HOW TO BLOG LIKE A PRO
The past few days a few things have caught my attention. While I don’t want to sound like a cranky blank (word removed due to Lent), I think it is time to help new bloggers learn a few things it took me a long time to discover. Due to the coming elections, a number of people who are new to blogging are being assimilated into the bottomless pit of blogging. There are rules of behavior that help you from becoming a pariah. I know, you are going to laugh at the fact that I'm the one telling you these things, but someone needs to do it. I just wish someone had taken the time to tell me these things when I first began blogging. It took me well over a year to get the hang of things, and until last summer to really find my personal style for blogging. I've discovered topic posting is better for me. You will need to come up with your own personal style. While you are doing it, though, there are some basic rules of civil behavior that may make people like you more than they do now. (I'm one to talk).
Please let me know what I managed to forget.
You need to realize that there are people who are blogging because they are in it as serious writers and columnists, pushing their careers. While it may be fun and games and a hobby for you, others take it very seriously. I do not use ads on my blog (it’s slow enough, thank you very much) others do. They are trying to make a little money off their blog.
I’m in it to promote my writing. I do not appreciate it when people plain old copy and paste an entire article, then don’t put in the correct link. That’s just plain nasty. I want you to use and cite my work, but I just want a little of it copied and pasted, then I want a nice (working) url link to The Pink Flamingo. It helps me and it makes your blog look more professional.
There are also a few specific bloggers who need to learn a few facts of life, including the specific fact that no matter how “smart” you think you are, if you are going to quote someone you put in a link and a trackback.
1. ALWAYS CITE & PROPERLY LINK
Blogging is like doing a term paper in high school or college. If you don’t properly cite the material you use, you end up with a failing grade. It’s called plagiarism. On the internet though, it works a little differently. In order not to offend people and have some of them send you nasty email or leave nasty comments on your blog, make sure you give credit where credit is due. While there are exceptions when you want to be nasty (always say you are not linking to that specific location) these are few and far between.
I’ve noticed the “top” blogs have a habit of pilfering information from those of us who are not as “important” as they are and never bothering to link or cite. Their reasoning – allegedly – is their traffic would crash a lesser blog, but frankly, I think they do not welcome the competition.
Don’t play the ideological game. Even if you disagree with the editorial stance of the article you are linking or the blog, or don’t like the owner of the blog, ALWAYS cite and link.
2. USE TRACK-BACKS
A trackback is a another way of letting a blogger know you are using their work. It is good manners, basically. If you are linking to someone’s work, always send them a trackback ping. If they don’t want it, they will have their system set up not to accept trackbacks.
I go back to the ideological game. Don’t let that stop you from properly doing a trackback. There is one specific blogger I really don’t like. If you read The Pink Flamingo on a regular basis you will know who that person is. But – I never fail to link to or track back to that person, even though the party in question is a giant in the industry and doesn’t need my link and trackback. It is only good manners.
There are certain far left bloggers and far right bloggers who don’t like me but do pilfer my material on a fairly regular basis. Frankly, I don’t give a rip if they do or not. BUT- they could have the decency and common courtesy to properly link and trackback to me the way I do to them.
You will find the trackback info to copy and paste at the bottom of each posting (usually).
3. RECIPROCATE COMMENTS
I always try to reciprocate comments. I will be the first to admit I am not perfect when it comes to this, but I try. So should you. If you are part of a link-fest like Thursday Thirteen, ALWAYS reciprocate.
4. ALWAYS ADD THE FOLLOWING
It helps to add the following to the internal workings of your blog. It helps your blog gain status, and helps those who link to you. Even if you aren’t in it for the growth of you blog, others are. Having these connections helps the other person as much as it does you. You link to them in the sidebar of your blog.
I think Technorati is a crock. Once upon a time it was the gold standard for measuring the status of a blog, but now is nothing more than a social networking hit counter for twits who are making friends and contacts. They no longer use Blogrolling, which is also a crock. But, you must use them until another system takes its place. Technorati also claims to reset things every six months. If so, that too is a crock. My status is now lower than it was six months ago, and my blog is growing daily. I truly think Technorati holds a grudge against anyone who complains about them.
Truth Laid Bear The TLB Ecosystem is much fairer than Technorati. It’s also a little bit fun to watch your blog grow from Pond Scum to a Mortal Being. The only way this happens is to reciprocate links and trackbacks.
You cannot set up Technorati or TLB without having a Site Meter account. Unfortunately Site Meter is yet another crock. I’m still trying to figure out how they judge hits. Their daily count and Blog Harbor’s count is usually off by about 90%. Unfortunately everyone judges by Site Meter. I happen to know Blog Harbor’s hit counter is more accurate because it reflects not only the various ways my blog is “hit” but also reflects the amount of data transferred. I’ve reached the point where I can just about judge what is going to happen there simply by looking at the data transfer. But – you can’t do a darn thing without Site Meter.
I happen to think Top Blogs may end up making Technorati even more obsolete than it already is. So far they have nearly 40,000 blogs listed on it. I’m around 950 or so. I’m not going to complain about it. My TLB numbers are always much higher.
Blog Top List This is more a beauty contest, but it is fun to play with.
Unfortunately Delicious is one of those social things you must now link into your blog.
Digg is a way to vote on individual blog postings. It’s also social, but serves a purpose.
SENDING EMAIL ALERTS
There is nothing wrong with a little shameless promotion of your blog or an article. I do it with some frequency. Like everything else, though, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. First things first ALWAYS use BCC. There are any number of people, myself included, who really don’t like their email address bounced all over the known universe.
When you send out an alert like this, don’t send it to everyone you ever met. They really don’t care. Neither to all those “famous” people you have on an email list. These people get hundreds if not thousands of email a day. Face it, people like you and I are nothing but a little fly on the tushie of the T-Rex.
If you are unfortunate enough to still be using a PC and Microsoft Outlook Express (I am now an Apple snotty snob) and have your settings to add every new address that arrives in your in-box, a large group mailing that is not BCC can be a nightmare. I recently received an email that had nearly 100 emails in it’s “TO” list. If I were still using Outlook Express this would be close to 100 unwanted email addresses I would be forced to cull.
While I was gainfully employed as the secretary for my local Episcopal parish (the job is now called “Parish Administrator”) I did the “TO” one time. One of the vestry members took it upon herself to call and give me up and down the creek for not doing a “BCC”. After that, I’ve always done a “BCC”.
SOCIAL BLOGGING
We’re talking Facebook, My Space, this sort of thing. I find them annoying, and that is putting it mildly. My big problem is the fact that I don’t like to bother with them. I know I should, but they take up time. Building your Facebook and My Space social site can help you grow your blog rating. Maybe I’m just not all that sociable or maybe I just don’t have all that many friends online.
There is nothing wrong with social blogging. I just don’t enjoy it. BUT – it is a necessary evil, unfortunately.
Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, 123beta, Oblogatory Anecdotes, Big Dog's Weblog, The Amboy Times, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, Nuke Gingrich, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Blue Star Chronicles, Wolf Pangloss, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
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