Blogging 101

[Boogie]

This is a thread dedicated to blogging and my advice thereof. It is a work in progress and will be updated periodically (like a blog!) so keep that in mind.

This thread will be edited and will appear on my blog as a 'how to' guide in the future once i'm pretty much done here. Feel free to ask questions as you'd like.

Why start a blog?

Blogging is a great idea for a few simple reasons. The primary reason being that if you do it right, blogs are text based.

Search engines love text. It doesnt take a genius to see that by writing an entry and describing a news article, a product, a girl in a photoset, or just about anything else, you are creating search engine food.

Secondly, because it gives you a 'voice'. Tired of trying to convince someone to try a product in a line or two under a banner ad? Blogging allows you to have entry after entry, paragraph after paragraph, of things to say. When you incorporate a blog into your hub and people find it, they find 'you'. Its easier for them to learn about you (or your webmaster persona) and earn trust and trust makes sales, pure and simple.

Thirdly, its an alternative traffic source. Link list traffic is incredible, TGP traffic not so much, but your two primary sources of traffic for blogging are very valuable as well. The first source being, of course, the search engines. The second source being other blogs. Once a reader is established as enjoying reading blog entries, they are highly valuable indeed. They're a surfer that isnt just pouring through your site looking for thumbnails they are surfers who like to read your text. Love to read your text... may only be there simply FOR YOUR TEXT.

Finally, blogging continues to be the new 'buzzword' in this industry and all others. More and more searches for the term are being done each day. "MILF BLOG, PORN BLOG, SEX BLOG, DATING BLOG" and more and more searches appear on your favorite search anylizing tools each day as surfers plug in this keyword and apply the word 'blog' to it. Where will your sites be when they perform that search?

As always, if you use this guide we hope that you'll be so kind as to link back to my blog when creating your own.

[Boogie]

Getting Started

First you'll need a blog script. Currently there are three very popular and very easy scripts to use.

My personal favorite is Wordpress , which is an open source blog that is commercially free. yes free.

It requires SQL and must be installed on your server, but is highly customizable in all ways including the look of it (themes) and the application of the hundreds of plugins being developed by knowledgable coders. From incoroparting polls to category pages, for many blogging source integrations, or amazon.com intergration, you'll find its pretty easy to do all of these things by simply installing a plugin. Most trained monkeys can use wordpress.

typepad is likewise very popular. It is one that I've never personally used but it seems to be one of the most prevelant. From looking at their tour they have a free trial so giving it a shot shouldnt be a problem. They also offer hosting options.

The third suggestion is Blogger, which is owned by our good friends (or hated enemies) at google. This script can be done either on your site, or hosted at their domain blogspot.com. Both are good choices. Blogger lacks many of the features of typepad and wordpress, but is incredibly easy, is integrated into the google toolbar and the free hosting makes it pretty much mindless.

So choose a script, get it installed, and tomorrow we'll talk about your theme and/or content choices.

[baddog]

how much do I pay you to discontinue this tutorial?

[Useless]

Originally Posted by baddog

how much do I pay you to discontinue this tutorial?

Just go away. That should do the trick.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Useless Warrior

*A Useless Tool*

Pretty much sums it up.

[MrMaryLou]

Please continue Boogie I do want to know more about blogs

[Boogie]

why start a blog 2.0

One thing I forgot to mention above that's pretty important.

Most people seem to think blogs are simply a new TGP. A new way to deliver hosted galleries to consumers each day.

While some blogs that are like this are very popular, they're not really blogs. They're still at the base TGP's.

When you design a blog to look and work like this, most times, you'll have been better off simply creating a new TGP to work with.

A weblog is meant to be read. I cant read photos. I cant read pictures. These are Phoblogs, or Picblogs, not weblogs. If you want to share photos go make a flikr.

If you want to write about things, talk about things, share conversation with your surfers... this is why you should start a blog.

If you're just looking for another place to create links to your penis pills and hosted gallery sites then you're not going to do very well.

The search engines are learning that blogs grow organically if they're worth anything. Links create themselves every day from message boards to other blogs when you've created valuable content. who is going to link to your blog entry about a hosted gallery, rather than the gallery itself?

Who wants to share your excelent article that's nothing but a link to some breast enhancement creams?

There are two people who get into blogging.

There are good writers who are capable of creating good content that people like to read. Eros blog. Fleshbot. Perhaps even myself.

Then there are those folks who know nothing other than writing ad copy about their sponsors. They often do miserably poor in the blogging field.

If this is the person you are, or this is the kind of blog you want to create, chances are your time is best invested elsewhere. You may make b-list but you'll find a-list forever out of your grasp.

Put that same effort into a CJ script though I'm sure you'll be seeing 6 figure traffic within a month.

[Greenguy]

Originally Posted by baddog

how much do I pay you to discontinue this tutorial?

Maybe you just need to find a new board.

[Joe]

Great thread for those getting their feet wet with blogs.

They're a surfer that isnt just pouring through your site looking for thumbnails they are surfers who like to read your text. Love to read your text... may only be there simply FOR YOUR TEXT.

Read this for those getting started. A blog is not a blog if it only has a daily image gallery.

Boogie, don't forget to mention the importance of RSS feeds, and where to submit them.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Greenguy

Maybe you just need to find a new board.

Just an FYI. boogie sent me a link to this thread because we work together with our blogging. It was a fucking joke.

[Greenguy]

Well, then maybe you don't need to find a new board - LOL

[swedguy]

Originally Posted by baddog

Just an FYI. boogie sent me a link to this thread because we work together with our blogging. It was a fucking joke.

For an outsider that was kind of hard to figure out


If it wouldn't be such a pain in the ass to write text, I'd start a blog

[baddog]

Originally Posted by swedguy

For an outsider that was kind of hard to figure out

Well, I was speaking to him and I know he got it, so mission accomplished.

[Boogie]

Yeah, its a joke.

(when can I cash the check?)

[baddog]

Originally Posted by Boogie

Yeah, its a joke.

(when can I cash the check?)

It became null and void when you continued posting. . . . guess we will have to renegotiate.

[Opti]

Originally Posted by Boogie

Getting Started

So choose a script, get it installed, and tomorrow we'll talk about your theme and/or content choices.

Ok I'm in!

I choose Blogger for mine. what's next?


One thing I hope you will end up covering if possible, is stuff like the blog linktrading things like blogroll and pinging/trackback and all the other cool little bits n pieces bloggers seem to have.

[Boogie]

choosing a subject

What kind of blog should you write? There really is only one answer to that question and I dont know it. But I can help you figure it out for yourself.

You should choose something you're knowledgeable about. do you like finding links on the web that are fun to view? Create something like iambored.com

Do you like "Single Girl" content? Raven Riley and FTV Girls and Met Art? then creating something similar to badgirlsblog.com (Their blog, in my opinion, lacks an important part however... that's text)

Its best that you write about things that

1) you enjoy viewing yourself so it doesnt seem so much like work
2) you are knowledgable hats (MML, sounds like you need a boobshat blog)
3) something with plenty of resource material at your fingertips
4) something that is "news worthy"

One important step here is 'what is newsworthy?' Well, if you create a gay blog, you'll want to write daily articles about the gay community, about new gay websites and pictorials, about new gay events and other such information.

Alternatively, some of the most popular blogs dont even have a theme. Fleshbot, Eros Blog, BoingBoing... these blogs link to whatever catch their fancy. They write interesting to read articles every day that are from a wild variety of topics.

But its newsworthy. Its something they learn about before writing. Its something people find amusing. That's what keeps someone coming back to read your site day in and day out.

My blog is another example of a 'multiverse' blog. I pretty much write whatever covers my fancy.

The added difficulty in creating a multopic blog is that people stop coming for the subject matter and start coming to hear _YOUR_ voice... just to hear what you have to say, like calling up an old friend.

If you arent a decent writer and dont feel comfortable about that its best to pick a topic and write on.

[Fonz]

Great tutorial Boogie, gonna experiment with these things you call blogs as soon as I wrap up my current project

[blind]

count me in
if there will be some of us we can do some nice blog trades in near future?

[Blnt]

yeah, im in too
btw, great post, cool links

[adamneve]

Boogie you are doing an excellent job writing this tutorial |band

[neticule]

yes boogie, thank you! This is a great tutorial and I hope you will keep adding to it, there are alot of advanced things you can do with a blog I hope you will also cover later on.

your tutorial has convinced me to grab a new domain name for my new blog

[Mister13]

Thanks! This really helps!

[Boogie]

Writing your first few entries

Recently I got an email from a decent looking blog that was exactly 24 hours old.

The site looked great, the articles he had written were fine, but there was an obvious problem.

Why would anyone trade links with a blog that's 24 hours old?

What possibly do they have to offer the reader?

One article? two?

It is important that while your blog is in its infancy you write to it several times, over several topics, to create several entries, before showing it to anyone else. Nothing is more embarassing for a veteran blog reader or writer to come across a blog with 1 entry, especially if it reads "WOOT MY NEW SCRIPT IS UP AND RUNNING I CANT WAIT TO START BLOGGING"

For your first 5... or 10... or 15 entries, your target audience should be yourself.

Get comfortable writing it. Get comfortable using your script. Get comfortable creating content.

Cover some of the core aspects of your chosen topic, or if you havent chosen a topic, come up with some choice topics to start with.

This is especially important with a script that creates a seperate page for each entry.

When the engine bots come around for the first time, what do you want them to find? 30 well written pages on your topic, or just the one front page with nothing important to say?

Its fine to show your friends and family to get some feedback while you're building, but before you start sending hits or sending link swaps its a great idea to start off with the simple act of creating content.

While you're doing this, its also a great time to find out whether or not you're a blogger at heart.

Are you capable of writing 2-3 entries a day or is it like pulling teeth? Are you capable of finding good resources or are you struggling for content? Are you able to write things that are readable (tested on your friends and family) or are they all crappy and mispelled like my last entry about blogging was? (lol sorry I was just about to goto bed and forgot to spellcheck!)

Its during this trial and error time that you keep things hidden for yourself that you will learn whether or not you'll one day be an a-list blogger, or if you'll burn out like so many have before you and find that your time and resources are best spent building an easier to maintain website.

After you've written a nice set of entries, we'll talk about traffic.

[Boogie]

How to write an entry

Telling you how to write an entry into your own blog is a lot like telling you how to make love. no one can really help you find your own techniques, but, we can give you the basics of what works and what doesnt.

One of the largest problems with commercial bloggers is that they are two commercial. Sure, if you are selling bike clips and do nothing but write about bike clips you'll eventually get some search engine hits about bike clips.

But by every standpoint its better to create an interestnig blog about biking and your personal adventures in biking. Not only will you recieve those same search engine hits but you'll recieve loyal readers who enjoy your voice.

So, what I'm saying here is.... just like when making love, there is the technical aspects and then there is the technique.

Lets imagine I want to write about a brand new site I found today called "Greenguys Link-O-Rama". Here is a technical entry about it.

"Greenguy's link-o-rama has tens of thousands of categorized porn links. The background is black and the text is green! The amateur section alone has over a thousand links!"

Boring. What might be a little more interesting and keyword savvy would be this

"Well, today I was out looking for something to jack off to. I was over at my usual site, Cfporn.com and I found a link on the main page to something called Greenguys link o rama.

"First off this site is fucking hilarious. he uses this little green mascot on just about every page, its an animated gif, and he has to have about a thousand of them. You can tell this guy doesnt take life too seriously.

"I'd imagine he's got about few tens of thousands of porn links up there. I spent most of the afternoon pounding it to his amateur category. I counted no less then 50 Raven Riley links on there, christ, I Think I sprained my dick. So if you're looking for a new place to pound it I'd suggest starting Here "

Can you see the difference between the two postings?

The first is like listening to Dan Rather read it off a teleprompter.

The second is a little more like listening to howard stern talk about things with Artie. Its just fun to read.

And its just one example of the many voices out there that people tune in to read every day on the blogsphere. Some people _ARe_ very technical. Some people are very FUNNY. Some are weird. Some are obscure. Some are crazy.

But they all have a unique voice with one thing in common. They're fun to read.

Finding your own voice, your own writing style, and making it interesting is what will make or break you here.