Blogging becomes personal
There are so many blogs out on the internet at the moment, and its growing rapidly every day. some create a blog, post a few things and forget about it, others write something every day but never tracks the visitors or gets in contact with its readers.
The more I blog and learn about the internet the more I become aware that Blogging is much more than a hobby. For the long time bloggers, it becomes personal.
How, Personal?
I use my real identity online, I don’t have any cryptic names, or anything that will make me unknown. By doing that I promote my blog and my online presense. I also start making friends and meeting people that either blog, or do the same kind of work I do. Sometimes when I blog its part of a previous conversation I’ve had with one of the people I know online.
Either someone wanting to know about networking, emails, or whatever else.
Through Facebook I meet the people who read my blog, Amatomu, twitter. All of those mediums I use to personally connect to the people who read my blog.
telling people about blog posts, before you write it
The more I blog and the more I surf other peoples blogs, the more I think about the bloggers or website owners telling the public whats coming.
I quite like it. I like knowing what to expect. If a competition is coming up, I would like to know about it before its too late. Often I get emails from companies telling me whats coming up. I think its quite important, because it creates interest, and excitement.
If your company is launching a new website, let people know about it.
Send emails, make flyers, adds ect. telling the public “2 more days to go” and “1 more day to go.” If you do it right, you will have a very big launch day. Everyone will come crawling to your website wanting to see whats happening and what all the excitement is about.
What do you think about knowing about something before it gets there? Does it take away the suprise? or does it create excitement?
Choosing a blog platform
I wrote about starting a blog earlier.
I came accross one of Darren Rowse posts about choosing blog platform.
Should I use a free Blogger.com blog or get my own hosted blog on my own Domain? Which Blog Platform is best?’
‘What are the Pros and Cons of going with Typepad instead of WordPress as a blog platform?’
‘Should I start out on a free Blogging Platform and Upgrade later?’
I think that its very important to make the right decesion here. If you have just thought to create your own blog, take a few day’s doing research about what you need in a blog. What your goals are and how much money you are willing to spend on blogging.
gitui Is my second blog, with the first one I made a whole bunch of irrashional decesions. That blog failed horribly. Thanx for my friends that are bloggers already. I got the help and understanding to start again.
Don’t make the mistake I made with my first blog, do things right by choosing the right blogging platform.
top 10 Favourite posts
Gitui has been online since May 2008, and since then, I’ve posted 100 blog posts.
As I was going through them all, I thought I’d post my top 10 blog entries. They are not in any order.
1. How Search engines work.
Here I posted about how search engines work and how you get your website/blog indexed in google, and how people can “find” your site on google:
http://www.gitui.com/internet/how-search-engines-work-google-yahoo-ect
2. Linking, do it right.
Find out how to build links to your site and increase your rankings and traffic. a few simple steps to create links to your site.
http://www.gitui.com/search-engine-optimization/linking-do-it-right
3. Windows Shortcuts,
I do alot of work on a windows computer, and I love my shortcuts, So i compiled a list of shortcuts you can use on your computer to make your life easier.
http://www.gitui.com/tips/windows-shortcuts-get-to-love-them/
4. wonderfull world of firewalls
Are you really protected from the internet? There is a way that you can be really sure.
http://www.gitui.com/internet/wonderfull-world-of-firewalls
5. Social Bookmarking
Do you know what social bookmarking is? Here it gets explained nicely and how you should use it.
http://www.gitui.com/internet/social-bookmarking
6. 5 most important things on the internet
Do you know what the most important thing is on the internet? I’ve compiled a list of the top 5 that I think are really important.
7. Increase network browsing speed.
Here is a good tip that I use with almost all my clients. It increases the network speed by decreasing the load. Be carefull to follow these steps VERY CAREFULLY.
http://www.gitui.com/internet/increase-internetnetwork-broswing-speed
8. Blogging, more than a hobby.
Explains why you can’t just post random things on your blog and expect it to be successfull.
http://www.gitui.com/internet/blogging-more-than-a-hobby
9. Where the internet Began
You use it every day, you often take it for granted, now lets see where the internet started and understand it a bit more.
http://www.gitui.com/internet/where-the-internet-began
10. The layout of your website
Why I think the layout/design of your website or blog plays a big role in the success of your blog or website.
http://www.gitui.com/search-engine-optimization/importance-of-the-layout-of-your-website
So that is my top 10 favourite posts on gitui.
Witch one is your favorite?
Web Hosting thats right for you
You’ve decided that you want a website, you learn that you will need to get some kind of hosting package. But what do you choose? 50 mb of space with 2 gigs of bandwidth or do you need 2 gig’s of harddrive space and 25 gigs bandwidth?
Do you get your own domain name or do you get one somewhere else? How many email addresses do yo need?
If you are starting a new company
You will need to have a hosting package that gives you storage space online and email addresses for as many people as youo have in your company. You will have to have a domain registered to you.
With a domain name, you will have to think about what you want your domain name to be. Preferably the name of your company. If you can, get a domain name that is relevant to your country. eg. If you are in South Africa, get a .co.za domain. If you are in Australia, get an .au domain. Keep that in mind when you register a domain name.
If you are looking for a blog or free website.
wordpress an blogger are both great free services that allows you to create and manage your very own blog. It is still accesable by everyone and Search engines pick it up and indexes it.
If you just need an email address.
There are many services that gives you a free email address. Gmail, yahoo, msn, hotmail, webmail ect. You just sign up with them, and setup your favourite email client to download that mail.
When you decide on what hosting solution you will need, keep these things in mind.
Robert
