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A blog is an online journal or diary that is organized by time with the most current entries appearing first. Blogs are currently “the rage” for both personal and business uses. Political candidates, journalists, newsletter publishers, families, college students and even CEOs of major corporations blog for a variety of reasons.
CEOs use blogs to keep in touch with employees and get feedback on corporate intranets. Journalists blog to share columns and increase their readership. Families use blogs to centralize communication among family members. Small business owners use weblogs to build relationships with customers and share their expertise with a larger audience.
Blog Appeal You might consider using a blog if your content is updated frequently: hourly, daily, or several times a week. Blogs make it simple for writers to contribute content (without learning HTML coding) and can be updated from any computer connected to the Internet. Basic weblog terms and features A blogger is someone who has a blog. Blogging is the process of adding content to your blog. A Blogroll is a an optional list of blogs displayed on a weblog that is updated as those sites update their content. This is usually a list of the writer's favorite reads. The Calendar on a weblog links a calendar date to entries posted on that date.
Type keywords into the Search box to find a post containing those words. Categories group your blog by topic. Archives of entries are kept by month.
There are also a few techie features: Permalinks are links to a specific post in a blog’s archive. Bloggers use your permalink to link or reference an entry in your blog. Trackback is a feature that notifies a site that a link to their blog has been created in your blog. Bloggers typically include blogs that link to them in their blogroll.
A blog works because it keeps visitors engaged. Since blogs are more people-oriented rather than service-oriented they spark more attention and maintain interest longer. Blogs are about information, not about selling. Posts to business blogs are short and to the point. If you want more detailed information, resource links are usually included to articles, web sites, PDFs, other blogs, individual blog posts, and more. Articles can also be added to a blog. A blogger can choose to include the entire text in the entry or use a short teaser and link to the entire article with a more link. Comments A blogger can optionally allow registered users to post comments to an individiaul blog entry. Comments help create a community feeling. Bloggers can choose to approve or disapprove the addition of a comment based on their editorial policy. Syndication features, such as RSS ( Really Simple Syndication) or XML, make it easy to know when a blog is updated. Install a newsreader or RSS aggregator on your PC, subscribe to a blog’s RSS or XML feed and an icon on your desktop will alert you whenever a blog that you are subscribed to is updated. The Downside of a Blog A blog also has it’s drawbacks. Keeping a blog current is time consuming and is limited in terms of e-commerce solutions. Blogs have become the target of spammers. Blog spam is typically generated by a automated system that submits comments to blog posts with a message and a web site link. Spam has become a time wasting problem for bloggers. Small Business Blogs You May Like History of Weblogs - http://newhome.weblogs.com/historyOfWeblogs
Ruth Rainey is CEO of eBIZability, Inc. an Atlanta web site design and search marketing company. |
