Bloggers out there - help!

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   girly_girl09posted 14 years ago

   I have finally created a blogspot/blogger blog (or a network of them, actually). The thing is - how do I get started? LOL Let me explain...
   
   I have SO much stuff to post, but does anyone have any tips/tricks and better yet, examples of how they archive their posts?
   
   I'm going to be doing lots of healthy eating articles. I'm guessing that PR 3 & 4 backlinks from a few of my hubs will definitely help my blogs get ranked quickly...yes, no, maybe so? We'll see....
   
   Anyways, any advice is greatly appreciated. I just feel overwhelmed with having so much content to post all at once. Maybe I should just do one or two entries a day?

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   lrohnerposted 14 years ago

   I wouldn't do more than one per day. The whole categorization thing in Blogger is a bit problematic for foodie blogs, as you really can only categorize them in one way. Ideally, you would want to characterize them in several ways: type of cuisine, meal, primary ingredient, etc. I'm just now starting a few new foodie sites, but have opted to move them into Joomla so that I can categorize them in more than one way.
   
   I have two PR4 and one PR3 foodie blogs so I can help you with the backlinks and a few other foodie Blogger blog tips. Contact me directly and I'll fill you in.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Gee, I didn't realise that.  So glad I picked Wordpress!   
      
      I did a fair bit of research before deciding to go with a Wordpress rather than Joomla.  The main reason was because peole said Wordpress was easier to use, but I also came across several people on forums who said they'd built a blog on Joomla and had real trouble getting search engine traffic, but when they moved it to Wordpress, bingo! and other similar stories.  No one seemed to know why but people were guessing the Wordpress setup is better for SEO.

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         lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I love Joomla! Joomla has plug-ins (called extensions)just like Wordpress. I suspect maybe they didn't add the right plugins?
         
         When I did my research, the bottom line kind of said if you want to blog -- use blogger or wordpress. If you may want to do more than just a blog and have $5,000 to hire a programmer, use Droopal. If you may want to do more than a simple blog and don't want to spend money, use Joomla.
         
         I'm actually taking one of my blogs and converting it into a full-fledged website, so Joomla was the obvious choice for me.

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            girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Now, I am going to have to look into Joomla. I worked on a campaign where the tech guy INSISTED upon using Drupal. I hated it.
            
            Perhaps creating websites (if it's easy enough to do with Joomla) would be better for SEO than a blog (plus, I could be much more organized). I'll definitely have to look into Joomla tomorrow.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            If you're already experienced with Joomla then it's the obvious choice.  However I know lots of people who use Wordpress for "full-fledged websites".  I wouldn't call my belly dance site a blog - in fact I tried to list it in some blog directories and got knocked back because it wasn't a blog!

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      girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks so much - I'll definitely be interested in exchanging links! <3 I have to pause from hubbing for a few hours to get some coursework done lol, but I will either message you later this evening or tomorrow!

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   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   Wordpress is a CMS and can be easily used as such, I design sites that one would never know is wordpress based and would never be seen as a blog.
   
   Its my choice because when I hand the reins over to a client its very easy for them to update themselves and I can  limit their access to any controls that would really screw things up
   
   
   I would go with 2-3 posts a day -as that is the number I see referenced the most by SEO focused sites and forums.
   
   I have to many sites and blogs and hubs etc to have that kind of output myself so i havent experimented with that factor myself

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   lrohnerposted 14 years ago

   Joomla is a CMS as well, and after the initial learning curve, it's super easy to work with. That first learning curve was a bit steeper than Wordpress, but if I built this site and then handed it off to a client, it wouldn't take very long to teach them what they need to know!
   
   And sunforged, interesting on the 2-3 posts per day. I can see that for an established blog, but what about a new one where the bots don't crawl it very often. Or am I backwards and the new content makes them crawl?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That's why I had Joomla on my shortlist, but the steeper learning curve was what sent me in the Wordpress direction.  Joomla didn't seem to offer anything to compensate for the extra effort (and considering I was a real internet greenhorn, I wanted the easiest road possible!). 
      
      When I answered your original question, I was assuming you hadn't already chosen a platform.

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      sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think the theory is the initial 2-3 posts daily attracts the bots quicker, esp since they autoping via WP, but a single link from a  trafficked hub works wonder for me anyway
      
      I only use the Thesis theme on my wordpress sites now - which totally deconstructs the wordpress platform

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         Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I know a couple of people who switched to Thesis thinking it was great, but are now no longer using it.  I find it too boring - I know some people take the view a theme shoud be boring, but not me!

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            sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thesis is the most customizable theme that exists ! out of the box its boring...but there are zero limitations to its customizations, they must not have done their homework. Anybody could learn to modify with a week or so involvement in their forums. Quicker with basic knowledge of css and php
            
            ataluahpa gets the vote for best free theme for customization options

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               Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Sunforged, you have to remember that not everyone finds programming easy.  Even a "basic knowledge of css and php" is beyond me.  I couldn't figure out how to set up Atahualpa so I suspect I'd have no hope with Thesis. 
               
               It is possible to be TOO customisable, you know.  An example is the Herman Miller Aeron chair. Claimed to be the best ergonomic chair in the world, but I've yet to meet someone who had it correctly adjusted to be properly ergonomic - because it has too many customisation options. 
               
               A theme which requires a whole week of learning to customise it doesn't sound like a good deal to me.  I created the theme for my ballet blog in an evening using Artisteer, no learning curve required.

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   SweetiePieposted 14 years ago

   I have both a wordpress and a blogger blog and receive good traffic from both.  However, I do not put as much time into my blogging as some people do, so I am sure with more key word research people can do even better with their blogs.  I do not like the bulkiness of setting up a website with wordpress, so I actually bought mine through web.com.  I also get traffic to my hubs via my website.

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   Lissieposted 14 years ago

   My gut feel is that WP will continue to have major market share and that drupal joomla will beocme mroe and more niche. As sunforged said - its realy up to the designer whether you can even recognise a site running on WP as a blog - its just a tool and its gone way beyone being a "just" a blogging platform. I talked a bit about the topic here legitmate online businesses

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   Eric Graudinsposted 14 years ago

   Err.
   quick reality check here.
   
   I don't think that everyone realises that there are 2 versions of wordpress, and that some of you appear to be getting mixed up a bit.
   
   WORDPRESS.COM (hosted by Wordpress)
   This is a structured blog hosted by wordpress, you have little control over what you can do. THIS version that is comparable to blogger as a free blogging platform.
   
   WORDPRESS.ORG.  (hosted on your own hosting account)
   This is the version of Wordpress that you download and install on your own hosting account. (Or install using Fantastico)
   This is the version that you can turn into a website, blog, CMS, etc. and add lots of addons and use thousands of themes.
   
   It is the version that can be compared with Drupal, etc.
   
   The two versions of wordpress are totally different to each other, and the self hosted version certainly can't be compared to blogger.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Eric, it did cross my mind that I should've been clearer. 
      
      I'm talking about Wordpress.org and I wasn't comparing it to Blogger directly - but I could have chosen Blogger and used my own domain name. 
      
      I did wonder if SweetiePie was talking about Wordpress.com though, because I wouldn't call Wordpress.org "bulky".

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   SweetiePieposted 14 years ago

   I was not confused about the wordpress self hosting, I just find it to be a lot of work for someone who is not techy such as myself.  When I bought my website through web.com they had hundreds of add ons and themes to choose from, and I did not have to download anything extra.  For people who want simplicity it is just easier not to have to download anything.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      SweetiePie, the downloading (or rather uploading) bit did flummox me at first, but it's actually not that hard, and once you've got the site up, you rarely have to do it - with the new version of Wordpress, you can get most things from your admin screen - including changing themes and adding plugins.  And Wordpress has thousands of themes and hundreds of plugins (add ons).
      
      Do you have control over your own site at web.com, or if they go out of business, do you lose the site?

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         SweetiePieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I own my website for one year at a time.  I probably should try wordpress, but to be honest the process is just way too daunting to me.  I do not foresee web.com going out of business any time soon, but maybe I will get around to trying wordpress some day.  I just do not feel motivated to put in the extra effort at the moment.

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            lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            You know, I also have Wordpress blogs/sites. Once you get through the download (which doesn't take much of your time at all), it's pretty much the same as Wordpress hosted blogs -- just with more capabilities. Seriously -- don't think it's that much of a hassle. It's not.

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               SweetiePieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Okay I will try it then.  Never hurts to try.  Maybe the pictures would load on my website better too, which is a major problem I have with web.com.

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                  lrohnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  One of the biggest upsides is that your domain name will then be http://my-site.com vs. http://my-site.wordpress.com

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                     SweetiePieposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks for the tips everyone!

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   SweetiePieposted 14 years ago

   I was talking about downloading the software for my own website, and too me it was too bulky because there were just too many steps involved.  With my website I did not have to do any extra work.  Nothing wrong with those who want to download the software, but I able to change the theme of my website without downloading anything extra.

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    shibashakeposted 14 years ago

    I am a big fan of WordPress. It is open source - so the sky is the limit in terms of what you can do with it.
    
    Also, they have a pretty good GUI so that you can start out without much of a learning curve, and then learn as you go along. You can decide to do as much or as little as you want.
    
    Because it is open source , there are a lot of people developing free themes and plugins for it. If you need to do something extra with your blog, chances are someone has probably written a plugin for it.

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    cosetteposted 14 years ago

    hmm, maybe i should use my WordPress account...i created it over a year ago and blogged one time and that was it.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Read the posts about the difference between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org again!

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    girly_girl09posted 14 years ago

    Wowwwwwww guys, thanks for all the info.
    
    Question - I do not want to purchase a domain yet. (I always purchase them impulsively and end up not using them). I want to wait and see if I can dedicate myself to this project.
    
    Anyways, if I start of with a free wordpress.COM blog and then later want to upload everything to my own domain (effortlessly) can I do this for wordpress.ORG? Or, would I have to start over and copy & paste everthing?
    
    I currently have a wordpress.COM blog and I have it forwarded to a domain. I believe since it is forwarded, it has lost all potential SEO benefits, so I don't want to do the 'forwarding' thing again...
    
    So, my ultimate question (I've been rambling on lol):
    
    I want to create a blog on wordpress.COM and eventually switch it to wordpress.ORG with my own hosted .com domain (not forward).
    
    Can I do this easily? Have you done this and how did the process go?
    
    p.s. I capitalized COM and ORG to get my point across about what service I was using...sorry if it is obnoxious.

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       shibashakeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       WordPress has a great import/export facility so you can just export your .COM content with a few clicks, and import it into your own domain with a few more clicks.
       
       However, I don't think there is a good way to transfer the search engine love.
       
       I read a pretty good article today about how you can possibly transfer your Blogger ranking - but even here it is unclear if search rankings will transfer properly.
       http://www.labnol.org/internet/switch-f … ress/9707/
       
       I think that the only way to be sure that your ranking transfers is through the use of server based 301 redirects and for that, you must be in control of your own domain.

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          girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thank, Shiba! I think I will start off a free .com blog on wordpress then and see if I can motivate myself to continue using it. I can't run adsense with the wordpress.com hosting, but at the very least, I can use it for backlinks to my hubs. If it is a project that takes off and the site begins to get even a trickle of traffic, I will purchase a domain and transfer everything...it sounds like it is pretty streamlined, so that is cool.
          
          Thanks again!

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             Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             I have a better idea.  Find out whether your project will take off by posting Hubs on the topic.  If they get good traffic, you'll know you're onto something.  THEN buy your domain name and start your blog, and add a link to the blog from your existing Hubs (so you have ready-made backlinks). 
             
             If you start on .com and transfer to your own domain name, you'll pretty much have to start all over again with traffic.  And I tried transferring a blog from wordpress.com to wordpress.org and all it transferred was the posts - so that was like starting all over again, too.

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                girly_girl09posted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Very good advice, Marisa. Thank you! I already have a lot of hubs complete on the topic, but tonight I was doing keyword research and am probably going to write some more hubs just to test out the waters. It is definitely worth it before I impulsively purchase domains (again! lol)
                
                Thanks!

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                sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                Take MArisa's advice!!!
                
                that is exactly what i use I hubs for.
                
                I have a wordpress.com site that has received something like 120k visitors last year, I monetized it,(against TOS) it lasted about 6 months until getting flagged for having ads,,,was pulled,  they were nice enough to let me remove all aff links and ads and they republished for me, now I have a site that gets hundreds of views a day that has no value other than for backlinks ! Im def not a fan of the wp.com system, they do put ads on your site, you just cant see them when your logged in
                
                As far as updating/installing a wordpress site, if you can attach a doc to an email or load an ipod you can handle wordpress management.
                
                look for a webhost that has fantastico or a cpanel 1 click install
                
                hostgator, 1 and 1, dreamhost and godaddy all offer this service
                hosting is cheap! 5/month will work at first
                
                you can easily backup and install both blogger and wordpress sites, the backup will include all posts and comments - any plug in info will be lost

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    shibashakeposted 14 years ago

    You're very welcome.
    
    In truth, web hosting is not that expensive. I am with Bluehost and pay about $7 a month. I did some back of the envelope calculations some time ago, and discovered that if you are earning about $18 per month total from HubPages, you are already paying them > $7 a month
    
    ... something to think about.

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    abbie22posted 14 years ago

    I'm new to blogging, and have seen many kinds...what I'd like to know is how to make money? Is it possible?

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    sunforgedposted 14 years ago

    I dont find programming to be easy, Im an artist by nature, graphic design out of commercial necessity..web design a natural next step-having to conform to the Wp platform was hard, learning php a total boring hell - css not so bad.
    
    But that is exactly why I use and suggest Thesis, it uses a customization process called "hooks", sure it will take a week even to learn that well - but you could learn how to have a custom background and header in under ten minutes, other basic things just as quickly - i just have greater customization needs, have turned thesis sites into ecommerce shopping cart based sites, artist portfolios, landing pages etc
    
    ive been meaning to play with artisteer more, ive ha dit for a couple of months - looks like you have had good results (ive peeked at your sites)
    
    Herman miller chairs - I wish my friends had and disliked their 500+ office chairs!

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