blog_basics Archives - Successful Blog

20 Rules of Smart & Successful Web Development

March 23, 2006 by Liz

Sometimes you find a golden nugget . . .

Great Find: 20 Rules of Smart and Successful Web Development by Vitaly Friedman
Type of article: Online business basics and web development
Permalink: http://www.alvit.de/blog/article/20-rules-of-smart-and-successful-web-development-and-web-design
Target Audience: Any person who wants to do business on the Internet and every web developer or person who hires one

Content: Vitaly Friedman is a web developer who can write. He’s also a deep thinker who learns from what he does. I read this article not once. but twice–both times wishing I could say I wrote it, thinking he said what I’ve always wanted to say. From Respect your visitors. and Care about your content. to Learn to handle the Creative Block. and Be aware of the Power of the Web.I felt I was listening to a kindred spirit talking– one who said it so much better than I might have said it.

So I’ll leave you to him. Click the screenshot for the best article I’ve read on the subject in a very long time–maybe ever.

It’s always nice to find a new hero.

–Me “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: 13 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

March 20, 2006 by Liz

It seems that great minds are beating my mind to places I keep planning to go. I had thoughts on doing a post on parts that seem to be missing from blogs that I visit. Just as I’m getting ready to write that reminder post, SOB John P. Thomas sent me a link to this post he wrote.

Great Find: Common Weblogging Mistakes by John P. Thomas
Type of article: Blogging basics–mistakes and missed opportunities
Permalink: http://www.johntp.com/2006/03/19/common-weblogging-mistakes/
Target Audience: Bloggers setting up their first blog

Content: John uses 13 bullet points to list the most common mistakes folks make in setting up their first blog. He discusses two types of problems–leaving out important parts of a reader-friendly blog and basic practices that work to the blog owner’s advantage, things that first-time bloggers might not know. His writing is crisp, clear, and easy to follow. I recommend John’s post for any new blogger. To check it out, click this screenshot.

Thanks, John, for sharing your work with us.
–Me “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: Blog Promotions Using Stats

March 17, 2006 by Liz

Your stats and mine have been on my mind lately. It could be because I’ve been spending a little extra time there to see who’s been stopping by from what media source. I was planning to write a post about ways to use stats for blog promotion, but just as I was about to I came across this one.

Great Find: Blog Promotion: What Do Your Stats Tell You? at Random Bytes
Type of article: Blogging basics–a look a stats
Permalink:http://weblensblogs.blogspot.com/2006/03/blog-promotion-what-do-your-stats-tell.html
Target Audience: Anyone who’s interested in the reader response to a new blog started from an existing web site.

Content: Pam Blackstone, professional journalist and speaker, started Random Bytes to expand the interest in her Internet search site Weblens. In this well-written, quick read, she compares the audience of the blog to that of the search site and wonders at the differences, some that new bloggers might not pay attention to–browsers, screen resolution, and operating systems. Pam uses the data to extrapolate profile information about her readers. If you want to see what conclusions she reaches, click the screenshot below.

Random Bytes What Do Your Stats Tell You?

Thanks, Pam, for a reminder of the wealth of information in those stats.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: How to Create an RSS Feed

March 17, 2006 by Liz

I didn’t find this Mark Wade at the R Web Designs blog did, and he has a fine write up on it. Click Mark’s logo to read his analysis and to see his fabulous blog.

Great Find: The Robin Good’s How to Create a RSS Feed from Any Web Page
Type of article: Blogging basics how-to article
Permalink:http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/03/09/how_to_create_a_rss.htm

Target Audience:All web users who want to know more about RSS feeds
Content: Robin Good points out that at some moment in the future you might want to follow the updating of a web page that doesn’t have an RSS feed.He answers the question, Can you create one? with a resounding YES!. Click Robin’s logo to access the article.

Thank you, Mark for finding this page. Thank you, Robin for writing it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: Top 10 Successful Blogging Tips

March 2, 2006 by Liz

Robin Good Logo

I was going through my stats and had some time one afternoon this week. So when a social bookmarking referral came by, I naturally checked it out. I like to see where things stand with each of them and there are so many now its hard to keep track. I went to the search function and typed in Successful Blog. It’s always interesting to see what I get back.

One of the results was Robin Good’s How To Write A Successful Blog: Top Ten Tips.

To be frank, I thought it was about time I learned how–no, no not really. But I did think it would be a fine addition to the Successful-Blog Survival Kit.
Great Find: The Robin Good’s How to Write A Successful Blog: Top Ten Tips by Sharon Housley
Type of Blog: Blogging Basics
URL: Robin Good’s How To Write A Successful Blog: Top Ten Tips.

Target Audience:Bloggers who are just starting out
Content: Sharon Housley who manages of marketing for FeedForAll wrote this article. She offers ten points and notes on each one. The points are basics of blog building technique and tactics. I’ve add my own points at the end of her list.

If you find this list useful, you also should know this about content.

Write content of the highest quality
Work to keep your writing voice consistent and friendly.
Post at predictable times so readers can look forward to something new.
Write about topics that you find relevant, that is, worth reading and talking about. In other words, write about things that are your passion.
Respond to your comments, your readers are the only ones who count.
Visit other sites and comment there, so that people see you as a reader too.

Hope this helps get you started!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Great Find: SEOmoz Beginnerâs Guide

January 26, 2006 by Liz

seomoz_org logo

Great Find: SEOmoz Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Type of Article: A Series of Articles on SEO
Permalink: Beginner’s Guide to SEO
Target Audience: Any blogger who is curious about SEO and how it works
Content: SEOmoz, a Seatlle-based Search-engine organization has put together this series to help individuals, organizations, and companies who have little to no experience with search engine optimization and want to learn the basics of how search engines work. The organization states their goal as to improve your ability to drive search traffic to your site and debunk major myths about SEO. We share this knowledge to help businesses, government, educational, and non-profit organizations benefit from being listed in the major search engines.

From this list it appears that they take their goals very seriously. The first four (in purple) give you a quick look at what you might be interested in further down the line. All of the articles are short and written in clear, plain English, so they’re easy to follow and, well, interesting to read. Take a peek.

This is one fine reference to add to your library. It’s nice to bump into an SEO org that wants to share what it knows in such an organized fashion. Thanks SEOmoz.

–ME “Liz” Strauss