to explain your blog. E-mail or other contact information should be readily available so your readers (or PR and marketing people) can contact you.
• RSS subscription button: Blogging Basics 101 has an entire section on RSS and installation and you can review Nelly’s notes at WebGrrrls as well.
• Blogroll (if you choose to do one)

Hosted vs. Non-Hosted?

Hosted: A blog that resides on the host’s server (e.g., Blogger or TypePad or WordPress.com).

Non-hosted: A blog that resides on the user’s (yours) server. You pay a third-party to host your blog (e.g., Moveable Type or WordPress.org).

Hosted Pros: Easy to get started because you don’t have to worry about server issues.

Hosted Cons:

• Blogger blogs can appear to be less professional
• Platform limitations (e.g., archiving can be less than user-friendly; TypePad can have issues with comment spam and trackback spam; difficult SEO)
• Less control over HTML and CSS
• WordPress.com does not allow advertising.

Non-Hosted Pros:

• Control over permalinks (articles aren’t randomly named) which can help with SEO
• Control over how archives are managed
• Control over CSS/HTML

Non-Hosted Cons:

• WordPress.org only supports one blog per installation; however, Moveable Type supports multiple blogs per installation.
• Moveable Type isn’t as malleable as WordPress.org.

How do I make a custom header?

• Using GIMP (free to download) to make custom blog banner (via Simply A Musing Blog)
• How to use PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements to design a custom blog header (via DesignMom) 

To those of you who joined us, thank you! It was a pleasure meeting you. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions. For those of you who were unable to attend our panel or BlogHer ’08, please follow the links to our Blogging Resources Document and panel notes. I’d love to hear from you if you have questions!

I am cross-posting this at Don't Try This at Home and BlogHer.com.

I need to purchase a new computer to start my blog and want to know what types of features the hardware should have to support blogging. Do you have any advice?

I will be brutally honest with you: I have never understood RAM or memory or gigabytes or whatever else I'm supposed to know about how to choose a computer. It's true. I can write HTML, I understand CSS, and I've even written javascript back in the olden days of Netscape, but I cannot help you pick out a new computer.

If I were going to go buy a new computer for myself and money were no object, I'd go straight to the Apple store and buy a MacBook Air. I like how skinny they are. Yes, that's a totally superficial reason to buy the computer. And, although I would have an incredibly cute computer, I would have to trust that the Mac Geeks would know what I need and had set me up accordingly. Which they generally do.

Having outed myself, I do have some help. PC.com will help you. Yes, yes. It's for a PC and not a Mac. The fact that the whole premise of the site is to make sure buying a computer is as easy as pie, though, is worth it. Besides, you can always take the information you learn then run over to the Apple store, right?

PC.com has articles about how to determine what system requirements you need and don't need. They even have a Matchmaker feature that asks you a series of questions then presents you with the computers that match your needs. They even have a special section for answering your specific questions (like how much RAM you need and why a motherboard is important). Pretty slick.

How do I start a blog?

It's pretty easy to start your own blog--even if you think you're not tech-savvy and don't know the first thing about what you're getting yourself into.

First you need to choose which blog host you're going to use. We've written an article giving some basic information on the most popular blog hosts. If you aren't sure how committed you'll be to blogging and just want to try it out, I suggest that you start with a free host like Blogger.

Blogger has a wizard that will help you get your blog started. You'll begin by creating an account, naming your blog (they'll let you know if the name you want is already taken), and choosing a template.

Choosing a Name for Your Blog

This can be daunting. In fact, I think I went through three name changes before I settled on Don't Try This at Home. There are many things to consider:

• what do you want your blog to be about?
• what words reflect that idea or content?
• what graphics would you like to use?

Think about how these things all come together and what they say.

Consider staying away from generic words like ramblings, writings, blog, etc. These words won't set you apart from the thousands of others who are also using them in their titles.

Choosing a Template

Just about every blog host out there offers generic templates for you to use as you start your blog. If you know a little HTML you can quickly change a few key elements and make the template unique to your personality. We have several articles on design.

My advice is to stick with your generic template for a while. Let yourself become used to blogging and allow yourself to evolve. As you do, you'll have a better idea of what you want your site to look like. Besides, if you're spending all your effort in the looks department, you're probably slacking in the writing department. Don't let the project fall apart because you're trying to do too many things at once.

Remember: We all started with the generic templates.

Setting Up a Stat Counter

Once you're blogging you'll want to know who's reading and how those readers are finding you. You can read more about stat counters here.

Several free and easy-to-use counters are available, and all come with step-by-step instructions for installing it on your blog.  Some of the more popular ones are BlogPatrol, LiveBlogStats, ShinyStat, Site Meter and StatCounter.

Setting Up a Blogroll

A blogroll is just a linked list of blogs you like to read. Blogrolls are a great way to start a community. Blogrolls also allow you to share with your readers the types of blogs you enjoy reading. You can tell a lot about a blogger from his/her blogroll. For more tips on blogrolls, read this article.

Generating Traffic

There are so many ways to generate traffic. You can claim your blog with Technorati, sign up with Stumble Upon, join blogrings, or come up with a great weekly carnival (e.g., Works-For-Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer) or weekly post .

The best way to generate traffic, though, is simply to write well and write often. "You can shock them, you can offend them, but you must never bore them." (I've seen that attributed to both Noel Coward and F. Scott Fitzgerald--regardless of who said it, it's true.)

You can find more tips on generating traffic in these articles.

Housekeeping: Comments close after one month

Due to an amazing amount of spam on older posts, I have had to close comments on all posts older than one month. If you have questions regarding an older post you can still send e-mail to bloggingbasics101(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

How important is it for my blog name and the URL to be the same (i.e., http://MYTITLE.blogwhatever.com)? Will it be confusing to readers if they don't match?

If you can swing it, it's really best if your blog URL and your blog title match. It will be much easier for your readers to find you. It's quite possible, though, with the boom of new blogs out there, that the blog URL you want is taken. If that's the case, choose a blog URL that is somehow related to your blog content or similar to its title and you'll be just fine.

A few things to consider with choosing your blog URL:

• Length: Whether you are using the URL supplied by your blog host (e.g., donttrythisathome.typepad.com) or a domain name (www.donttryit.com) choose something that is easy to type and easy to remember. You don't want your readers to have to type in wowthisisareallyfantasticunbeleivableblogyoullloveit.blogspot.com. They will probably fall asleep or find something shiny before they get to the end.
• Relativity: If you can't get the same URL as the name of your blog, at least try to get something that's related to your blog. For example, I used to have a blog at Blogger and it's URL was chilihead2.blogspot.com. "Chilihead" is my nickname in the blogosphere so it made sense and related to my blog.
• Feedreaders: Remember, most of your devoted readers will be reading you through a feedreader (e.g., Bloglines or Google Reader). They may not even know your actual URL.

How do I add a link to my archives on Blogger?

This is a great question for a Friday. It's easy to answer and easy to implement.

1. Log in to Blogger.
2. Go to Layout > Template > Page Elements.
3. Click Add a Page Element.
4. Scroll down until you see Blog Archives and click the Add to Blog button under it.
5. Click Save.

That's it. No kidding. You're a rock star.

If you want to customize how your archives are shown just click the Edit link on your Blog Archive page element. You'll see a whole slew of stuff you can play with.

I bought a domain name for my blog. Now what?

Many bloggers are unhappy with the myblog.typepad.com or myblog.blogger.com addresses they are assigned. It's just more professional to have the myblog.com, myblog.net, or myblog.org URL instead. These URLs are called domain names. Once you've purchased your domain name, though, you need to map it to your existing site so when a reader types in your domain name they'll be directed to your existing blog.

Typepad users have incredibly thorough instructions via the Typepad Knowledge Base. Do a search for domain mapping.

Blogger users, here are your instructions directly from Blogger on how to use your domain name with your Blogger blog.

WordPress users also have great instructions from the WordPress FAQ on how to accomplish domain mapping.

How can I make money on my blog?

Wouldn't it be nice if we could post our little hearts out, sit back, and watch the dollars roll in?  The truth is that there are very few people getting wealthy from blogging.  If you're doing it solely for the bucks, you're probably going to be disappointed. 

There are, however, a few ways to generate a bit of bloggy income. 

The most obvious way to earn income is by having ads in your sidebar, or elsewhere on your page.  You can try selling these yourself--a lot of work, but it works for some people.  Many bloggers have had success using an ad service that sells the ads for you, giving you a percentage of the income.  (They give you the code to insert on your blog, and your ads will appear in that spot.  Any ad service worth its salt will offer you pleny of editorial freedom to block certain types of ads from your blog.)  BlogHer Ad Network is an example of an ad service.  At the writing of this post, they are currently accepting applications for new bloggers. 

BlogAds is another favorite of many bloggers.  You have to be invited by an existing BlogAds member to participate (though not every BlogAds member is authorized to give out invitations).  BlogAds is attractive because it can be highly specialized.  A company can buy an ad on JUST YOUR BLOG, not on every member of the network.  Also, in BlogAds, you can group your blog into "hives" with other blogs--for example, Christian Blogs, Tech Blogs, Southern Blogs, Pet Blogs, etc. 

PayPerPost has been popping up around the blogosphere lately.  I'll confess to not knowing much about it--I've been a little turned off at the notion of being paid to "plug" a product or site actually in the content of my blog.  A sidebar ad is clearly an ad, but a post?  That's walking into some murky waters with your readers, who want to be able to trust you! 

GoogleAds is yet another ad service some bloggers are having success with.  It works by "reading" what kind of subject matter you're writing about and then posting links on a similar subject. 

Amazon Associates is a tool I'd highly recommend to anyone who blogs about books. Once you set up an account with them, they help you build links back to their specific products.  If anyone visits Amazon through one these links, you receive a referral fee from anything they bought in that session.  It's very easy to do--their web site will walk you right through it.

As you would expect, earning ad revenue is based entirely on blog traffic.  The more traffic you have, the more you can earn.  If you're a blogger with low traffic, but you'd like to generate some income, my best advice would be to focus first on building up your traffic before going after ads.  Write well, and consistenly.  Consider your audience.  Join webrings.  Once you're feeling more established in your traffic, then you will likely find adding in these ad features much easier. 

Blogger vs. Typepad: Some Questions

We receive many questions asking us why we use Typepad for our personal blogs instead of Blogger. In fact, we receive so many of the same questions regarding this I've decided to devote an entire post to it.

1. Are the Typepad templates easy to customize?  I am not very computer-savvy so I was wondering if it is simple to add your own header, sidebar catergories, etc.

If you are on the free trial for the most basic pkg, you won't be able to customize. Make sure you're doing a trial for the 8.95 pkg of above and I believe you can customize.

2. When you switched, what happened to your blog traffic?  Did people re-link you with the new address?  I just don't want to lose what I have going, you know?

I switched to TP not too long after I started getting traffic. I didn't have a lot of traffic then, but those that did link to me were fine with updating their blogroll links and Bloglines. Robin over at Pensieve just did a switch and I don't think she's had any lull in traffic. I know several people who are making the switch. I think you'll be fine.

3. Is Typepad really worth the money?  I know it isn't that much to spend, but paying for blogging seems so silly.  But I am wanting to expand what I do a little bit and Typepad blogs have a more classic and professional look.  This may make the $$$ worth spending.

I think TP is worth the money. It's fairly inexpensive, I have control over my blog, I don't have to get into the HTML unless I want to, and it's just not down as much as Blogger.

4. What about commenting?  Blogger commenting stinks and I use Haloscan.  How does Typepad compare?

Commenting in TP is ridiculously easy to receive and respond to. You are sent an e-mail with the comment and you just have to hit reply on the e-mail to send that person a response if you want.

So, um, how DO I start my own blog?

It's pretty easy to start your own blog--even if you think you're not tech-savvy and don't know the first thing about what you're getting yourself into.

First you need to choose which blog host you're going to use. We've written an article giving some basic information on the most popular blog hosts. If you aren't sure how committed you'll be to blogging and just want to try it out, I suggest that you start with a free host like Blogger.

Blogger has a wizard that will help you get your blog started. You'll begin by creating an account, naming your blog (they'll let you know if the name you want is already taken), and choosing a template.

Choosing a Name for Your Blog

This can be daunting. In fact, I think I went through three name changes before I settled on Don't Try This at Home. There are many things to consider:

• what do you want your blog to be about?
• what words reflect that idea or content?
• what graphics would you like to use?

Think about how these things all come together and what they say.

Consider staying away from generic words like ramblings, writings, blog, etc. These words won't set you apart from the thousands of others who are also using them in their titles.

Choosing a Template

Just about every blog host out there offers generic templates for you to use as you start your blog. If you know a little HTML you can quickly change a few key elements and make the template unique to your personality. We have several articles on design.

My advice is to stick with your generic template for a while. Let yourself become used to blogging and allow yourself to evolve. As you do, you'll have a better idea of what you want your site to look like. Besides, if you're spending all your effort in the looks department, you're probably slacking in the writing department. Don't let the project fall apart because you're trying to do too many things at once.

Remember: We all started with the generic templates.

Setting Up a Stat Counter

Once you're blogging you'll want to know who's reading and how those readers are finding you. You can read more about stat counters here.

Several free and easy-to-use counters are available, and all come with step-by-step instructions for installing it on your blog.  Some of the more popular ones are BlogPatrol, LiveBlogStats, ShinyStat, Site Meter and StatCounter.

Setting Up a Blogroll

A blogroll is just a linked list of blogs you like to read. Blogrolls are a great way to start a community. Blogrolls also allow you to share with your readers the types of blogs you enjoy reading. You can tell a lot about a blogger from his/her blogroll. For more tips on blogrolls, read this article.

Generating Traffic

There are so many ways to generate traffic. You can claim your blog with Technorati, sign up with Stumble Upon, join blogrings, or come up with a great weekly carnival (e.g., Works-For-Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer) or weekly post .

The best way to generate traffic, though, is simply to write well and write often. "You can shock them, you can offend them, but you must never bore them." (I've seen that attributed to both Noel Coward and F. Scott Fitzgerald--regardless of who said it, it's true.)

You can find more tips on generating traffic in these articles.