Blogs Offer Communication, Information, and Connections During Disasters

Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today just called me from Northern Louisiana to report that he and his family have survived the evacuation from their home in Shreveport, Louisiana, though Hurricane Gustav appears to have done more damage where they evacuated to rather than where they left from. Jonathan and I were both victims of Hurricane […]

More Information and Resources on Copyright Than You Can Imagine

Smashing Magazine offers “Copyright Explained: I May Copy It, Right?”, a mind staggering collection of more than you could ever imagine or want to know on copyrights, especially as it pertains to bloggers. I’m honored that they included my article, What Do You Do When Someone Steals Your Content, in their list. They’ve also included […]

Reporting on Your Blog: Get Information Online, Fast, and Accurate

Al Tompkins reports on Poynter Online about “How to Get Online and Get Information Fast” with tips and techniques you can use for your blog posts, stories and articles. He tracks a news story he was a part of it step-by-step through the process of how he and his team found information on a nearby […]

Research: Tips for Surfing the Net for Information on a Deadline

Surfing the Net on Deadline – Staci D. Kramer’s Tips for Reporters, Editors and News Directors is a great checklist and how-to steps for bloggers as well as reporters. Here are some highlights: * Rule #1: Troubleshoot your software when you aren’t on deadline. * Build — and maintain — a bookmark file for your […]

More Than You Want to Know – Search Engine Articles, Information, and Resources

Our Articles on Search Engines How Search Engines See, Search, and Visit Your Website How People Search the Web and How They Can Find Your Blog Google Page Ranks, Google News, Google Gossip, Google Blues Website Development – Search Engine Submission Preparation Blog Site Search Engine Submissions RSSTop55 – Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission […]

Bloggers Provide Storm Evacuees With Local Information About Their Homes

According to a story in the Washington Post, “Blogs Provide Storm Evacuees With Neighborhood-Specific News” to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita see and read about what is going on with their homes, businesses and properties. As the world’s news media show the big picture of the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, some […]

Blog Exercises: Blog Work Flows

In “A Sample Blogging Workflow” by my friend, Chris Brogan, he talks about the process of blogging with consistency and determination in mind. Your company has decided to launch a blog, and you’re the lucky blogger. Maybe you’ve even asked for this pleasure, suggested it to the boss yourself. Only now, you have to deliver, […]

Blog Exercises: Become Your Own Fan Blogger

Fan blogging is one of the most challenging types of blogging. Fan blogging is blogging about a celebrity, television show, movie, sports team, sports player, criminals, or other groupie subject. Today’s blog exercise examines the art of fan blogging and how to learn from fan blogging to create your own fan club around your blog. […]

Help Spread the Word – Writing for the Web Class

There is still room available in my Writing for the Web course at Clark College Corporate and Continuing Education in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland, Oregon. This professional development course runs from June 11 – 27, 2013 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9AM – Noon. The class size is limited so there […]

Blog Exercises: Page and Post Abuse

If you are on WordPress, you are familiar with the concept of Pages and Posts. If you are on another Content Management System (CMS), it is likely you have similar content with a different name. In WordPress, Pages, with a capital P, are pseudo-static web pages on your site. They exist outside of the reverse […]

Blog Exercises: FAQs

A FAQ is a web page featuring “Frequently Asked Questions.” Does your site need a FAQ? Most sites do not need a FAQ Page. Yours might. How do you know if your website needs a FAQ? If your site offers products and services, a FAQ may be necessary to answer frequently asked questions about the […]

Blog Exercises: How to Write about Something Someone Else Wrote

In the early development of the web, blogs were classified as echo chambers, vessels of redundant content as every original idea was shared, reshared, quoted, and spread across the web at rapid speed. Some estimates state that less than 2% of all the content on the web is original. It’s mostly regurgitation of the same […]

Blog Exercises: How Long Are Your Paragraphs?

How long are your paragraphs? Have you measured them lately? One of the telling differences between traditional writing and writing for the web is the length of the paragraph. Look at the example below. Which is easier to read? On the left, the paragraphs are huge, long blocks of text. On the right, the paragraphs […]

Blog Exercises: Dissecting Post Categories

In a recent article, Noah Weiss shared his struggle to figure out categories and tags on his personal site. I know many of you following these Blog Exercises have also struggled to figure out your categories, so I thought Noah’s site would be a perfect example, He has gratefully given me permission to rip his […]

WordPress Anniversary: Comment Spam Lessons

It’s hard to believe that I’ve learned much from comment spammers over the years. I’ve learned that they are among the most hated folks in the world, yet you have to respect them as well. As I look back on ten years of blogging with WordPress on this 10th Anniversary year, I realized that comment […]