learn wordpress now – how to blog!

Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category

Bloggers are sometimes their own worst enemies. Maybe you have a fantastic theme, and a fascinating topic to blog about, and masses of unique content, but there are three big no-nos if you want an amazing blog:

1. Don’t overload your blog with flashing banners, animated widgets and blinking gizmos. If your blog has so much going on that it looks like a fruit machine in a casino then no-one’s going to focus on anything. People will click away from your blog just to save their eyes. If you want to show off some flash and movement, make that gizmo the one stunning centerpiece of the page. Then you will have made your point.
2. Whatever language you are writing in, get your posts spell-checked. You may not think it matters but it does. You want to engage your readers, not irritate them. And it isn’t grown-up to have a lot of exclamation marks (!!!) scattered around your text – you don’t want to sound like a hysterical teenager, even if you are…
3. If you allow other people to comment on your blog, keep an eye on what they post. Yes, it’s great to have comments from readers, and, no, you don’t want to censor free speech, but some comments can be a pain, or offensive, or irrelevant. Remember that it’s your blog and you decide what’s shown. Don’t let others ruin your blog for you.

Bloggers blog because they’ve got something to say. So say it!

1. Who Owns WordPress?

No-one. WordPress is ‘open-source’ which means that all the computer code that drives it is written by volunteer programmers around the world.

One of the founders was Matt Mullenweg, himself a programmer, who couldn’t understand why simple blogging software didn’t exist. He and a group of friends decided to write their own and give it away. This is how WordPress was born.

Now this may sound crazy if you’ve got a name that sounds like Bill Gates, but this is what programmers like to do. They like being creative, writing clever programs and changing the world. People who have mind-numbing day jobs writing programs for mind-numbing big corporations like to spend their spare time writing software for WordPress where they can stretch their imagination, test the limits of the technology and collaborate with like-minded others around the world. And do it for nothing.

The motto you see on a lot of WordPress screens is ‘Code is Poetry’. That says it all.

2. What’s The Difference Between wordpress.com and wordpress.org?

WordPress.com is a free service where you can have a WordPress blog on computers hosted by WordPress. This free service offers limited capabilities compared to wordpress.org but that can be all that’s needed if you just want a simple, personal blog and you want someone else to provide all the infrastructure.

The main difference, however, is that wordpress.org can be used for e-commerce and for blogs where you want more than the basic functionality of wordpress.com. The wordpress.org software is still free, but you have to install it on your own server (which you can hire from a web hosting company) and hang it on your own domain. This then becomes your ‘property’ – a web-based asset that you own and which you create and maintain independently.

3. What’s The Difference In WordPress Between A Post And A Page?

A post is a chronological entry on your blog, traditionally used to record daily or weekly or occasional news. In a conventional blog design, posts appear on the front page, latest at the top and scrolling down the page to dispay previous posts in the order in which they were posted. The oldest posts eventually disappear off the bottom of the page and get shunted off into the archive.

A page is a static entry which you can use to display something that you want permanently accessible to your visitor. Pages are usually accessed via a link, usually somewhere in the blog’s sidebar. When that page is displayed it’s the only page displayed on the screen.

If you want, a page can be used as a fixed front page of the blog to replace the scrolling series of posts. That’s how this blog is organized.

4. Can I Have A WordPress Blog And A Website On The Same Domain?

Yes. What you would do is to have your website located in the root directory, as normal, exactly as standard, with an index.* file. Then, for the blog, you create a sub-directory (sub-folder) called ‘blog’ (or whatever you like) and you install WordPress in that sub-folder.

Your website URL would then be www.yourdomain.com and your blog URL would be www.yourdomain.com/blog.

But why have a website AND a blog? WordPress is now so powerful that you can use it as a complete content management system. Think about it!

Blogging is simple but it isn’t easy. If you learn a few winning habits it becomes a breeze. So, here are the seven habits of highly effective bloggers:

1. Have something to say
The best blogs are those where the blogger has something attention-grabbing to say, whether it be about potty training a puppy, supporting a baseball team or electing a president. Say it with vim, say it with sentiment and above all say something different.

Make it a habit always to put a novel angle on a topic and you’ll attract readers like flies to a dung heap.

2. Project your personality
It’s about you, stupid. Have an attractive, enticing ‘About’ page.

If you’re going to have a photo of yourself don’t just use a mugshot: you’ll look much more intriguing if it’s a picture of you actually doing something. What you want people to do is talk not just about your blog, but about you.

Get into the habit of being a character.

3. Post regularly
The most booming bloggers have sticky blogs. That means you want regular readers who come back because they need your content. And so you must continually gratify this craving with a constant stream of dazzling content.

One easy trick is to find a big theme that you can break down into a succession of posts. Post as ‘Part 1′, ‘Part 2′ etc (for example ’20 Tips On Training Your Puppy’). Make the sequence addictive: hold back just enough information to have them howling for more.

If you can get this right, you’ll become their habit.

4. Engage with your readers
Blog with a smile on your face but aspire to be an authority. What you want your readers, and other bloggers, to do is to like you, trust you and give you their esteem.

And don’t be afraid to be contentious: being opinionated will stir up their responses and get them to comment.

Comment generously on other blogs. Give and leave trackbacks. Bond with your blogging community. The idea is to get them hooked. Which is where you want to be.

Be in the habit of being addictive.

5. Optimize with titles, keywords, categories
Every post title should start with the words of explicitly what your post is about. The title of your blog post is what your human readers, and the search engine spiders, see first. ‘My Puppy Peed On The Carpet’ rather than ‘Oh No Not Again’.

Scatter relevant keywords all through your post. Use tags, categories and slugs to explicitly spell out what your post is about.

Optimization doesn’t seem very sexy but it’s a great habit to get into.

6. Harness the power of RSS
Many bloggers are neurotic about design of their blogs and pay little attention to their words. This is a mistake. RSS will syndicate your content around the globe in seconds but what gets displayed in the feed? Words, words, words – not pictures. Words speak louder than pictures.

Be smart with syndication: practice the habit of loving RSS.

7. Keep on blogging
Winning bloggers find their voice and this voice matches their character. When you are comfortable in the skin of your personality it’s not too difficult to find something new to say. So keep on blogging. The most effective, original, expansive bloggers are the most gripping bloggers. Blog every day, or at least three times a week.

Get into the habit of fluency and both you and your blog will thrive.