Blogging for Beginners - What to put on your blog page
11/05/2009
These are my recommended top 8 essential elements to include on your blog page.
Title
Make the title as catchy and relevant to your blog content as possible. Consider what people may be searching for and use words that will help the search engine identify your blog as having the necessary content.
Author Profile:
As with a book, readers like to know a little bit about the author. Write a few short lines about yourself to give a brief overview. I would advise against giving out any details that can allow people to trace you to your home address, such as a real name etc. I would recommend choosing a pseudonym when you begin blogging and stick to that.
Author Photo
You may wish to add to the personal touch. I myself use a photo that while recent would not easily identify me if out and about. It is my intention to be recognized on the Internet only and not while out shopping with the kids!
Blog Introduction
Let your readers know what the blog is about and what your blogs aim is. Again this is no different to what an author may do with a book, except the introduction for a blog should be considerably shorter, perhaps no longer than 4 short paragraphs.
Categories and table of contents
With blogs you tend to only display a few at a time (perhaps 
and as new posts push old posts further down the line (and off front page) having a table of contents with posts separated into categories is a great way for readers to be able find other posts they may be interested in. Also you could have a section, which highlights your most popular commented upon posts.
Links
Swapping blog site addresses (links/URL’s) with other bloggers and displaying them on your blog could help improve your search engine ranking but only if the linked blogs are similar topics to yours.
Blog posts – blog content
Your blog is not a blog without content! My advice would be to write about what you know.
Reference sources properly with links. Read up on copyright law and do not use images or directly copy text without seeking permission of the author or artist or referring to their terms of use, which should be displayed on their web/blog pages. If there is no copyright message, assume NO copying is allowed with their prior permission.
Copyright message
Some writers on the Internet will prohibit all copying without seeking prior permission. I am one such writer. But others may be happy to share their work as long as you clearly credit the work to them and provide a link back to their site. Details of their restrictions and uses are usually displayed somewhere on their blog. Decide for yourself whether you allow or prohibit copying and then detail these terms accordingly on your blog.
Entry Filed under: Blogging for beginners. .
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1.
gt281 | 02/11/2007 at 6:59 pm
Just got thru reading your article on Blogrush and the article
Changes at Blogrush…needless to say I’m of course confused… What is it, and why do I want it, except of course
for the traffic.. I just write stupid stories, rantings, and rhyming verses…no themes involved, no daily journal,
no daily updates with baby pictures, no techno journal, or
how to stuff.. just stories that I write, that I think are humorous or maybe thoughtful.. I’m not interested in having a lot of ads on my blogpage, I’m not here to make pennies per clicks, that’s not what I’m here for. Writing my blog stories for me is a time filler, since I don’t watch TV, and it is also a personal challenge to see if I can write something funny or insightful, I would of course like to have people drop by for tea and cookies and read my blog and leave a comment, even if it is negative… I’m amazed that I’ve lasted this long… Well, having said/written that mouthful, will signing up for Blogrush bring me “readers”, not ad followers?…or ad promoters?…
…………sknaht…in reverse…:-)
http://www.shipslogofgt281.blogspot.com/
p.s. everything you write is automatically copyright protected, without having to say so,due to the Berne convention, i looked it up…the circled “c” is
just an old convention..please correct me if i’m wrong…
oh yeah, what the HLL is ATOM
2.
Creative Blogger | 02/11/2007 at 8:03 pm
Hi, thanks for the comment.
re copyright, it is automatic, but some out there need a visual reminder
Now as for atom….ermmmmm
3.
gt281 | 06/11/2007 at 9:13 pm
Backtracking thru the messages I’ve sent over the past week or so and I finally got to your blog site. I see that you did read my questions and made a note. I know that you must get a lot of such questions just flung at you, so your brief note was what I expected. No harm none. I’ll search thru your blog articles and try to figure things out myself.
Well, at least you read my questions, that’s something.
……b
…no sarcasim ment or mean intent, it’s near the end of my work day and I’m tired, so I’m kinda blabbering, sorry…
I do think your articles are informative, I just have to figure out what they mean…:-)
4.
Creative Blogger | 06/11/2007 at 9:48 pm
Hi Gt, you and me both!
I couldn’t elaborate more re blogrush as all I know is literally that it is supposed to bring traffic somehow, that’s the extent of my knowledge, and atom never heard of it
. This really is a technophobic blog written by technophobe! We shall learn together.
5.
gt281 | 07/11/2007 at 3:15 pm
sorry if i sounded peeved yesterday, i wasn’t…just the end of the day and my eyeballs were fried…at the bottom of my blog site, it says “Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)” …i looked at the references from blogger user groups, but i must be dumb or something, cuz, i couldn’t figure out whether i was suppose to subscribe to it, or visitors to my site where to do it…
well, anyway……….
……….b