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SET UP A WORDPRESS BLOG
H ere’s how you set up your WordPress Blog on your URL (domain). The first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a hosting account created. Your hosting account must include: PHP 4.3 (or higher) MySQL 4.0 (or higher) Mod_rewrite Apache module You do not need to worry about what these features are, it is just important that you make sure you have them. Try to get hosting at the same place you set up your domain. In your hosting account you will find a control panel. In
option and create a new database. You will be asked to give the database a name and create a username and password. Keep this information in a safe place. This is your MySQL da tabase that will store all of your blog postings. I NSTALLING W ORD P RESS
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Once you have the hosting set up and the database created it is time to install WordPress. Some hosting companies have a quick install option. If they do not all you have to do is download the latest software at: http://wordpress.org/latest.zip (for Windows or Mac). Unzip the files on your computer. They will be unzipped in a folder called “Wordpress”. Within the unzipped files you will find a file called wp-configsample.php open it the file (it
ate a subdirectory for the blog. You may want to create one like: http://www.mydomain.com/blog or blog.mydo-main.com. After the WordPress files are on the server go into your web browser and type www.yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php (or if you did it on a subdirectory you type www.yourdomain.com/blog/ wp-admin/install.php
H ere’s how you set up your WordPress Blog on your URL (domain). The first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a hosting account created. Your hosting account must include: PHP 4.3 (or higher) MySQL 4.0 (or higher) Mod_rewrite Apache module You do not need to worry about what these features are, it is just important that you make sure you have them. Try to get hosting at the same place you set up your domain. In your hosting account you will find a control panel. In your control panel find the Databases
option and create a new database. You will be asked to give the database a name and create a username and password. Keep this information in a safe place. This is your MySQL da tabase that will store all of your blog postings. I NSTALLING W ORD P RESS
The software will then guide you through the last few steps to installing your blog on your server. WordPress makes it quick and easy to install a blog. Take your time and go step-by-step and you should have no problem installing and starting your blog
SET UP A BLOGGER BLOG
etting up a blog on Blogger is quite easy. The first thing you want to do is to set up a Google account for the blog. You can do this by going to Blogger.com and then following the link in the resources section. It takes about 2 or 3 minutes to set up a Google account. If you already have a Google account you can use it if you wish. After you have set up your Google account you should go back to Blogger.com and signusername and password. Your in using your Google account username is typically the e address you used when creating the account.mail You can set up your account so it remembers your username and
password. Only do this if you are on a nonshared computer. Look for the “Create a blog” option on the dashboard ofBlogger. The dashboard is the page you go to every time you log onto your Blogger account. You can manage several blogs from the same dash board if they were all created with the same Google account. You will be asked to name your blog. You want to create an easy to remember, easy to find name that makes it clear what your blog is about. Try not to have a blog name that is too long. It will be the first part of the web address of your blog. For example if you name your
NAMING YOUR BLOG
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Shakespeare asked if a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. The importance of choosing the right name for your blog should not be overlooked. Remember there are two different names for your blog. First, there is the name you choose for the actual blog. Second, there is the URL you reserve to host your blog. NAMING the Blog People can sometimes try to be overly cute or a bit too creative when they name their blog. Though it is a way to show your creativity you run the risk of no one knowing what blog is actually about. A blog’s namehim should immediately convey the central purpose of your blog. This will be helpful in gaining followers who often look on blog directories or search for blogs by category online. If someone is looking for a blog about luxury handbags they will want to see a blog with a name that includes any of the following: Bags
Handbags Hobos Purses Satchels, etc Though you may want to be more creative and use a term like arm candy, not all of your potential readers will be able to identify the focus of your blog based on the name. Try to be straight forward with your blog’s name and use your creativity with the design of the blog and the actual content on it. B LOG URL If possible you wan t your blog’s URL to be the same as the name of your blog but this is not always possible or even desirable. If you want to be creative with the name of your blog then try to be straight forward with your URL. For example, if you choose the name Eye Candy Blog for the name of your blog, as mentioned above, you may want a URL that has handbag or purse in the name. Typically people see both the blog’s name and URL when looking in a blog directory. Though ideally you are straight with the name you forward give your blog and the URL it will be placed on, you can choose to be a little more creative with the name of your blog as long as your URL contains the keywords in it. Take time to think about the best name for your blog. Try to choose a name that will s trike a chord with your target market. Often less is more and simple is the best way to go.
TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG
4. To blog or not to blog that is the question website owners should ask. Many people rush to create a blog with little purpose in mind, and others assume blogging is a waste of time and never try. The truth is that some businesses would benefit from a blog while some would not. BLOGGING – Do You Have Something to Say? The first question you should ask yourself is whether or not you have something to say that will either inform or entertain your target market. You need to feel confident that you can sustain a blog. If you have “some” information but not enough to sustain a blog you may consider writing and distributing articles rather than writing a blog. If you think you have enough to say then you are past the first step in the decision making process. BLOGGING – Identifying the Target Market
4. blog tedstidbits@blogspot.com. Tidbits” your URL The next thing you need to do is to choose your template. Blogger has a number of templates to choose from. You do not have to agonize over which template to use because you can change the template at any time. Write your first official blog post using the template Blogger provided. Feel free to add a picture, etc. Once you submit that first blog posting you will be able to view your new blog, edit t he posting, etc. At this point you can personalize your blog so it stands out. Many different aspects of the blog can be changed, moved around, etc. Click on the “Layout” option and start to make your blog stand out from the other blogs out there. You can undo virtually anything that you do so do not be shy to experiment with different layouts for your blog. Once you finish your layout you are done. Happy bloggi
It is important to identify your target market. Who do you want reading your blog and for what purpose? This will help you start to determine whether or not this target market is likely to find and read your blog. You do not want to waste resources in writing a blog no one reads. Determining the goal of your blog is vital. Is your goal to create a revenue stream through affiliate marketing? Is the goal to introduce consumers to prod ucts and services on your website? Is your goal to enhance your search engine rankings? Once you know your goal or goals you can start to determine how likely it is for you to reach them. For example, will you be able to find affiliate advertisers who would appeal to your target market? Do you have enough information to post regularly about your products and services without being repetitive? You need to know who your target market is and what your goal is. B LOGGINGHow Often? You need to blog regularl y. Depending on your goals you may have to put blog postings up daily or perhaps only weekly. You need to stay on top of your blog. If your blog readers see a lull in your postings they will lose interest. A good rule of thumb is to post at least 4 times per week. Anything less than that would be ineffective for most purposes. Ask yourself these questions and be honest and realistic with the answers and you will determine whether it is time to blog or not to blog.
TOP MISTAKES OF BLOGGERS
5. Knowing the most common mistakes made by bloggers can help you avoid making them. In the end you have complete control over your blog. You can choose to do or not to do anything you want. Knowing the repercussions of certain actions or inactions can help you make better decisions. BLOGGER MISTAKE #1 – Ignoring Comments Ignoring the comments posted on your blog is a big mistake. Some bloggers never read the comments posted on their blog. This is bad for two reasons. First, you will gain no insight about your follow-ers. Your followers are essential if you want to have a popular blog or a blog that you earn money from. Think of your blog as a conversation not as a monologue. Never ignore your readers. If you ignore them they will eventually ignore you. Additionally, the comments section is where most SPAM will appear. Even if you install SPAM blockers there will be a certain amount of SPAM that is able to make its way through. SPAM can hurt
your blog’s reputation and even cause problems on Google and the other search engines. B LOGGER M ISTAKE #2 Infrequent Posting Infrequent or irregular posting on your blog can lead to you losing followers. Even if you do not think anyone is reading your blog you want to set a schedule for blog postings and stick to it. It is important to have consistency on a blog, especially if it is a corporate blog or a blog intending to create revenue. Depending on the focus of your blog you w ill need to determine the minimum frequency you can post on it. Some blogs can do quite fine with 3 or 4 blog posts per week while other blogs need 10 or more postings per day. Your followers will start to expect to see postings regularly so do not disapp oint them. B LOGGER M ISTAKE #3 Taking Things Personally
A DD OCIAL EDIA Links to Blog People who find your blog may not know that you also have social media accounts and pages. Make sure that your blog prominently displays an invitation for them to become a fan on Facebook and a follower on Twitter. As a blogger you want to give people a ample opportunity to learn more from you and about you. Linking your social media accounts to your blog creates these opportunities. Web 2.0 is all about users participating on websites and networks. A blogger needs to think about inviting participation on their blog and beyond their blog in order to create an overall user experience that builds loyalty. Off Blog Feeds When you set up your blog you will have the option to arrange a blog feed that other people can pick up and add t o their site. Basically your blog postings will be displayed on any site that adds the feed to it. A blog feed can open up new traffic sources and revenue streams with no additional effort on your part. You should also add your blog feeds to directories and other resources that people search in order to add fresh content to their site.
LINKING YOUR BLOG AND SMM
6. ACCOUNTS Your blog and your social media marketing (SMM) accounts should be linked together. You want to create a network of resources that bring together your various marketing efforts. Linking your blog to your social media accounts is essential. BLOG POSTINGS on Facebook and Twitter You can set up your social media accounts including Facebook and Twitter so that they automatically show a link to your blog postings. This automated technique makes it easy to update your Facebook pages and Twitter account with your new blog postings. One of the goals of all social media marketing plans is to keep content updated and fresh. If you update your blog frequently you will be automatically updating your Facebook and Twitter account as well. Make sure the titles of your blog posting are eye-catching and you can drive traffic from the social media sites onto your blog. A short, catchy title will capture the attention of someone you are friends with on Facebook or who is following you on
ASHLEY MILLER Handbags Hobos
6. Purses Satchels, etc Though you may want to be more creative and use a term like arm candy, not all of your potential readers will be able to identify the focus of your blog based on the name. Try to be straight forward with your blog’s name and use your creativity with the design of the blog and the actual content on it. B LOG URL If possible you wan t your blog’s URL to be the same as the name of your blog but this is not always possible or even desirable. If you want to be creative with the name of your blog then try to be straight forward with your URL. For example, if you choose the name Eye Candy Blog for the name of your blog, as mentioned above, you may want a URL that has handbag or purse in the name. Typically people see both the blog’s name and URL when looking in a blog directory. Though ideally you are straight with the name you forward give your blog and the URL it will be placed on, you can choose to be a little more creative with the name of your blog as long as your URL contains the keywords in it. Take time to think about the best name for your blog. Try to choose a name that will s trike a chord with your target market. Often less is more and simple is the best way to go.
BLOG SET-UP – PLUG-INS
7. When you are setting up your blog you will have the option to add plug-ins. There are many add-ons or plug-ins to choose from. Some of them can be quite useful and some of them can be quite useless. Since WordPress is the most popular blog choice we will focus our examination on plug-ins with WordPress blogs. BLOG PLUG-IN: Akismet SPAM is a serious issue on the web including on blogs. Akismet is a plug-in option for WordPress blogs that helps eliminate SPAM before it can appear on your blog. This free plug-in is essential and is considered by many bloggers to be their most important weapon against SPAM. One of the first plug-ins you should add to your blog is Akismet. Make sure it is up to date and properly installed on your blog. BLOG PLUG-IN: Add to Any Social media marketing has transformed the Internet. The vast
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majority of bloggers also have social media accounts. Bloggers are typically quite actively engaged in social media sites and social book-marking. Add to Any is a plug-in for social media marketing. Adding this plug-in to your blog makes it easy to add blog post-ings to your social media sites as well as to bookmark your postings. BLOG PLUG-IN: All in one SEO Pack The all-in-one SEO pack for WordPress blogs is an important plug-in. This SEO pack incorporates the essential SEO elements needed to help your blog appear in search results for relevant keyword terms. Many search engine optimization experts add the SEO Pack to every blog they manage. BLOG PLUG-IN: Backup Wordpress WordPress offers a backup plug-in that automatically backs up your database for security purposes. This feature is an important safety feature that will protect you if your blog loses data or that data gets corrupted. Hackers often target blogs so having the right security in place is important
BLOG PLUG-IN: Super Cache The Super Cache plug-in helps your blog postings get indexed quickly in the search engines. Indexation is important because it helps people find your website. This plug-in is often considered part of the list of SEO plug-ins but it is not part of the All in One SEO Pack described above. When setting up your blog, make sure you install the five essen-tial plug-ins outlined in this article. There may be other plug-ins that interest you as well but these are the five most important WordPress plug-ins.
BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS –
8. COMMENTS Comments by readers of your blog can be moderated by you in a number of ways. Your decision on how you will monitor comments will have a large impact on your overall blog. It is important that you keep in mind the pros and cons of your decision. First and foremost, blogs that invite comments from readers are generally more popular than blogs that do not. Web 2.0 is all about participation on the web and people like to feel part of a blog community rather than just a reader of a one-sided blog. For some businesses it may make sense to disallow comments, however, for the majority of businesses and personal blogs you should consider allowing comments from your readers. UNRESTRICTED COMMENTARY One option you can have on your blog is unrestricted commentary. This allows anyone to post comments on your blog with no moderation. Though this is the most open form of blogging it is also the most dangerous. You will undoubtedly find inappropriate
Newbie Bloggers Guide
Comments and SPAM on your blog which can lead to problems with the search engines. For the most part it is not a good idea to commentary. R EGISTERED User Commentary allow unrestricted One small but effective way to restrict the commentary on your site is to require the person interested in commenting to register for your blog with a valid email address. This will prevent most mers who want to post quickly and move on. It will also help prevent people from posting ridiculous comments on your blog. Some SPAM and ridiculous commentary will still get through. spam Once someone is registered you can monitor their postings on your blog and ban them or block them if you find them posting inap propriate comments
A PPROVED Comments Only Most bloggers choose the option of allowing only approved comments to appear on their blog. Basically you set up the blog so you are notified a nytime someone posts a comment to one of your postings. The comment will not appear until you have reviewed it and actively approved it. Requiring comment approval is a good way to both allow comments and protect the integrity of your blog at the same tim e. Most people familiar with blogging expect to have their comments reviewed before being visible. Allow commentary on your blog in order to keep your readers active on your blog but choose the level of protection that works the best for your needs
MONETIZING YOUR BLOG
9. S ome people blog for the pure pleasure of blogging about something they are passionate about. Some people blog with the goal of making money. There are a number of ways you can monetize your blog. You can choose one or more of them depending on which is the most appropriate for you blog’s topic and your blog’s followers. M AKING Money with Affiliate Arrangements Depending on the topics of your blog you may be able to make money through affiliate relationships. If your blog is on a topic that relates directly to products you can almost assuredly make money by placing affiliates’ ads on your site.For example, if you have a blog about accessories you can sign up for affiliate programs from retailers o can place affilf accessories. You iate ads on your blog as well as add affiliate links in your actual blog postings. The affiliate relationships may even drive some of your content. If you can earn money by mentioning a new product or service on
Newbie Bloggers Guide 19 blog and provide a link (with the affiliate tracking code) to a retailer offering the product you can earn a percentage of the sale. You can also contact retailers directly and request that they offer your readers a coupon code. The coupon code would give your readers a discount and earn you a commission for every sale. This way both you and your readers benefit from the affiliate arrangement. PPC A DS on Your Blog You can add Google, Yahoo and Bing ads to your blog as well. You will earn some money every time someone clicks on the link from your blog. If you are going to do this it is important that you use ad filters so you can make sure that the ads that appear on your blog are appropriate for your target market. You do not want ads for the sake of having ads. You want ads which are relevant to your target market. The more relevant the ads are the more likely the ads will be clicked on by your readers. A hightraffic blog can make considerable money through PPC ads though perhaps not as much as if done through the right affiliate relationships.
The bottom line is you can monetize your site with affiliate relationships and PPC ads. If you are taking the time to write compelling content you should reap the rewar ds of your effort. Go ahead and monetize your blog in one or both ways.
10 BLOGGING FOR A TARGET MARKET Blogging is an effective way to earn an income while writing about something you are passionate about. It is sometimes too easy to let your blog run astray so make sure you always have your target market in mind. The most effective blogs stay true to their main focus and primary target market. Your ability to keep your blog’s focus on your target market will be result in greater loyalty from your readers as well as greater opportunities to earn money on or through your blog. You should try to get as specific as you can when determining who your target market is. For example, the criteria you may consider when determining your target market may include: Age Children or no children Ethnic background Gender Geographic area Income bracket Marital status Religious background
Newbie Bloggers Guide
Sexual orientation, etc. These are just some of the characteristics you can consider when identifying your target market. I DENTIFY I NTERESTS of Target Market Once you have identified your target market and described them you need to start to determine what interests them and what does not. You can use social media sites like Facebook to gain some insight into your target market. Remember, your target market will have diverse interests so you want to try to identify trends and similarities. Tr y to stay as close to your blog’s primary purpose as possible. Identifying their interests will enable you to make appropriate references in your blog rather than add entirely new subjects that have little relevance to your primary subject
I NVITE F EEDBA CK from Target Market You can invite feedback about your blog from your target market on your blog or on social media sites. Input from your target market is a great way to make sure you are on point and will help you make sure your blog is serving your t arget market well. Blogs should be viewed as conversations not monologues. Your readers will feel more loyalty if they can contribute to your blog and start dialogues with you and other followers of your blog. Do not get in the habit of thinking you are t he only one that should offer commentary on your blog or you will have very few followers. Identify your target market, focus on their needs and welcome them as part of your blog and you can be well on your way to successful blogging.
BLOGGING OCHOOSING A THEME
11. One of the most exciting things for new bloggers to do is to up their blog. They look forward to coming up with a catchy name and a snappy looking design. The enthu siasm is great but make sure it does not lead you astray. set When you choose your theme you want to make sure the theme has the functionality you want before you focus on the aesthetics. C HOOSING a Blog Theme with Functionality It is important that you choose a th eme that has all the features you want. Perhaps the most important is to make sure your theme allows you to place advertisements on your blog if that is one of your goals. If your blog is part of an affiliate marketing program or some other type of program that will allow you to monetize the blog you have to make sure the theme you choose is appropriate for that goal. Some themes allow ads to be more prominently placed than other themes. Location of the ads is one of the keys on a blog. In fact you should vi ew your blog as real estate and determine its most valuable places and use them for maximum impact
Newbie Bloggers Guide
If you plan to have a “tag cloud” on your blog, make sure the theme supports it well. The bottom line is you must make sure the theme you choose can handle the various things you want to accomplish. C HOOSING A B LOG T HEMECleanliness is Next to Godliness A clean, easy to read and easy to navigate blog is a successful blog. There are many themes available that are high on design and low on effectiveness. People visiting blogs are not looking for tons of bells and whistles (unless of course the blog is about bells and whistles). They want a clean blog that is easy to navigate. Check the themes you are consid ering carefully and make sure you think it is easy to find all the different navigation options. Make sure the colors are not too harsh or your readers will not be able to stay on your blog long. Do not have too many moving components on your blog or it wil l be unappealing to blog readers. You want to choose a theme that is comfortable for your readers. The goal is to keep them on your blog so take the time to compare different themes and ask for help if needed
BLOGGING BLENGTHOFPOSTS
12. Bloggers often wonder how long a blog posting should be. most bloggers err on the side of posting overly long posts rather than posts that they may think are too short. The reality is you are better off with Oddly frequent shorter posts rather than longer posts less frequently. K EEP it Short and Simple Blog postings should be relatively short (typically under 400 words). Topics that require longer postings can be and should be split over several postings rather t han being in one longer blog post. Many bloggers find that postings under 200 words are the most effective. Most online users skim content. Blog postings or web pages with too much content can overwhelm the reader and cause them to become uncomfortable or lose interest in your blog. As a general rule you should keep your sentences short. Try to have one thought per sentence. Also try to keep your paragraphs to four sentences or less. Long paragraphs can turn off readers. You want to keep your readers on you r blog as long as possible
Newbie Bloggers Guide 25 Make sure you write succinctly. The ability to quickly convey a point will keep your readers happy and on your blog. H OW M ANY P OSTS Per Day If you are adding short blog posts of under 150 words you will probably want to add at least 2 or 3 per day. If your blog postings are 300 or 400 words in length you can add just one or two per day. When it comes to the frequency of postings, the more often you post the better. Again , you do not want to add posts for the sake of adding posts. Each post on your blog should meet the criteria you established for your blog. Make sure it adds value for your blog before you publish it. If your blog postings are primarily videos or images w ith very little text you will want to make sure you have several postings per day. You may appear lazy to your readers if you only put one or two very short postings on your blog each day. Not all the posts need to be from you. You can invite contributors to post on your blog. Having others write for your blog is a good way to alleviate some of the stress associated with maintaining a blog. Keep these things in mind when you are considering the length and frequency of your blog postings
BLOGGING – HOW OFTEN DO I POST?
13. Many bloggers, especially new bloggers wonder how often they should post on their blog. Do they post at a furious pace until their fingers bleed? Do they post only when the spirit moves them? The answer is somewhere in between. Bloggers need to have a general idea of how often they plan to post. Consistency is more important than volume when it comes to posting. If you start off with great passion and post 5 or 10 postings every day for a month then suddenly lose steam your followers will recognize this and wonder if you are losing interest in your own blog. If you lose interest so will they
HOW OFTEN TO POST – Gain Momentum You are always better off gaining momentum rather than losing steam. Start off your blog by adding postings at a pace you know you can keep up with. On days that you are feeling particularly prolific you should create extra posts and save them in your admin panel without actually publishing them. You can build a stockpile of posts that can be used on days you have nothing to say or are unable to sit down and focus on your blog
Newbie Bloggers Guide
at all. This is a good way to make sure that you are prepared for any unplanned writing absences. How many posts you start off with per day will depend on your blog’s focus. If you are a corporate blog you can likely start with one very good post per day. If you have an entertainment blog you prob ably want at least four or W HAT IS five short postings per day. my Starting off Point? The best way to determine your starting off point is to look at the competition. See how often they post and how long their postings are. You do not have to duplicate their effort but you do not w ant to be too far below it
You must also consider quality. Quality should not suffer for the sake of quantity. If you find that some of your posts are not good enough for your blog because you were focused on getting out extra posts you should consider scaling back a bit and sustain a volume that is comfortable for you. The bottom line is you need to keep your blog updated and current with content but you do not want to become a slave to it. Try to find a realistic pace that can grow over time.
MULTI-PURPOSE BLOG CONTENT
14. Writing for your blog can be a part-time or full-time job. Whether you are paying a professional blog writer or writing the content yourself you want to make sure you get the most out of the resources you have devoted to your blog. Multipurposing your blog content is a good way to maximize the value of your efforts. You may not think about blog content as some-thing that can be multi-purposed but it certainly can and likely should be. ADDING Content to Your Blog The first thing you want to do is add the newly written content to your blog. Google, Yahoo and the other search engines typically give the most value to the first place content is added. You want the most value to be your blog so make sure you post your content there first. Once you have added the content to your blog you want to wait to confirm it has been indexed by Google, Yahoo and Bing. You do this by doing a search for the title of your blog and seeing if your blog comes up in the search results. If your blog posting has been indexed you can distribute the
Newbie Bloggers Guide
posting in other ways including on article distribution websites, social bookmarking sites, social media sites and your own emarketing database. C ONTENTDistribution mail Before you begin distributing the content you may want to consider making some simple changes to the content so it is not iden tical to the content on your blog. You should also consider getti ng your newly added content licensed with Creative Commons in order to protect yourself from duplicate content issues. The most important places to distribute your blog content is on social media sites like Facebook, social bookmarking sites like Stumble Upon and article distribution sites like Ezine Articles
C ONSIDER D ERIVATIVE W ORKS Using derivative works can eliminate any concerns of having content identical to content that will appear on other web pages. If you distribute derivative versions of you any duplicate content concerns. r content you eliminate Derivative works are similar but not identical to the original content created for your blog. You can change the introductory paraconcluding paragraph and some words in each sentence and graph, distribute it without any concern about duplicate content.Go ahead and multipurpose your blog content. If you do it prop erly you can make sure you are getting maximum value out of your blog resources.
BLOG STYLE AND TONE
15. The style and tone you use on your blog is important. Not blog will have or should have the same style and tone. Both every the tone and style of your blog is determined by your topic and your target market. For the most part blogs should be conversational in tone. You want people to feel comfortable on your blog and not feel that they are being lectured to or “spoken” down to. The more conversational in tone your blog is the more comfortable your followers will feel. Of course, this does not mean that every blog should be casual in nature. Do not confuse conversational with casual. Though it is perfectly acceptable for some blogs to be casual in tone, not all blogs should be. Take for example blogs by professionals such as doctors and lawyers. Though the style of the blog should be conversational in tone, the style should not be too casual. Consumers expect a profes sional to remain professional without being didactic. S LANG , Expletives and Humor The use of slang is often considered casual . Though this is appro
blogs. Expletives are never appropriate for corporate or professional blogs. You should avoid them at all costs. In fact you should avoid using any inflammatory language on your blog including racial slurs, slurs about gender, sexual orientat ion, political affiliation, disability or religion. Humor is certainly something you can use on a blog including professional and corporate blogs. Humor can be appropriate but again do not use humor based on gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, disab ility, etc. P UT the Conversation in ConversationalYour blog should invite commentary from your readers. Invite them into the conversation and you will get many more loyal follow ers. You may have heard of the expression Web 2.0. This basically refers t o usercreated content and experiences. As a blogger you are engaging in a Web 2.0 environment if you invite input from your readers. It is important to let your readers know the rules for commenting on your blog. You can specifically forbid flaming (attacking other readers); abusive language; expletives, etc. It is perfectly acceptable for you to expect your readers’ comments to fit the style and tone you set up for your blog
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