So You Have a Blog, Now What Do You Do With It? Blog Basics

(This article assumes that you have already set up a blog on your website. I highly recommend using sBlog: http://servous.se/)

What started out as just a way for you to write an online journal has quickly turned into a very viable internet marketing tool. The weblog, or blog for short, has become a great way to draw attention to your website. Below I will discuss the steps you need to take to make the most of this new tool.

1. Content: Probably the most important feature of your new blog is the content - what you post. As an example, you can see what my own company, JV Media Design, has put up here: http://www.jvmediadesign.com/blog. You will notice that we post a lot of articles related to the business of design and the internet. Content that is relative to your business or industry is the most effective. Articles, news, tips, tutorials, and links or other resources are all great examples of what would be considered good content for your blog.

2. Updates: Optimally, your blog should always be up to date with fresh content. Of course, this can't always be the case, so it would be advantageous to update your blog as much as you can. If you can manage the content, a few times a week would be enough to keep your information fresh. There are plenty of free resources online that could help you with content. Simply do a search in your favorite engine for "free site content" or "free articles" and you should fine multiple links that could make it even easier for you to keep your blog up to date.

3. Links: Once you have some content posted into your blog, you will want to tell the internet world about it. The best way to do this is to submit your RSS feed link to sites that accept those feeds. What's an RSS feed you ask? RSS is another acronym for "RDF Site Summary", "Rich Site Summary", or "Really Simple Syndication". Basically, it's just a format for sending out your content to others. The best resource for where to submit this link is: http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/ It might take you a couple hours to go through this list, but I highly recommend submitting to all the links you can. Simply click on a submission link on the list and then follow the directions. Most sites will ask for your "RSS 0.91" or "RSS 2.0" feed link.

If you are using sBlog, your links would be:
http://www.YOURWEBSITE.com/blog/rss/?mode=0.91
http://www.YOURWEBSITE.com/blog/rss/?mode=2.0

Some sites only ask for the URL to your blog, which would be:
http://www.YOURWEBSITE.com/blog

Usually, the site will also ask for a description of your blog feed. Try to be as descriptive as possible while using keywords from your industry (ie. "JV Media Design - Web, graphic, and multimedia design tips, tutorials, and helpful information). Some will ask you to choose the best category for your blog feed as well.

4. Pings: Yet another web acronym, ping is short for "Packet Internet Groper" and is basically just a utility program that tests a network connection. In the blog world, pings are used to tell other sites that you are there. There is debate on how often you should ping others but the general consensus is that you should do it every time you update your blog with new content. The best utility to ping blog directory sites (where you should have been submitting your RSS feed links in point #3) is: http://pingomatic.com/ - Simply go to this site once you update your content, enter your URL (http://www.YOURSITE.com/blog) and description, check off all the boxes, then click "submit pings".

Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Lead Designer and Creative Director at Southern California Studio, JV Media Design. http://www.jvmediadesign.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Blogging/RSS Information:

Related Articles

Use RSS Feeds to Improve Search Engine Optimization and Ranking
RSS is rapidly becoming a "must have" for a proper search engine optimization. But what exactly is RSS?RSS or Rich Site Syndication (or Really Simple Syndication, depending on who you ask) is a file format similar to XML, and is used by publishers to make their content available to others in a format that can be universally understood.
Im a Failed Blogger!
I've never been popular in my whole life. I think there must be something inside me that didn't get enough attention as a kid or something because I seem to find myself looking for it all the time.
Reachout Throughout - RSS
RSS has been around for more than a decade but until recently "Rss Technology" started penetrating its roots deep inside the soil of the so-called E-world.Using this standard, web publishers provide updates, such as the latest news headlines, special announcements, press releases or weblog postings through their RSS contentReally Simple Syndication (RSS) is a lightweight XML vocabulary for describing metadata about web sites, ideal for news syndication.
RSS For Fresh Content & Better Ranking
A lot of commotion was made some time ago when webmasters discovered RSS (Really Simple Syndication) as a method of disseminating information like ezines, articles and website updates.For a while it was even being tauted has the bigreplacement for email marketing.
RSS more effective than email
Long have I been proclaiming the effectiveness of RSS as a communications channel for non personal communications over that of email. The protection and anonymity that RSS can offer over email means that it is fast becoming the preferred medium for many users.
Promoting Your Business Using Blogs
Internet marketing using blogs has quickly gained a lot of popularity as a wonderful way to promote your business.There are many ways that blogging can help in the promotion of your business.
Blogs And Your Work From Home Internet Business
As a work from home internet business entrepreneur you have several really good tools on the internet you can take advantage of in order to build your work from home business. A blog is just one of those tools that you can use and should be taking advantage of.
Superbloggers Secrets
Blogs are extremely hot right now. Everyone is starting them, and the more successful ones are driving unprecedented amounts of traffic and cash to their owners.
Small / Medium Business Blog Process Outsourcing as a Website Traffic Building Service
You are a small or a medium business owner. You have a well designed business website.
Blogs and RSS - Why Do I Need This Stuff?
If you've been under a rock for the last year or so it'spossible you might not have heard about blogs and RSS feeds.If you're like most of us, you've heard the buzz but mightnot've known what to make of it or what to do with it.
Why Would You Use Blogs Instead of a Web Site For Your Online Business?
Why would you use Blogs instead of a web site for your online business?What's wrong with using a web site for conducting your online business? How can Blogs help and why should I need one anyway?Combining a website and a Blog however offer a number of superior advantages in terms of traffic generation, marketing and efficiency which a stand-alone website cannot do.(a) Automatic push-button publishing.
Top 10 Tips for Bloggers
Tips for creating a blog.There are no hard and fast rules on how to blog.
RSS & How to Use It -- Part 2
Welcome to part 2 of the article that aims to give you just enough information to help you understand RSS and start using it. Part 1 gave you simple instructions on how to read and subscribe to an RSS site feed, part 2 will give you simple instructions on how to publish your own.
Improving Your Customer Relationship Management by Blogging
Before I address the following questions:* What is a blog? and* What can a blog do for my business?let me pose a few "What if . .
Marketing with Blogs and RSS Feeds
Perhaps you still don't realize or fully understand the power of RSS Feeds as a marketing tool.After all, email works fine, doesn't it?Unfortunately, the truth is:1.
Gathered Statistical Data Announces that Blogs will Dominate the Internet in Less than a Few Years
..
The 7-Step RSS Marketing Plan
If you're wondering how to get started with RSS marketing, here's a basic 7-step plan that should provide some needed guidance. Use these steps as your personal RSS marketing checklist to get your started and help you see whether you're on the right track.
Blogging on Ecademy Will Boost Your Web Site
For many people blogging is the way in which they are able to update their web site with new information and fresh content. As such, blogs are a great way of gaining returning visitors to your web site.
A Basic Introduction to Blogging
Web logging first appeared on the net in the mid-1990s. The term "web log" was initially coined refer to a server's log file and then expanded to include the meaning of online personal journaling.
Should Affiliates Really Use Blogging and Pinging To Get Indexed?
There seems to be a huge craze lately with everyone trying to blog and ping to get their websites indexed into the search engines. Although this can be a great tool, all marketers should first understand exactly what they're getting themselves into before starting.