Blogging Fundamentals
Web publishing (also called “web logging” – blogging) continues to grow in popularity, especially since the introduction of internet marketing. Nowadays, technologically-savvy corporate businessmen and even business employees, use blogs to build relationships with their consumers. They publish their company’s expertise, culture and any other information, that can help increase the customer’s interest in their products and services.
On the other hand, not only businessmen make use of the world of blogging, everyday computer users do too. This is because they can not only express their opinions and thoughts to others, but they can also earn some money too in a couple of different ways. For example: by selling ad space to promoting expert services, which in its turn can help build their reputation as a professional in that field.
If you are contemplating venturing into the blogosphere, you should be ready for the problems you might encounter in several areas of blogging such as: selecting, setting up and personalizing your blog software. However, because the collection of configurations varies widely, a newbie blogger can still get confused. The tools are not the only obstacles you must master the terminology and etiquette used in blogging.
Tools for Blogging: Basically, the software tools for your blog depend a lot on your webspace provider, since you will need to store your blog somewhere. For instance, RSS functionality can be missing from one provider but present in another. Additionally, some blogging software tool providers can cost as little as $4 each month depending on the quality of service you choose, while others can be used for free but maybe with more limited services.
Choosing the right software depends on you of course. If you have enough cash to spare for a blog or if you want to really get serious about blogging and hope to earn cash in the future, which is always a distinct possibility, you have the option of paying for blogging software. However, if you are a beginner blogger, it could be advisable to start with one of the free blog providers.
Fortunately, some webspace providers that charge for their services also allow free trials, which can range from 10 to 30 days. This is a great way to test the services they provide without paying any fee. Then, if you find a provider with which you are comfortable and which offers the services you need, you can always use their free trial period fully before subscribing.
Blogging Terminology: a blogging community is like a secret society and like most secret societies, it has its own language that you must learn. Although, technologically-savvy individuals might already be familiar with these terms, it might be a little harder for those who have limited or no background with Web publishing whatsoever.
The most important term in blogging is ‘post’. A post occurs whenever you (or someone else) place an update to your blog. Secondly, since blogs are a kind of communication, people can also leave comments. If your readers leave a message regarding your published content, this message is called a ‘comment’. It is customary that, the comments are labeled and time-stamped to permit you and other readers to see who posted the comment and when it was posted.
‘Comment spam’ is the term that refers to when a reader keeps repeating the same comment over and over again or leaves comments that advertise his own products, although they are completely unrelated to the main post. This can be a worry for the blog owner as the blog is being used by the spammer to promote other blogs, products or Web sites.
These are three of the most important new terms that you can come across in blogging. Trial and error can help you understand the other terminology involved in blogging, it’s really not that difficult.
