A couple days ago, I missed a day blogging because I had to remove malware from a computer (not mine). Though it wasn’t the computer I use for my blogging, the main idea still stands: Maintain your computer, and take care to avoid having harm come to it, or you could spend a day (or a week) dealing with an issue.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen the epic saga unfold: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12.

The malware that invaded the Dell laptop, which is mainly used by my parents, though my younger brother used it that day, is known as “VirusWebProtect2008.” It’s one of those “Smitfraud” faux antivirus software packages that installs itself via a compromised website, causes mayhem, and trys to sell you “antivirus software” that will supposedly remove the virus. Essentially it (more…)

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found quite a few interesting articles on Blogsessive.com. I haven’t subscribed quite yet, but I’m considering. They have some interesting posts, and it might be worth your while to check some of them out. Here are a few noteable posts of theirs:

• How to Make Your Comments Stand Out
• Blogging Myths Busted
• 20 Free Corporate WordPress Themes
• 20 Reasons Why Your Make Money Online Blog Will Fail

Maybe I’ll subscribe once I finish weeding-out the feeds I could do without from my aggregator.

I spend so much time writing on how to move beyond Blog*Spot, and how to run a more professional blog, that I sometimes forget the importance of what Blogger.com calls “Push-Button Publishing.” And more often, I forget that I once was at a similar level to Blog*Spot users (though back then I hand-coded “GeoCities-style” HTML pages that probably looked worse than some of the Blog*Spot blogs…).

The internet is what can be called a “two-way medium.” This implies that anyone can create content and publish it online for others to consume, and they can do the same. You don’t just consume canned content provided by SuperMegaCorp, you can actually be involved in the publishing.

In contrast, TV and radio are one-way mediums. The evil supersized corporations (e.g. CBS, ClearChannel, ABC) own everything, and all you can do is consume the content they shove at you.

In the early days of radio and television, they were two-way mediums. Anyone with the expertise to build a radio transmitter and reciever could talk to other such people. (Give HAM Radio a try if you’d like to see what it’s like.) Then the FCC (or if you live outside the U.S., you probably have your own local equivalent) came along and sectioned everything off, licensing only a select few to broadcast. Then those companies merged and merged, eventually monopolizing the broadcast industry.

Free blog providers, like Blog*Spot and WordPress.com, help make the internet the two-way medium that it is. Anyone can set-up a blog and put their message online. That’s important. Very important. The ability for anyone to publish content to the internet is part of what makes it so special. Free blog providers put that ability into the hands of many more people, who wouln’t otherwise have blogs.

Yes, I know saying this sort of goes against my message that “you need a good design” and that “you should host your blog yourself.” But that message goes more toward people who want to become authoritative sources of information. If you’re not into all that, and just want a personal blog to put your thoughts out there for whoever, go ahead with Blog*Spot. I write more for people who want to write seriously and professionally, not personal bloggers. I’m not discounting personaly blogs, as I hope the above text has shown. I think they’re pretty important, since they put the power of web publishing in the hands of everyone, but I have to point out that there is a distinction between personal blogs, and blogs such as FreelanceSwitch, CNet, and this one. There’s a place for both types of blogs, and anyone can start one of either, but understand that creating a topical blog is an undertaking that requires careful planning, a bit more web experience, and a few dollars for a domain and hosting.

Anyone can have a blog, what with all of the instant blog services like Blogger and WordPress.com. But just because they can have a blog doesn’t mean they should.

I believe that it’s important that it be possible for anyone who has something to say to publish their thoughts online. However, the key part is “anyone who has something to say.” I don’t like the idea of an internet full of narcissistic personal blogs and ad-filled John Chow wannabes. If you have something real to say, or if you’re an unusually interesting person, go right ahead and launch a blog. Plan it out though. Don’t just throw something together in five minutes on a whim. (Also, I recommend getting a domain name if you want to be taken seriously.)

I like the idea of web publishing being fairly easy, but sometimes I wonder if it’s a little too easy.

My general rule of thumb is “if you have something interesting to say, and the initiative the keep the blog going for longer than a year, go right ahead.”

There are countless “Make Money Online” blogs. Blogs attempting to make money by blogging, blogs trying to teach how to make money blogging, and blogs trying to make money online by teaching how to make money online. Many of the latter hadn’t made a cent off blogging before starting a blog on making money online.

Enough all ready!

Blogging is all about the content. You can have the coolest design ever, and some good monetization options in place, but if your content isn’t any good, you won’t be making any money. Repeat after me: Blogging is not about making money. Blogging is, first and foremost, about the content. Yes, if you have good content, and can build up your user base, you can make money. But it should not be your prime focus.

Shift your focus to producing interesting/funny/useful content, and building a following. Yes, you should put some thought to monetization, but don’t dwell on it. The dollar signs are an optional, pleasant side effect of blogging, not the important part. The content is the important part.

When you start a blog, pick a topic that you have a lot to say about; a topic that you can see yourself writing about for a long time into the foreseeable future. And please, do not write about “making money online!” Trust me, it’s not a good niche to get into. It’s overcrowded with John Chow and John Chow wannabes, not to mention it’s kind of ludicrous anyway. Blogging is about content, not making money, therefore it’s not a great topic to blog about.

Just remember: Blogging is all about the content. Focus on the content, and the money will follow.

Photo by Tracy O

A tagline is a short line of text that runs underneath your site’s name. It says something about your site, and adds to the first impression. In my opinion, the best taglines are both humorous and descriptive. (Of course, humor may not be appropriate for some sites, but it still pays to be descriptive.) Your tagline should sum-up your blog in one sentence.

Taglines are by no means exclusive to websites. Traditional publications use them, corporations have them, and even movies have taglines. Who hasn’t heard (or heard references to) “Think Different” or “Yo Qiero Taco Bell”? What about “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”? Just run a Google search on “tagline” and you’ll find plenty of corporate taglines. Or look at IMDB.com, and you’ll notice that they list the lagline(s) for all your favorite movies.

If you don’t already have a good tagline for your website, get one. Here are a few noteworthy examples:

• We smash you with the information that will make your life easier. Really. [Smashing Magazine]
• News for nerds. Stuff that matters [Slashdot]
• The Art of Technology [Ars Technica]
• Shoppers Bite Back [The Consumerist]

For more funny taglines, check out The Best Website Taglines Around the Internet.

Consider adding a tagline. Whether you decide to be funny or not, be sure to check out Copyblogger’s guide to writing taglines.

Posting frequency is something you should think about whenever you start a blog. How much time do you have, and just as importantly, how many post ideas do you have?  What length will most of your posts be, and how easy will they be to write?  Consider these questions, and think about your posting frequency.

Decide how many days you should post in a week. Currently, I post daily here on Webmaster-Source, and there are some bloggers who take weekends off. Posts on Pro Blog Design tend to come out once a week, which plenty of blogs are doing now.

Posting less often gives you more time to work on posts, and it lets your posts collect more comments before they’re “not new anymore.” On the other hand, some people are online everyday and like to see new posts from their favorite blogs all the time.

Polls are a great way to solicit opinions, and add some community to your site.

With a poll, a user can just click a button to give you their two cents. Meanwhile, it takes a lot more effort to leave a comment. Which do you think your readers prefer? While comments allow them to say anything they want, polls enable a quick multiple-choice response (which can be very useful). Also, I’ve found that blog posts with attached polls tend to generate more comments.

Once you decide you need a poll, you need to actually add one. You have plenty of choices for implementing your poll. Here are a few of the better services/scripts: (more…)

I’ve read a lot of blogs in 2007. More than any other year probably. 2007 is the year I really got into blogging, and discovered social media sites like Digg and StumbleUpon. As a result, my list of subscribed RSS feeds has exploded and evolved.

My favorite blogs are about blogging, web design, and really anything about the internet. I also read some non-tech blogs (e.g. Harry Potter / fantasy blogs), but not as many as internet-blogs.

So what blogs about blogging did I enjoy the most this year?

• Blogging Bits
• Blogging Experiment
• Blogging Pro
• Blogging Tips
• Blogsolid
• Daily Blog Tips
• North X East
• Pro Blog Design
• ProBlogger
• Skelliewag
• Vandelay Design
• Weblog Tools Collection
• The Wordpress Podcast

Keep up the good work, everyone!

It depends. Theoretically, the less images on a page the better, as your pages will load faster (and put less strain on your server).

There are two types of images. There are template-level images and post-level images. Template-level images exist in your blog’s header/footer/sidebar template, and therefore appear on every page on your site. Post-level images are part of your content, and they belong to an individual posts.

In your template, you should have as little images as possible. When you create a design, you want to keep the essential images to a minimum. Use tiles, well-optimized image blocks, etc. As of this writing, this blog’s design consists of two images (the logo and the tiled edge image). Once you have your mock-up of the design, figure out the best way to break it up. You want as little images as possible, and you want to keep them as small (as in kilobytes) as you can. (more…)