Posts Tagged ‘Should’
Starting a Blog? Here are Two Reasons Why You Should Use Free Blog Templates
Blogs are great platforms for expression. Nowadays, it’s also a great marketing tool for internet marketers. The original purpose of blogs has evolved from being just a simple online diary to a wonderful advertising tool. But that is not the only thing that changed. There are now plenty of free blog templates you can use to spruce up your own website. And if you think these are a waste of time, think again. There are some good reasons why using a template is useful.
Extra functions
Generic templates or those provided by your blog host upon setup are boring and often limits certain functions you want to add.Free blog templates, however, are widget-friendly, meaning you can install some helpful gadgets in your blog for your readers. Widgets are excellent accessories for any websites. They add specialized functions, from weather to shortcuts and image gallery to video linking. If you want to provide your readers with a little something extra when visiting your blog, adding a widget-friendly template will be a great solution.
You have to remember, though, which function is great and which is not. It is certainly easy to go overboard with the widgets. Even if the free blog templates allow the inclusion of these ancillary gadgets, you should also remember specifically what to add. Never add too many widgets or your blog could easily get confusing. Instead, limit your choice to one or two superb widgets that will provide the functionality you want to offer your readers.
Distinction
Although many templates may look alike, you can still attain a level of uniqueness when using free designs. If you are just starting out, however, you might find it difficult to edit your template. But with patience and a lot of dedication, learning CSS can be easy.
CSS is not necessarily a programming language but a style sheet used to create blog templates. There are websites that offer in-depth tutorials in tweaking your blog’s CSS. These are excellent resources that you must take advantage of. After a while of learning and trial-and-error, you will eventually be able to customize your template.
Make sure that the free blog templates you’re considering for your blog can be customizable. There are those whose headers can be changed and others that are what-you-see-is-what-you-get types. You can easily determine which is which by reading the respective description of the template you’re about to download. If you can customize it, go ahead; if not, look for another one.
Mark Michael Ferrer
Free Blog Templates
RSS: The Basics All Bloggers Should Know
Blogs are making it possible for all of the world’s information to be accessible. But keeping up-to-date with the multitude of information you are interested in can be overwhelming. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the freshest news and content delivered directly to you without having to surf from one blog to another? RSS informs you when blogs have added new content. You can get the latest headlines and blog entries be they text, audio files, photographs or video in one screen as soon as they are published.
Figuring Out RSS
You must have noticed the little orange buttons with the icons XML, RSS, Subscribe, and Syndicate This Site when you visit blogs. Clicking on the button, all you will see is a heap of computer codes. This is an RSS feed.
RSS stands for RDF Site Summary, Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. The latter is the most popular descriptive definition. RSS is a feed format that allows blog publishers to share and distribute content to other blogs or individual web surfers. Bloggers use RSS to provide updates in the form of blog posts. If a blog publishes RSS content commonly known as RSS feed, this feed will include summaries of all the entries posted on that blog. RSS is written in the Internet coding language XML, thus some buttons are labeled as such.
The first part of an RSS feed is a descriptive detail about the “channel” or the source that is publishing the content. The “channel” may include the title of the source, a short description, its blog address, date the information was last updated, name and e-mail address of the blog author. The second part is the list of items. Each “item” represents one published piece of content. Each “item” includes the headline of the entry (title), a two to three sentence summary of the entry (description) and the URL address to read the full entry.
RSS feeds are meant to be read by a software or web-based application known as a feed reader. Feed readers understand the data contained in RSS feeds and translates these data and make available to Internet users or customized blogs,
Subscribing to RSS Feeds
To receive updates or view RSS feeds, you will need a feed reader. A feed reader is an application that allows you to subscribe (add a feed) to a blog and receive quick summaries when that blog is updated. This application is also referred to as RSS reader, news aggregator, news reader or feed aggregator. When you subscribe to RSS feeds, the feed reader collect from different blogs and organize them in a convenient place for you to read rather than you visiting individual blogs looking for new content. Whenever new content is posted from one of the feeds you are subscribed to, the feed reader displays the new headlines. You can go over the headlines and if one is particularly interesting, you can click the headline and you will be brought to the original source where you can read the entire content.
There are primarily two versions of feed readers – web-based and stand-alone applications. Web-based or online feed readers provide a quick start for RSS subscriptions. They let you read your RSS feeds from any computer. Some of these readers are free while others with advanced features are offered at a cost. Some examples of web-based feed readers are Google Reader, My Yahoo and Bloglines. Stand-alone or downloadable feed readers are applications that you install on your main computer just like the Microsoft Outlook e-mail program. These feed readers are usually run in the background. A sound or pop-up window notifies you of any updates. SharpReader is a free feed reader for Windows. For Mac users, a preferred feed reader is NetNewsWire.
Once you have a feed reader, you can choose what you want to receive in your feed reader. You can also add feeds through the RSS buttons of your favorite blogs. Clicking on the RSS orange icon, you can subscribe to the feed by dragging the URL of the RSS feed into your feed reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your feed reader. Most blogs offer RSS feeds using the orange RSS, XML button. Conversely, you can also create your own RSS feed.
Creating an RSS Feed
You can also create you own feeds. It is a pretty easy task. The hard part is creating the content itself. The feed part is usually just using the standard RSS format that notifies the feed reader which sections of your blog entry relates to the RSS title, description, date, link and other pertinent data. This is done using XML format, the standard method of surrounding the significant parts of the content with tags that the feed reader understands. Once content has been set up with an RSS feed, then it is ready for the reading public.
Publishing an RSS Feed
You can add RSS syndication as a publishing option in your blog. In some cases, this is done automatically, without you having to set up anything. If you are using a blogging tool software like Blogger, TypePad or WordPress, publishing a feed is one of their built-in features plus some other feed-related options. Other types of feed readers may require programming skills to add RSS syndication. Once you have created an RSS feed with your blogging software, pipe it through your feed reader and voila, a whole stream of benefits awaits you.
Benefiting from RSS
The most compelling use of RSS is that it lets you take hold of information you are interested in and have it updated for you in one place where you can read it within the shortest possible time. RSS has been embraced by individual users, blog publishers and businesses as well.
For individual users, RSS feeds keep them updated on news, information and blog posts. There is no need to visit numerous blogs. There is no deluge of e-mail newsletters that clutter the mailbox. Unlike e-mail, there is no spam. Opting out can be done anytime and there is no need to give any contact information to subscribe to a feed. An individual user can also customize content that comes to him and ignore blog entries that are of no interest to him. There is absolutely no need to check back for new postings as the feed reader delivers content to him.
For blog publishers, RSS permits quick distribution of new blog entries to individual users in a convenient way. RSS feeds when incorporated into a blog offers a more personalized and interactive user experience, strengthening blog presence and maximizing revenue opportunities.
For businesses, RSS feeds enable them to do without regularly checking blogs for important updates or plowing through a pile of e-mail distribution lists. RSS provides businesses with much-needed fresh information. RSS feeds are extremely helpful for brand marketing, customer service, internal and external communications and competitive awareness.
In a nutshell, if you want to be informed of the latest news and happenings around the world and is having a hard time managing information overload, RSS is the answer.
Hopefully, these basics can help you get started with RSS. It may be difficult to understand at first, but once you get the gist of it, surfing the web will be effortless with RSS.
Post a comment below...Should You Use Free Blog Services?
I’m going to be perfectly straightforward with you here about blogging. If you are looking to present a professional image on the Internet via blogging, the last thing that you would want to do is to use one of the free blog services that are available. Yes, they are easy to use but they do not portray a professional image that most of us are trying to keep. On the other hand, if you are trying to run a personal blog in order to communicate with family and friends, using one of the free blogging services is a perfect idea for you. Here are some things for you to keep in mind. First of all, there are hundreds of free blogging services for you to choose from. Some of them are from familiar companies, such as Google and Yahoo. Others, however, are part of the new Web 2.0 platforms that are popping up all over the Internet and generally have names that are difficult to pronounce. The problem with choosing from among all of these free blog services is that there are so many different options that are available. For example, many of these new Web 2.0 platforms will allow you to be part of a community. Other, more simple blogging platforms allow you to stand alone. One of the most popular of these free blog services is Blogger.com. This company is owned by Google and that is one of the reasons why many people choose this as their blogging platform of choice. This is especially the case if somebody is trying to get people to follow what they are saying on their blog by pulling them from the search engines. Since Blogger.com is owned by Google, it is more likely that your blog is going to end up on the search engine and you may see some traffic for your efforts. Of course, some of the other free blog services that are available are more robust than the Blogger.com service. If you are simply interested in posting some personal information for friends to view, you might want to choose one of these services. With additional templates and ease of use, they really make the entire blogging experience one that is pleasant. You can then begin posting your information and enjoying your blog almost right away. In the end the question on whether or not to use free blog services comes down to purpose of your blog.
One last thing… if you’re really interested in free blog services, then you must watch these videos at www.BloggingProductAnalysis.com. But HURRY…these videos will be pulled from the masses soon. In fact, if you act quickly you may even be able to grab the Blogging Secrets eCourse for FREE!
Should I move to WordPress?
I’ve had my blog at Blogger for nearly 3 years now. A few months I even hit my 1 G storage max and had to upgrade ($20/year) to keep posting photos. The blog is basically used for my family and my in-laws, but it’s also fun to just put things out there. I don’t have any readers who comment though.
In the past few weeks, they’ve been having some major glitches (i.e. photos not loading or even showing up) and quite honestly I’m getting frustrated with them. I made a WordPress account yesterday and was considering switching over to WP from Blogger.
I just don’t know though.
For staying with Blogger…
1) I have a history here. Three years of photos and memories.
2) Free CSS backgrounds
3) Already paid for the storage upgrade
4) Easy for family to access
But it’s boring. It’s simple. After dealing with WP, it’s very straightforward.
On the other hand, WordPress…
1) Is accessible from China, which is where my sister and her husband are living at the moment. They cannot access Blogger.
2) Major customization
3) Can pay for some awesome upgrades (more storage, CSS backgrounds, own domain)
4) Looks like a real website, not just a blog
However, it does cost more to do all of the upgrades I would want to do. Plus I would lose all of the work I put into the past few years. Plus it may be too complicated for my mother and my mother-in-law.
Any thoughts?
Participate in the conversation by leaving your comment below.What Tools A Professional Blogger Should Have
Nowadays, almost everyone has a blog. Becoming a professional blogger that can generate money online is a common dream for bloggers now. Before you can make big money online, there’re few things that you need to have, or else your blogs will not become your ATM machines.
1) Own Blogs
When I say about own blogs, it doesn’t mean that you can simply create a blog at blogger and you claim yourself that you’ve owned the blog. This is wrong. You haven’t owned a blog if you’re doing so. You must have your own domains and hosting. Simply, you can register a cheap domain at NameCheap or GoDaddy. For hosting, you can get it from HostGator. You only own the blog if you own the domain (This means you buy it) and your own hosting.
For blogging platform, I would recommend you to use the server-based Wordpress because it’s easy to use and it has many powerful features such as plug-ins.
2) Keyword Research Tools
You can be successful without having powerful keywords. The best keyword research tool available in the internet is Keyword Elite, which is used by many bloggers and supper affiliate now. You can also use some free tools like Wordtracker free keyword tool.
3) Autoresponder
This is the life-blood of every blogger who wants to make big money online. You need an autoresponder to capture your leads. Without a list of buyer leads, you cannot make big money online. To get started with capturing leads, you should get your own autoresponder. For beginners and intermediate users, I highly recommend ShoutResponse Autoresopnder because it’s affordable yet very cheap. The pricing is almost half of other services. You can go through the ShoutResponse Autoresponder review before you make your decision.
4) PDF Writer
Giving ebooks away as freebies to is an old-fashion way to build credibility and capture leads, but it’s still extremely effective. A PDF writer is an essential tool that a professional blogger must have. It’s free to grab, you don’t have to spend a single cent for it. You can download PDF writers like PFD995 for free.
5) Consistency and Determination
Are these tools? Yes, for me, they’re vital “tools” that a profitable blogger’s mind must have! I always tell people that to make big money online, they should blog consistently and never give up because of failing. Many bloggers give up easily because they don’t see any result after they’ve blogged for months. My suggestion is, don’t expect any profit in the first 6 months. All you need to do is just keep contributing quality content, capture leads, build a close relationship with your readers and other bloggers, as well as keep on updating yourself.
These are the 5 things that you must have if you want to become a professional blogger. This isn’t a tough job actually, it’s very easy. It just depend on how much you can contribute an how well you can apply there uses.
An internet entrepreneur and blogger that makes money online and good in SEO. I’ve 3 years of blogging experience. I’m using this system to make money from blogging, and it generates 4 to 5 figures per month for me.
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Some Points That You Should Know About Google Blogger
Google Bolgger is one of the easiest and most complete blogging solutions currently available on the Internet. Anyone can sign up and start blogging in a manner of minutes with the easy to navigate interface and tools it provides. But, there are a lot of things you probably don’t know about Blogger, hidden within the more advanced features of the site. These clever add-ons make it easier and more fun to post to your blog each day and can give you a slight edge over your fellow bloggers in drawing new traffic.
No Bandwidth or Storage Limits in a world where storage has become incredibly cheap and video super sites are the norm; it makes sense that Blogger would not instill any limits on your website for storage. In addition though, Blogger makes it so you can receive as much traffic as you are capable of generating or go to www.writing-fast-cash.com. No matter how much content you post and how many visitors you draw Blogger remains free for the life of your blog and that’s a great deal considering how many features are built in.
Free Captcha Support for Anti-Spam Spam is a major problem, especially for bloggers. If you talk to anyone who owns a private blog on their own server, or even those individuals with blogs on other services, you will learn that they constantly receive large quantities of spam. Blogger, by default, is built with spam detection and blocking device that can keep your blog from getting over run by unwanted spam comments. You can not only turn on the CAPTCHA software that requires a code to be entered whenever someone makes a comment; you can also require logins to Blogger to post comments or put commenting in a separate window so that spammers with automated software are tripped up. All of these options are available from Blogger’s settings pages.
Blog by Email and SMS By far one of the coolest additions to blogging in recent years, Blogger allows you to post blog messages from a cell phone or email inbox. From the settings menu of Blogger, you can set a specialized email address that will post anything you email to it directly to your blog. This allows you to make blog posts from a smart phone or via a work or school computer on which Blogger might be locked. SMS features allow similar functionality, posting remotely to your blog.
Google Tool Integration Google operates countless services for webmasters and that includes some of the most useful ones for bloggers. integrates directly into Blogger through a simple to select Blogger option in the Template menu. Simply click on “Add new page element” and choose and you can add your account to your page. Other great tools offered by Google include Analytics, which allows you to track the visitors to your website, including where they came from, what keywords they searched for, what pages they viewed, and dozens of other statistic. Webmaster Tools is another essential tool that Google operates that allows you to track how your blog appears in the search engines or you can visit to www.ezines-success.com. Alongside all of these tools, Google will also automatically ping the major blog services such as Technorati and Ice Rocket with all new posts, allowing you to gain maximum exposure.
Post in HTML you can get very creative with your posts if you desire and post directly in HTML. Most people choose to use the built in text editor in Blogger, but what few people realize is that they can change almost any feature on the page by using the HTML editor. This allows you to use different colors, change font sizes, insert tables, or use a template for posts from a third party website. The possibilities are endless.
Themes and Skins When you sign up for Blogger, you are asked to select the visual depiction of your blog using a specific template. However, you can change this template any time you want by installing a new one. Located across dozens of websites are templates that allow you to change the color, number of columns, location of posts, and any number of visual features on your blog. Do a quick search on Google for “Blogger Templates” and you will find hundreds waiting to be used.
Enclosures and Videos Newly added to Blogger this year is the ability to add podcasts and videos to your page. You can now choose to upload videos and audio snippets directly to Blogger and include them in your posts. The videos will be branded with the Blogger logo and you can bypass use of YouTube altogether. This a great new feature that takes advantage of the unlimited bandwidth and account size that Blogger offers. Blogger is loaded with great features that make creating your blog quick and easy and Google is adding new features every day. Google is quickly converting a very good blog into a world class blogging platform.
What should the Federal government do or require Oil companies to do to prevent spills?
Would that cause taxes to go up?
Would that cause gasoline prices to go up?
Would that result in bigger government?
Would that result in lower business profit?
What affect would that have on unemployment?
gws35: Wait? We have been drilling at sea for over 50 years and the best clean-up technology has to fire. So easy, even a caveman working at BP can use it
tom t: Has this technology been proven to work at sea after an explosion?
Work From Home – Should You Keep Your Blogger Blog Or Move to WordPress?
There are many different ways to market your online home business without spending any money at all. However, you must keep in mind that time is money so this method may not be totally free after all, but you won’t have to dig into your pockets to start making money online. In this article we will discuss one free way to get noticed by the major search engines almost immediately working from home using the power of blogs.
There are two types of blogs you can set up within a few minutes. Blogger.com is well known throughout the Internet market arena that you can join for free and start loading valuable content to pages as fast as you are willing to work it. One main drawback to Blogger.com is that you are not in total control of your sites content. The reason is you’re not able to host this blog on your own hosting account which limits your control.
On the other hand, WordPress Blog can be hosted by your own website hosting which gives you a lot more control of its content and everything else. This doesn’t mean that you can’t make a full time income using Blogger Blogs; the real difference is who really have control over which blog you choose.
There are many people who use Blogger Blogs that are making a great income online. In some cases they maybe easier to get ranked by the search engine because of its popularity and who’s hosting it. So either of the two really does have its advantages.
With Wordpress Blogs there are numbers of plugins that can be very beneficial to its user. With these versatile, this particular blog has become very popular over the last few years. In fact, many gurus will only use WordPress Blogs because of the advantages they have. However, if you’ve used a Blogger Blog for a long time period, you may want to think twice before you abandon it because of its possible authority it may have.
Thousands of people work from home using one or both of these blog websites and make a full time income. The great thing about these websites is using social bookmarking. You can make a posting to your blog and bookmark it at several bookmarking sites and have your posting in front of thousands within a few minutes. Unlike writing articles and submitting them to article directories and waiting to have them approved which is a good thing, your blog postings can be recognized almost immediately.
If you work from home and have a product you like to sell or if you are an affiliate marketer who sells other peoples product online, you may want to consider using blogs along with your article writings for maximum exposure. No one will know about your products unless you take the time to come up with a good Internet marketing strategy that could not only benefit the buyers, but you also. I wish you the very best with your new online Internet marketing strategies.
Discover the power of Blogging to the Bank by using blogs along with your article marketing strategies. You can work from home and receive a year of tips and strategies for free delivered straight to your inbox when you sign up for my newsletter today.
