A blog is a blog but is it? Help!!

35 replies
Hi Warrior People:

I hope your weather is better than here!

Could I have some impartial Blog information please. If somebody were starting a Blog next week does it matter if it is Word Press or any other company? Are the amount of blogs and readers both a good and bad thing? If they have a zillion they are getting traffic but would a new blog get lost in the shuffle or is it not the actual place the Blog is placed such as Word Press but if you register it through Feedburner, write articles, send emails, post on forums that target the audience you look for?

Thank you and any tips are appreciated.

Always be well.
#blog
  • Profile picture of the author Miguel Oliveira
    It is the promotion you do, the SEO and the content that actually gets the visitors, especially if you are hosting the blog in your own servers, not if they are done with Wordpress or Blogger.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Miguel:

      Thank you for the timely reply!
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  • Profile picture of the author Houcem Rihane
    Hi Craig,

    Starting a blog is always a good idea. It's true that blogs are booming and that there are blogs getting millions of visitors. Nevertheless, there is always place for an other blog.
    If you provide solid content that is at the same time helpful and entertaining, you will get your loyal readers.

    As for the platform, there is no doubt. Use worldpress.org and host your own blog to have full control over it.

    To promote wait till you have some content on it (like 10 core articles) and the do the usual:
    -Update your pinging list or ping the blog yourself.
    -On page Seo (use the all-in-one-seo plugin)
    -Start building backlinks through social media (squidoo), article marketing, wikis, PR.... No-follow links help also with direct traffic: comments on other blogs, forum posting (some do follow)
    Of course you should post regularly to your blog.
    The more content, the better.

    So don't ask yourself twice whether you should start a blog. Just do it and you will see great results if you stay consistent.

    Hope I could help... and this is an impartial info.

    All the best,
    Houcem
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    • Profile picture of the author michellegreen
      Craig, I did a bit of an experiment a little while ago with two Blogger blogs and one Wordpress blog.

      I posted in each every day over the course of a month, and the Wordpress blog appeared in Google long before the other two. I was very surprised by this.

      The content in each was unique and I used the same strategies for SEO.

      Maybe you should look at trying both to see if you get the same results because the search engines change the way they "do" things on occasion!
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      • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
        Hi Michelle:

        Thank you for the idea! What do you use for Pinging and is your inclination that Word Press is still (I am not using the right word but you get my drift) respected and in better sync with Google?

        Have a great day!!!
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        • Profile picture of the author DeniseLorraine
          I vote for a WP blog because I've heard that your blogger blog can just disappear someday if the powers that be think you've done something wrong. I wouldn't want all of my hard work and the traffic to go away. I think it's just better to put your effort into something that you can control.

          Denise Lorraine
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          • Profile picture of the author DeniseLorraine
            It might be helpful if someone here who knows a lot about WP could explain the difference between using wordpress.org and wordpress.com

            It was explained to me once why one was better to use but I don't think I could do it justice trying to repeat what I learned. Anyone want to help with an explanation?

            Denise Lorraine
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          • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
            Hi Denise Lorraine:

            Thank you for the reply. I remember somebody else telling me way back when as well that there are Blog services out there that can pull your entire account if they don't like something about a post. I appreciate you reminding me about this. The upcoming projects were a lot of time and effort and all I would need is to wake-up one day and see a blank page!

            Have a fantastic Wednesday!
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Houcem:

      Thanks for the quick reply. What Ping Services do you recommend please? On another Blog I have Feedburner and then would use Pingoat. Pingoat recently has not been working. Twice a year they go through down time for about a month.

      Thanks again and be well!!!
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  • Profile picture of the author bladerunner
    Something that has confused many people is the distinction between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Let's clear it up.
    WordPress.org is free blogging software. With WordPress.org, you can install themes and plugins, run advertisements, edit the database and even modify the PHP source code. WordPress.org is the home of this software. Anyone can download the software for free but it must be installed on a web server before it will work. Web servers are generally not free. Hosting your own WordPress software can be fun and rewarding; it also places full responsibility on the blogger. If you mismanage your web server, you can lose your entire blog.
    For no charge, WordPress.org provides downloadable blog software, community mailing lists, community support forums, hosting recommendations, documentation, and free themes and plugins.

    WordPress.com is different. You do not have to download software, pay for hosting or manage a web server. When you sign up for a WordPress.com blog, you will get a URL like 'andy.wordpress.com'
    You do not control the software or the database; FTP and shell access are not included. WordPress.com is based on multi-user version of the software which does not permit uploading PHP themes or plugins. Javascript and CSS are also restricted for security reasons. What you can do on WordPress.com is blog for free.
    For no charge, WordPress.com provides web hosting, unlimited database storage with redundancy and backups, automatic software upgrades, community support forums, multi-lingual administration and themes, basic traffic stats, comment tracking, blog and post rankings and other features not available anywhere else. These features will always be free for blogs started on WordPress.com; if you ever find yourself being charged for these at WordPress.com, pinch yourself and wake up!
    WordPress.com is a commercial enterprise owned by Automattic, a company started by the founding developer of WordPress and staffed by full-time developers, designers and support agents. It runs a multi-user version of WordPress called WordPress MU. WPMU is also free, open-source software. Developments sponsored by Automattic are regularly contributed back into WordPress.org so the community can benefit.
    WordPress.com offers paid upgrades as a way to provide premium features without forcing bloggers to host their blogs elsewhere. These upgrades are optional. Basic blogs will always be free on WordPress.com and the basic services will continue to be upgraded with better features.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Bladerunner:

      Thank you for the information. Another question if you don't mind. Since all the advice here is great and impartial. That is the only way to get it.

      If you wrote protocol on a Blog can you tell me if this would be okay please and if not what part would need adjustment.

      Let us say I want to plug the new projects and old ones as well. Could the signature at the end of the blog if I went with:

      All the best,
      Craig Fenton
      Author

      or
      All the best,
      Craig Fenton
      Do You Like Rock And Roll

      be a link to my website(s). In the body of the blog If I write about a rock and roll book could I have a link for my own?

      Can you plug something close as long as you are sort of on topic? If I wrote about a new Beatles book could I put someplace about my Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship? If I write about a review of a Make Money On Line product can I plug my own?

      I do not want to make enemies or do anything that starts me off upsetting people.

      Thank you so much for your time and have a great day.
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  • Profile picture of the author Houcem Rihane
    Hi Graig,
    For pinging: I actually use a private tool right now but I used to use Ping-o-Matic! . Give it a try.

    If you want to plug old and new projects together, then I would suggest you just place a link in the blogroll pointing to your old ones. As for the blog itself, try to keep it as focused on a specific niche as possible. This way you get search engine benefits and your audience will be very targeted to your offers.

    As I said, if you have a worldpress installation on your own server, then you have full control. WP.com could ban you if you hit it hard with affiliate promotions. This will never be the case with your self hosted blog.

    @Bladerunner: thanks for the explanation on WP.com and WP.org.

    Hope I could help,
    Houcem
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi again Houcem:

      Thank you. I'll look up the Ping service you were kind enough to mention. Have a great day!
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      • Profile picture of the author CDawson
        Banned
        Hey Craig,

        There are 2 different types of blogging platforms that you should be aware of.

        Blogger - You can use adsense on these blogs and they are very easy to use via the setups and you can add custom templates. I personally will never use blogger again because They spammed a Blog of mine that I had for a year (they can ban any blog at any time unless its your own domain name).

        Wordpress - seems to get on google faster without really doing any SEO. Wordpress is just more cleaner than blogger but maybe not as easy to use (not hard to get used to though). If you are running wordpress through hosting then its just great I use wordpress for most of my sites and blogs.
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        • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
          Hi CDawson:

          Thanks for the info. I appreciate the time. I am getting superlative information and this is paramount because I'll have a new project hopefully by spring and I want to do it right!!

          With the fine folks here I am learning every minute.

          Have a great day.
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      • Profile picture of the author Houcem Rihane
        Originally Posted by Craig Fenton View Post

        Hi again Houcem:

        Thank you. I'll look up the Ping service you were kind enough to mention. Have a great day!
        You're welcome man!
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        • Profile picture of the author michellegreen
          Craig, if you go to Settings, then Writing then scroll down to Update Services, you will see a link you can click on to see update (or ping) services.

          Open that link in a new window/page then scroll down until you see a list of URLs. Copy the URLs back into the box on the WP page you were just in.

          I'm making video tutorials right now for the latest version of WP but haven't done this one, otherwise I'd post the link to it!

          Once you're done, click on Save Changes.

          Now every time you post, those sites will be pinged automatically.

          Oh, and I much prefer Wordpress to Blogger and I've not heard otherwise about the fact that Wordpress is good for SEO, unless of course somebody wants to correct me?!
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          • Profile picture of the author Sonni
            There is also Wordpress Direct where you get 3 blogs set up with plugins and auto content free. However, when you go for the 4th you will need to pay or if you want to upgrade to silver or gold it's upwards to $100 plus a month.

            Some newbies start out with this option it is recommended by Ed Dale in the 30 Day Challenge for newbies. I never did get a WPD I went for WP.org.
            Sonni
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            • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
              Hi Sonni:

              Thank you for the info about Word Press Direct. That seems like a serious option.

              Have a great day!!
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              • Profile picture of the author Allurre
                You can use blogspot.com Easy to start up, and it also works.

                People only opt for Wordpress.com to have complete ownership of it, and having no fear of it being removed from the net. It also comes with great plug-ins, however to use WP, you need to have some knowledge of php, css, and html scripting.
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                • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
                  Hi Allurre:

                  Thank you for another point of view and suggestion regarding the blog.

                  Have a great night!
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          • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
            Hi Michelle:

            Thanks again. I can't wait for the video tutorials that you are working on.

            Have a great day!
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Traffic-Bug:

      Thanks for the info. Can you tell me please what Voda-Host does for you that makes it advantageous.

      Be well!!
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  • Profile picture of the author BlogBrowser
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi:

      Thanks for the reply. As an author of two books, a former radio disc-jockey, current public speaker with a former Grateful Dead member and America's great rock photographer, voice trainer for professional work/public speaker, I do have something I can offer.

      If I couldn't tie in the project I am almost finished with nicely to go with the above I wouldn't. It wouldn't feel good to write about something for the sake of it and keep plugging my projects.

      The real question is will having some interesting things to say be able to float in the sea of millions. That is why I enjoy getting the knowledge from the great members of the forum.

      Have a great night.
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      • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
        Originally Posted by Craig Fenton View Post

        Hi:

        Thanks for the reply. As an author of two books, a former radio disc-jockey, current public speaker with a former Grateful Dead member and America's great rock photographer, voice trainer for professional work/public speaker, I do have something I can offer.

        If I couldn't tie in the project I am almost finished with nicely to go with the above I wouldn't. It wouldn't feel good to write about something for the sake of it and keep plugging my projects.

        The real question is will having some interesting things to say be able to float in the sea of millions. That is why I enjoy getting the knowledge from the great members of the forum.

        Have a great night.
        Yes is the answer. I've got a music blog too. I haven't done much to get traffic except add content and have been pleasantly surprised by the amount of blogs that have picked up the RSS feeds from the articles. Information about music is in demand and personally I generally enjoy reading articles from musicians.
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        • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
          Hi Patricia:

          Thanks again. You are a big help.
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  • Profile picture of the author largedogfan
    Hey: Thank you for an interesting situation to ponder. Thank the rest of the nice people for the advice that followed.
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  • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
    I prefer to use Wordpress hosted by myself because I have more control over it and I can easily add useful plug ins. There is plenty of room for another blog and yes you can get traffic.

    I set up a blog last Thursday on a domain that I've had for a while and was only getting on average 17 visitors a month. I set myself a 6 month traffic challenge and have done a little more every day and already it is averaging 114 visits a day and got 284 unique visitors in the first 4 days of this month.

    I have still got a lot of things that I can do to build traffic and the way things are going it looks as if I will complete my challenge long before the 6 months are up. I've been writing about what I've been doing step by step on the blog. If you want a look see check out the traffic challenge in my signature.
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  • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
    I prefer to use Wordpress hosted by myself because I have more control over it and I can easily add useful plug ins. There is plenty of room for another blog and yes you can get traffic.

    I set up a blog last Thursday on a domain that I've had for a while and was only getting on average 17 visitors a month. I set myself a 6 month traffic challenge and have done a little more every day and already it is averaging 114 visits a day and got 284 unique visitors in the first 4 days of this month.

    I have still got a lot of things that I can do to build traffic and the way things are going it looks as if I will complete my challenge long before the 6 months are up and will have to set myself another one. I've been writing about what I've been doing step by step on the blog. If you want a look see check out the traffic challenge in my signature.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Patricia: Thanks for the reply and that is nice work the way you already improved the blog and site traffic! Keep it up. Have a great night.
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  • Profile picture of the author teazers4
    Craig,

    Definately a Wordpress man hosted by myself. The many plugins allow you to automated several tedious functions. The plugins also allow you to monitize in different ways that don't look to pushy.

    As for Blogger, about 3 years ago I had a blog setup and wrote all my own articles, totally unique content and had it running for 1 year with hunderds of posts and with only the Adsense on it for monitization. I had about 300-400 visitors a day and one day I woke up to find it was gone.

    Not only that, but my actual site I was blogging for, went from a PR 5 into Google's supllementary index and basically killed my business overnight.

    Keep any ownership of your hard work away from Google period, unless it's in their rankings!

    Also, to get indexed pretty quickly, if you have a Yahoo, MSN and Google account add your RSS feed to your main account page and it will be indexed pretty quick. My last blog was picked up in 3 days!!

    Hope this helps,

    Neil
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Neil:

      Thank you for the info! It sure does help. Sorry for the situation you ahd with the Blogger ordeal.

      I find it hard to understand how many people have had accounts pulled over the years with blogs they don't actually own. If you don't break the law and aren't selling a product that is snake oil why can't people post whatever they wish and if somebody doesn;t find it interesting they never have to read the blog again.

      Have a fantastic night.
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  • Profile picture of the author ebusinesstutor
    I highly recommend Wordpress. It is search engine indexing friendly, has lots of plugins to extend its features and is very easy to use.

    I recommend you have your own hosting and install WordPress on your own hosting. This way WordPress has no say over your content, you don't have to be a subdomain of theirs and you have full control.

    Blogs are like books. It doesn't matter how many there are, what matters is getting yours read. Don't focus on how many other blogs there are, focus on how you will be totally different from all the other ones.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craig Fenton
      Hi Ebusinesstutor:

      Thanks for the info. Researching about Plug-Ins will be a mission in itself.

      I'm getting a great education.

      Have a fantastic weekend.
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