FAQ

RSS Series: How do I set up my blog’s RSS feed via e-mail?

March 10, 2010 By Melanie Nelson 7 Comments

If you have a blog or web site, you likely have an RSS feed your readers can subscribe to via a feed reader so they know when you’ve updated your site with new content. Traditionally, RSS feeds are read through a feed reader or news aggregator. Lately, though, more and more people are asking for [...]

Filed Under: FAQ, Getting Started, RSS/Feeds Tagged With: e-mail rss, FeedBurner, RSS, set up e-mail subscription 7 Comments

RSS Series: How do I burn my blog’s RSS feed with Feedburner?

March 8, 2010 By Melanie Nelson 8 Comments

Today I’m starting a five-part series about RSS and why you need it. Throughout the series you’ll learn what RSS is and why you need to make sure you’re offering it (Pt. 1) how to burn a feed with Feedburner (Pt. 1) how to offer your readers RSS via e-mail (Pt. 2) how to customize [...]

Filed Under: FAQ, Getting Started, RSS/Feeds Tagged With: Blogger, FeedBurner, how to burn a feed, RSS, TypePad, what is RSS, wordpress 8 Comments

What is the difference between blog categories and blog tags?

February 15, 2010 By Melanie Nelson 4 Comments

When I talk to beginning bloggers, I’m asked all sorts of questions. One I received this week was what is the difference between tags and categories? The obvious way to answer this is to define both, of course, but beyond that, I want to explain why you need both, how to name them, and how [...]

Filed Under: Content/Writing, Definitions, FAQ Tagged With: blog organization, blogging advice, cannonical tags, define blog categories, define blog tags, seo 4 Comments

Understanding the New FTC Guidelines: Your Questions Answered

October 8, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 11 Comments

If you’re blogging professionally or even semi-seriously you’ve likely heard about the new FTC guidelines regarding bloggers and how we disclose any relationships with companies who have paid us to endorse or review products. As is usually the case when something changes, rumors and misinformation are swirling. This article seeks to give you a basic [...]

Filed Under: BB101 News, Content/Writing, FAQ, giveaways, Helpful Blogging Links, Making money, Marketing/Branding, Product Reviews, Social Media & Networking Tagged With: blog advice, blogging rules, downoad FTC guidelines, FTC, FTC regulations, new FTC guidelines, Richard Cleland 11 Comments

Should I choose a hosted or non-hosted blogging platform?

August 12, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 2 Comments

This article defines what hosted and non-hosted blogging platforms are and explains the pros and cons of each.

Filed Under: Definitions, FAQ, Getting Started Tagged With: blog definitions, choosing a blog platform, hosted blog, non-hosted blog 2 Comments

FAQs from Beginning Bloggers

August 5, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 2 Comments

Melanie Nelson answers some of the most frequently asked questions by beginning bloggers. For example, what is a permalink? How do I make my own banner? Where can I find HTML resources for my blog? What sections should my blog have?

Filed Under: Buttons/Banners/Graphics, Design, FAQ, Getting Started, HTML Tagged With: beginning blogger tutorial, blogher08, custom banner, custom header, make a banner 2 Comments

Everyday Blogging Tips

May 6, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 2 Comments

Everywhere you turn you can find tips about how to build your blog, build your audience, build your social media presence, etc. What I want to talk about are the every day blog tips you can use to keep things humming along: Choose your link words carefully. Every time you include a link in your [...]

Filed Under: Buttons/Banners/Graphics, FAQ, Getting Started, Linking, Social Media & Networking Tagged With: blog community, blog pictures, blogging tips, chooosing link words, Linking, pictures as content, Social Media & Networking 2 Comments

Which directories should I use to promote/list my blog?

May 4, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 11 Comments

Unless you’ve decided to blog in a vacuum and don’t care if anyone reads what you have to say, at some point you’ve probably looked for ways to encourage new readers to find your blog. When I started blogging in 2004, it wasn’t uncommon for a blog to be part of several blogrings. A blogring [...]

Filed Under: FAQ, Getting Started, Linking, Marketing/Branding, Traffic Tagged With: blog catalog, blog community, blogrings, google pagerank, google webmaster tools, online influence, page rank, Technorati 11 Comments

How Do You Know If Your Blog Is Successful?

April 22, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 9 Comments

When I discuss blogging with others we invariably end up talking about how to make a blog successful. It may not be the thrust of our conversation, but it does come up. We all want to know how to do what we do better. Today’s article discusses Google PageRank and demographics and which is more [...]

Filed Under: Content/Writing, FAQ, Making money, Marketing/Branding, Social Media & Networking, Traffic Tagged With: blog community, blog rank, blog success, demographics, google page rank, making money with a blog, successful blogging 9 Comments

What Are Blog Metrics?

April 20, 2009 By Melanie Nelson 5 Comments

Blog metrics are a way to measure the success (or at least the popularity) of a blog. In this article I will introduce you to several of the sites that are most popular for determining a blog’s success: Google PageRank, Technorati, Digg, and Alexa. Whether you put any stock into them is your call. (wink) [...]