blogging

[balthazar]

Never done it, haven't looked at many.

 

I have a area of interest that I would very much like to share with others. In fact I am, to a degree, driven to do so. I am still considering publication, but with friends having gone thru that (successfully), it's an arduous task. Websites get lost in the oceanic shuffle, relevant pre-existing sites either disappear or have a self-imposed system that precludes the type/source of my interest (Wikipedia).  

 

What's the scuttlebutt on the blog universe, and does anyone pay any attention??

[FAPTurbo]

Best place to start is https://wordpress.com/

 

Free, simple setup and it's the world's most popular software, meaning plenty of easy how-to's and videos are available. 

 

If you find you're blogging regularly and enjoy doing it, you can register a domain and direct it to your blog. Or if you're really proficient and want more flexibility, you can buy webspace and move your blog to a less restrictive, more optioned Wordpress environment. 

 

To set yourself apart, you'll want good 'search engine optimization.' In very simple terms, that means using a set of keywords in your posts (about your subject matter) consistently to make your blog easier to search.

 

Writing can be challenging. You'll want to consider that people read websites in an 'F' shape, so importance is placed on your first sentences. 

[Drew Dowdell]

Need more specifics really

[balthazar]

Writing is not an issue for me, have done quite a bit. Have already written on this topic, also. I envision something along the lines of a forum thread in that I wish it to progress/build, rather than be a series of un- or semi-related topics.

 

But I know what my problem is after looking at the wordpress link Fappy provided; I am well behind the curve on this stuff. I'm not surprised.

 

>"A blog is a type of website that shows newest content at the top of the page. A blog can also be one part of a website with multiple pages."<

That the basic 'split hair' difference vs. a website?

 

I'm going to spend some time on the link & see if I can gleam a direction.

[Drew Dowdell]

We have a blogs option here. It just isn't activated. Again, it depends on how you want to do things and your end goals. If you have an example website that you'd like the general format of u could show me...

[balthazar]

Thanks. I'm going to slog thru the wordpress site over this week (I did see some features I liked); try to gell something together.

[balthazar]

How does a blog page show up in a search engine- just takes time?
The template I'm looking at… I missed it if it had a provision for keywords.

[David]

Hey Balthazar, yes key words are important for the search engines to pick it up.

[Drew Dowdell]

I thought I replied here, I guess I didn't.

You need to set up a Google webmasters account and a bing webmasters account.

If you don't mind making me an admin, I can get the back end stuff set up.

If you want to track your traffic, you'll also need a google analytics account.

[balthazar]

site provides daily/ weekly/ etc traffic stats, do those others offer beyond that? Do I need anything beyond that?

[Drew Dowdell]

Analytics tells you more than just how many visitors you have. It tells you what they are reading and where they found you from.

[knightfan26917]

After launching a Facebook page 12/19/2012, I finally launched a website based on that page just over a month ago (01/19/2015).

 

It's been an enlightening experience ... haven't gotten into the detailed analytics (i.e. Google, etc.) ... yet.....

 

 

Cort | www.oldcarsstronghearts.com

1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve

[Drew Dowdell]

site provides daily/ weekly/ etc traffic stats, do those others offer beyond that? Do I need anything beyond that?

 

As far as the webmasters accounts with Google and Bing... that's how you manage how the search engines see you... and the quickest way to get in there.

 

If you don't have it set up already, you'll need to make sure you have the site generate a sitemap.xml.

[balthazar]

Ahh crap, I am all thumbs on this one. Will be in touch.

[knightfan26917]

Analytics tells you more than just how many visitors you have. It tells you what they are reading and where they found you from.

 

The details are actually quite cool ... & somewhat overwhelming.  I was able to get Google Analytics set up for my website ... without using a plugin.  Copied the code it gave me right into the Editor where it indicated to place it ... & bam!  Kinda surprised myself.  Now, reading, understanding & figuring out the statistics is another matter...!

 

 

Cort www.oldcarsstronghearts.com

1979 & 1989 Caprice Classics | pigValve, paceMaker, cowValve

"Walk right out into a brand new day" __ Everclear __ 'Santa Monica'

[Robert Hall]

At my last company, we used Wordpress...I blogged about once a month for over 2 years (about software development).  I want to get back into it sooner or later, on a variety of topics...I did a little bit with Posterious, but it's gone now..