Since you asked . . .
9xMultiMedia [via digg.com]
Check out all twelve exciting Dream Gifts of 2005.
I’d really be happy with any of them.
Some people just say that, but I really mean it.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Here is a good place for a call to action.
by Liz
Since you asked . . .
9xMultiMedia [via digg.com]
Check out all twelve exciting Dream Gifts of 2005.
I’d really be happy with any of them.
Some people just say that, but I really mean it.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
by Liz
Collaboration Link 4: Movable Posts
Three or more blogs agree to write on the same topic in series each posting one after the next
You might think of a moveable post collaboration as similar to a moveable feast. You have the appetizer at one house, the salad at another, the main course at a third, and dessert at still another. This kind of collaboration requires a certain kind of topic and at least three bloggers to make sense. I’ve not done a moveable collaboration, but can’t see why it wouldn’t work well. Here’s the way a Moveable Collaboration might work.
Topic : 10 Ways to a Better Blog
The series would include a schedule, and links that tie all posts to each other for readers, giving each blogger four relevant links. The caution here is that in order to strengthen the community and your blog, you need to be sure that you work with quality bloggers who provide quality, fresh content. The beauty is that you can limit the number of bloggers to the number of quality bloggers you know. No one said you can’t send readers around to every blog again.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Collaboration Link 1: Image and Text
Collaboration Link 2: Topical
Collaboration Link 3: An Event
Collaboration Link 5: An Interview
Collaboration Link 5: Begs the Question
Collaboration Link 6: Media Events
by Liz
Here’s what Google says:
The personalized homepage was created to bring together the stuff that interests you from across the web. From an engineering perspective, this became an opportunity to create a framework for all types of content and information. Supporting RSS and Atom feeds was one step in that direction, and today we’re excited to start supporting richer web apps as well. With the Google Homepage API, developers can now create modules for the personalized homepage. It’s designed to be flexible and easy to use, and you don’t need to download anything to create a module. To get the ball rolling, the team’s created a few modules to add to the directory. So check these out and get started creating your own.
Have you got yours yet?
Or are you waiting for the reviews?
You can find all of the links and more about how to build your own Google Homepage at the Google blog.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles:
Googleââ¬âDo You Have Something to Tell Me?
Check Google Backlinks Through Yahoo
Google Site Mapsââ¬âLooking for Lancelot or Guinevere
Google Bloggerââ¬â403 Forbiddenââ¬âHow Could You Let that Happen!
Google Zeitgeistââ¬âWill Make ME Millions
by Liz
I found myself this week, teaching someone how to build links for the fifth time in so many months. . . . Yeah, sometimes I’m a little slow at realizing what I should be writing about.
Even if you’re a pro who already knows how to code links, you’re going to meet someone who doesn’t know. Showing someone how can be the start of a relationship. This document explains the how to of building links.
Before I begin, many people know that the quick-and-easy way to make external sidebar links is to use Blogrolling. Fewer know that the javascript of Blogrolling causes a blog to load more slowly or that search engine spiders tend to trip on it.
The healthy blog uses external linking built by hand. It takes longer to build links individually, but it’s not hard. It’s simple formula, fill-in-the-blank. Here’s the code.
The Code
<a href=“http://URL”>Link Anchor Text</a >
Link Anchor Text
The Code Explained: The Link Itself
“http://URL”
If you want to link to the blog itself, put the blog’s home page URL.
“https://www.successful-blog.com”
If you want to link to a specific post, code a Permalink, the permanent address of the post.
“https://www.successful-blog.com/1/blog-basics-1-comments-and-comment-policies/”
Some blog software offers a link below each post marked Permalink to take you to a post’s permanent address. In some, you get to the permanent address by clicking the title of the post. In Blogger, go inside comments. Once there, go to the top and click the title of the post.
You know you have the Permalink when the address in your browser’s address bar includes words from the title of the post.
The Code Explained: The Anchor Text
The link anchor text is the name or description you give the link. It’s a good thing not to name the same link with the same words every time. Search engines realize that humans are not consistent. See the anchor text I used to link my blog Letting me be . . . in the side bar of this Successful (and Outstanding) Blog for an example.
The little bit of extra time it takes to hand code links is good. It could be just the nudge we need to consider whether a link we’re planning is quality. The Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs is a great test for making sure the link you’re about to build will add value and serve your readers.
There I go again talking about readers. In the end everything comes down them.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles:
Blog Review Checklist
Blog Basics 1: Comments and Comment Policies
Great Find: Tlog Blogging Tips Series
by Liz
Today at WashingtonPost.com, Joel Auchenbach responded on his Auchenblog in to our discussion of Sabine’s article on his commenting community in our post Great Find: Commenting on CTBIZBlogs. Mr. Auchenbach began by saying:
The Boodle is the buzz of blogworld. At CTBizBlogs, Sabine writes about “the amazing community that’s sprung up in the comments” of the A-blog. (She heard about it from Stephen Baker in his Blogspotting column for Business Week; Baker took note of the large number of comments about the dog-pee item written by Tom Shroder.) She writes, “When readers leave comments on most blogs, the comments are usually about that particular post — people weighing in with additional information, questions, corrections, opinions. But the comments on some posts here read almost like they’re from discussion forums, with regular readers referring to comments made by other readers in past posts. The conversation weaves in and out of the posts and comments, and swirls around the various personalities who now know each other, online at least.” . . .
Thank you, Joel, for taking the conversation further and for caring about community as much as we do. Your Successful and Outstanding Blogger (SOB) button will be on it’s way to you via email immediately.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
by Liz
Before you close the drawer on that comments file, there’s more you need to complete the set.
Apparentely the fact that lifehacker ran this piece wasn’t enough for one publisher that picked it up. If you access the document from EServer TC Library, the document comes with a lovely cover sheet like this which asks you to rate the quality of the work for the purpose of helping future readers. Gee, I thought lifehacker already did that before they ran it.
Great Find: Lifehacker’s guide to weblog comments by Gina Trapani
Type of Article: How-to and Informational
Permalink: Lifehacker’s guide to weblog comments
Content: A popular document that describes the basic points of commenting on a blog.
Gina Trapani’s explanations are well-written and clear. Worth the time it takes to read them. I call the post popular because both Darren Rowse at Problogger and Steve Rubel at MicroPersuasion both basically picked-up Gina’s list, each adding only one sentence to it. They were among almost 200 others who did much the same thing.
Congratulations Gina for outstanding work.
Another document you might find useful is Gizmodo’s Comments FAQ. This one is a great model that addresses Cas’s questions yesterday as to how you might handle a comment policy without feeling like you are insulting your readers’ better nature.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Blog Basics 1: Comments and Comment Policies
Great Find: Commenting on CTBIZBlogs