Blogging Resources

As given to you today, here is the list of blogging resources:

• Darren Rowse, Nine Signs of an Effective Blog Post
• Martin Bretom (brem), Habits of a Highly Defective Blogger 

Educational blogs to look at:

• “Flexible Learning” – course blog: http://flexible-learning-course.blogspot.co.nz 
• “Sarah Stewart” – personal blog: http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.co.nz
• “Rachel eLearning” – student blog: http://rachele-learning.blogspot.co.nz
• “The Ed-Techie” – educator’s blog: http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk
• “Journeying toward a goal” – PhD candidate’s blog: http://lizit.me.uk
• “Thesis Whisperer” – post graduate blog: http://thethesiswhisperer.wordpress.com 

Blogs/Articles

• [Introduction to Blogging] (http://www.unc.edu/~zuiker/blogging101/ )
• [Problogger] (http://www.problogger.net ) – A blog that helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs.
• [Copyblogger] (http://copyblogger.com /) – Copywriting tips for your blog.
• [21 Surefire Tips for a Successful Blog Launch] (http://www.avivadirectory.com/successful-blog-launch/ )
• [Scobleizer] (http://scobleizer.com/ ) – Robert Scoble’s blog, one of the authors of Naked Conversations.
• [5 Quick and Easy Ways To Stop Blog Spam Before It Hits Your Blog] (http://www.shoemoney.com/2006/09/29/5-quick-and-easy-ways-to-stop-blog-spam-before-it-hits-your-blog/ ) – Shoe Money breaks down how to fight spam before it hits.
• [10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog] (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/10/12/10-techniques-to-get-more-comments-on-your-blog/ )
• [Writing for the Web] (http://businesslogs.com/whitepaper/BL_writingfortheweb.pdf ) – Detailed 6 page pdf that covers writing for the web.
• [10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work] (http://www.copyblogger.com/10-sure-fire-headline-formulas-that-work/ ) – So, you’re seeing too many of those “how to” and list headlines, and want to try a few different angles? Let’s move beyond those common headline formulas you see over and over, and add some new blood to your attention-grabbing arsenal.
• [7 More Sure-Fire Headline Templates That Work] (http://www.copyblogger.com/headline-swipe-file/ )
• [Tips to Better Blogging] (http://businesslogs.com/best_practices/10_tips_to_better_blogging.php )
• [Structured Blogging] (http://structuredblogging.org/ ) – Structured Blogging is all about giving bloggers the tools to create and syndicate structured information, such as reviews and events.
• [Blogging Pro] (http://www.bloggingpro.com/ ) – News, plugins and themes for blogging applications.

Blogging Platforms

There are many different blogging platforms that you can choose from. Some are hosted while others are not…

• [WordPress](http://wordpress.com/ )
• [Blogger](http://www.blogger.com )
• [Movable Type](http://www.movabletype.org/ )
• [TypePad](http://www.typepad.com/ )
• [Vox](http://www.sixapart.com/vox/invitation.html )
• [LiveJournal](http://www.sixapart.com/livejournal/ )
• [Text Pattern](http://www.textpattern.com/ )
• [Boast Machine](http://boastology.com/ )
• [Blog.com](http://blog.com/ )
• [B2evolution](http://b2evolution.net/ )
• [pMachine](http://www.pmachine.com/ )

Design/Templates

One of the most important things about a blog is the way it looks. Whether you are looking to design your own blog or use a free template, here are some articles that will help guide you in the right direction.

• [Weblog Usability] (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html ) – Top 10 blog design mistakes.
• [Blog Tutorial] (http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/blog-templates.html ) – Tips for blog templates & blog design in Photoshop.
• [Blog Interface Design 2.0] (http://www.lukew.com/resources/articles/blogs2.asp )
• [WordPress Theme Browser] (http://alexking.org/projects/wordpress/theme_browser.php ) – Free WordPress themes for your blog.
• [Comprehensive list of 980+ Free WordPress 1.5 and 2.0 Themes / Templates available for download] (http://www.emilyrobbins.com/how-to-blog/comprehensive-list-of-615-free-wordpress-15-and-20-themes-templates-available-for-download-266.htm )
• [Blog Layout Styles] (http://weblogs.about.com/od/blogtemplates/ ) – List of free blog designs for Blogger, TypePad, WordPress, and MySpce.
• [Blog Credibility and Blog Design] (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/04/26/blog-credibility-and-blog-design ) – How the design of a blog affects credibility.

Marketing

You can have the best blog in the world, but if no one knows about it what’s the point of even blogging. Here are some marketing techniques that you can use to help increase your blogs popularity.

• [21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic](http://www.seomoz.org/blogdetail.php?ID=1347 )
• [WordPress and SEO](http://theundersigned.net/2006/06/wordpress-and-seo/ ) – Step by step guide to optimizing your WordPress blog for search engines.
• [How To Build Traffic To Your Blog] (http://www.webpronews.com/ebusiness/sitepromotion/wpn-3-20041210HowToBuildTrafficToYourBlog.html )
• [Building blog traffic for newbies] (http://www.blogherald.com/2004/11/25/building-blog-traffic-for-newbies/ )
• [How To: Boost Your Blog Traffic] (http://paulstamatiou.com/2005/11/03/how-to-boost-your-blog-traffic/ ) – Many first time bloggers automatically assume that once their blog is setup and they put a few posts on it, they will get some hits and regular readers. This is quite untrue. You won’t get any traffic if no one knows about your website.
• [Search Engine Optimization For Blogs](http://www.blog-maniac.com/blog-seo.htm )
• [Blog Directory](http://blogs.botw.org/ ) – Directory filled with blogs, a great way to improve your link popularity.
• [Ping-o-Matic](http://pingomatic.com/ ) – Free service that pings blog search engines.

Corporate Blogging

Blogging was once something that people did for fun, but because the blogosphere can spread news like a wildfire corporations are starting to catch on.

• [Corporate Blogging Overview](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_blog ) – Wikipedia entry on corporate blogging.
• [Internal Corporate Blogging] (http://www.readwriteweb.com/2004/01/29.html )
• [Corporate Blogging] (http://www.corporateblogging.info/ ) – Facts, news, interviews and discussion on corporate and business blogging.
• [Corporate Blogging: Is it really worth the hype?] (http://www.backbonemedia.com/blogsurvey/blogsurvey2005.pdf ) – Detailed 72 page PDF file that covers everything on corporate blogging.
• [Seven rules for corporate blogging](http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2006/03/seven_rules_for.php )
• [Six Tips for Corporate Bloggers] (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_18/b3931007_mz001.htm) – Business Week breaks down 6 things that corporate blogs must do to be successful.