webqem blog

Despite some people provocatively claiming that blogging is dead (flogged to death by spam blogs, replaced by audio and video blogs, or that it never lived), blogging is alive and kicking as an interactive communications tool and search engine optimisation favourite.

Blogging is the tool of the moment because it allows non-technical people to communicate quickly and effectively. It allows interested readers to easily subscribe without clogging up an overloaded email inbox, and bypasses email spam filters that block desired emails and let in yet another ad for member enlargement.

Blogging has SEO benefits because of frequent updates. Search engines like fresh content, so if you blog regularly you can “train” search engines to come back to your site frequently. Plus the numerous blog directories, the tendency of blogs to link to each other, and social networking sites that list popular blogs can generate many incoming links to your site.

Blogging has been adopted by the corporate world, with companies such as GM, Wells Fargo, McDonalds and Google having blogs for employees and often the CEO (Sun). The importance of a corporate blogging policy cannot be understated.

Blogs have their own awards, ranging from Australia’s Bloggies, inclusion in the WebbyAwards.com, and featuring in Time Magazines recent 50 Coolest Websites.

What is a blog?

Blog is short for weblog. It is an online journal, organised into categories, presenting the most recent entry, or post, at the top.

How do you start blogging?

Blogs typically use a database such as MySQL, to store posts. Blog software is typically written in PHP or Perl, and can be installed on your existing web host or as a separate hosted solution. Popular blog software includes WordPress, MovableType and Blogger. Blog software may require ongoing updates and maintenance. Free blog hosting solutions are available, but may be restricted in function and flexibility, and include invasive advertising.

webqem uses WordPress for the company blog. WordPress is open source software, with an active community of developers constantly developing new add-ons, or plug-ins, to extend the functionality. The basic WordPress installation can benefit from plug-ins to enhance search engine performance, by adding keywords, description and tagging.

How do you subscribe to a blog?

Blog software typically generates an RSS Feed for subscribers. RSS stands for either Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. An RSS Feed is a file written in XML, a generic specification for passing data between applications. Google’s Blogger uses an alternate format, called ATOM. An RSS Feed is designed to be read by an RSS Feed Reader.

RSS Feed Readers may be desktop-based (eg: FeedReader, FeedDemon) requiring a download to install software on your desktop; browser-based (eg: FireFox) with your browser detecting and managing subscriptions; or web-based (eg: BlogLines, NewsGator, My Yahoo) where you login to a website account to view your subscribed feeds.

A blog typically includes a small orange icon linking to the raw RSS Feed, allowing people to cut and paste the address into the Feed Reader.

Blogs may also include specific icons for popular web-based Feed Readers, so that with one click you can subscribe to the RSS Feed, assuming you have already logged in to your Feed Reader.

Many blogs also contain a link to FeedBurner, an aggregator of RSS Feeds, providing a dedicated page about RSS Feeds, providing numerous Feed Reader links.