Blogs

WRITING A GREAT BLOG POST

  1. Have something to say, and say it well.
  2. Short posts and short sentences make your blog easy to read.
  3. Write in a conversational way, as though you’re telling your best friend a great story. Let your voice shine!
  4. Include at least one link to another blog or website in every post.
  5. Write good link text. Click here is bad link text (Where will you go? You don’t know!). This is good link text: Lyndon gave us 10 tips about writing blog posts. Why is it good? Because the text of the link gives you a reasonable expectation of what you will see if you click!
  6. Use good keywords in the headline for every blog post.
  7. Read other blogs—and leave thoughtful comments on them. The more you look at other blogs, the better your own blog will be.
  8. Use an RSS reader, such as Google Reader,* to subscribe to other blogs. This is much more efficient than bookmarking them!
  9. The blogosphere is all about connecting. Your links to other blogs (and your comments on other blogs) will come back around to your blog as others link to your posts.
  10. Do not steal other people’s text. Quote a brief excerpt and LINK, if you like someone’s post.
  11. Do not steal other people’s images. Include a caption and photo credit OR a directional in the text and a photo credit. If you didn’t have a caption for the photo above, you could reference it in the text where you describe the two male albatrosses clacking their bills as they duel over a female (above, photo by Cecil Schwalbe).
  12. Don’t let anyone tell you that blogs are “always” anything. There are as many different forms of blogs as there are magazines or TV shows or columns in newspapers. Some blogs are newsy, others are not. Some are personal diaries, others are not. Etc., etc.

FINDING BLOGS TO LINK TO

  • Google’s Blog Search is an indexing tool that points to the latest buzz on any keyword or topic.
  • Technorati is the best blog-search option on the Web. Technorati indexes by topic, allowing you to find, for example, just those blogs that love cats. It also lists the most popular terms people are blogging about and features a Top 100 list.
  • Ice Rocket is another good resource for looking up blogs on a particular topic, such as Phoenix Suns, or for searching for blog entries by a certain author or within a specified time period.

LINKS

Each post must have a functioning link to an outside web page that is not written by you. This requirement is meant to encourage you to search the web regularly for new and interesting content.

Your blog post must comment on the linked content. The link must be relevant to what you’ve written in your post.

Links are more valuable (higher quality) when they’re more specific. A link to the home page of The New York Times is not very valuable because (a) anyone can find that page without your help and (b) the contents of that page will change in less than 24 hours.

Links are more valuable when the linked content is provided by someone with expertise or a unique perspective. The content of some personal web pages has little value because the author lacks qualifications.

Links are more valuable when your link text tells the user what to expect. The words “Click here” or “This link” do not tell the user anything about the linked content.

You can also add relevant photos, audio clips or video clips to your blog.

According to Columbus Dispatch staffers, a good hyperlink should:

  • Be trustworthy
  • Provide background and context
  • Deal with a related subject but in a new or different way
  • Be authoritative—foundation, government organizations, individual or organization seen as leader in field
  • Be credible
  • Add understanding
  • Expand on the topic — stuff you couldn’t fit in a news story
  • Offer tangible information
    Locations
    FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
    How something works
  • Be relevant
  • Work
  • Provide further detail
  • Broaden content
  • Describe content rather than point to it by linking from a noun, instead of phrases such as “Click here” or “Click this.”

* Use Google Reader to export your subscriptions as an OPML file. Then you can import that file to your blog. In Google Reader, see the link at the bottom of your list of feeds, “Manage subscriptions.” Then go to the “Import/Export” tab.

ETHICS

If you decide to  start blogging, be sure to read the Blogger’ Code of Ethics.

WHY BLOG (f you start your own)?

  1. Writing on a regular schedule will make you a better writer.
  2. Practice linking (includes choosing reliable sources).
  3. Collaborate with others (commenting, linking).
  4. Improve your editing skills (write tight and bright).
  5. Learn to use HTML (if you modify the template).
  6. Use a content management system (CMS).

ENHANCING YOUR BLOG (if you have your own)

2 Responses to Blogs

  1. Jessica Dollin's avatar Jessica Dollin says:
    March 27, 2012 at 8:52 pm

    Urban Heat Island Effect Mitigation

    Unbeknownst to me, a large majority of the population in the United States is unaware of the urban heat island effect, or suburban heat island effect. A large majority of the population in the United States lives in an urban heat island or suburban heat island. Shouldn’t people know where they live? Truthfully, people know they live in cities or master planned communities, but they do not consider the environmental implications of their neighborhoods.

    So what is a heat island? Long story short, highly populated areas are hotter than surrounding areas because of the high concentration of materials that retain heat (i.e., concrete, asphalt). Fun fact: heat islands have been around since the 1800s when they were “discovered” by a manufacturing chemist, Luke Howard. Cities such as London, New York and Phoenix are considered major heat islands. The Migrant Mind (The Migrant Mind I, The Migrant Mind II, The Migrant Mind III)

    has some pretty heated (ha, ha) posts about heat islands with great pictures (there is even one of the University of Arizona).

    Anyone who has been to any of these cities can detect the temperature change in comparison to more rural areas. In fact, if you walk in the middle of the road (if you ever find yourself feeling risky) in Phoenix during the summer you can literally feel the heat radiating from the ground (your shoes might melt). Switch to walking on the grass and it is like putting your feet in an ice bath.

    Heat islands are such a big deal that the Environmental Protection Agency has devoted an entire website to ways to mitigate the problem (EPA). After doing some research for my article, I realized I needed to take a different approach. Assume nothing. If I want people to know about heat islands I have to start from square one. Maybe my little article will be the first step in the heat island PR campaign a la Kony 2012.

    Q1: Some of the links suggested using multiple types of social media to market your blog. Does anyone actually utilize other forms of social media besides “The Big 3”: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr? If so, which sites do you use?

    Q2: Following a blog is one thing, but following a bloggers Tumblr, being friends on Facebook, subscribing to their Twitter feed and having them in your friend circle on Google+ is quite another. Is it possible to be over saturated by blogs? The amount of information out there is a little overwhelming.

    Reply

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