Category: Web Marketing

Active participants in the area of Web Marketing are known as Web marketers, a description which encompasses entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activities. Aspects of Web marketing entail niches and specialties, Commercial Emails, Article Writing & Publishing, Website Creation & Publishing, Blogging, Niche Marketing.

Selection of a Blogging Platform to Fit YOU




For your unique blog

The selection of a blogging platform will probably be one of the most important decisions you will have to make as a blogger; because the right platform can make blogging such a smooth and enjoyable writing experience, while the wrong platform can surely make this popular online activity more of a puzzling and frustrating chore. And since the program used to blog with is such a powerful part of an individual’s blogging prowess, it is well worth an investment of whatever time it takes to find a platform that provides the most ideal balance between a user-friendly interface and a flexible framework that allows you, the blogger, to make your blog look and feel unique.

That having been said, it is also true that finding the right platform isn’t always easy, even though a little contemplation coupled with a bit of research could put you on your way to finding the perfect blogging platform for your purposes. Let’s use video blogging, for example, as a blogging type that might best demonstrate the importance of a blogging platform; especially since video blogging is a relatively new and popular technology. Video blogging has a lot of advantages over text-based blogging, can very effectively grab the attention of web surfers, and can make people much more likely to become excited about the blog’s content because of its dynamic nature; but only when it’s presented properly.

Ease-of-use versus customization

But, the wrong blogging platform can make a video blog look terrible, fail to play and get stuck in frames just like the old malfunctioning TVs used work (or not work) when their antennas broke. It is true that video blogs require a lot of digital tools and resources in order to get the best results; including a considerable amount of server space, more time to process and upload a video file, and more time to load. So already there are a number of issues inherent with video blogs which place even more importance on making sure that the blogging platform you choose is supportive of all types of blogging, from text blogging to photo and video blogging.

Deciding what your priorities are as they pertain to ease-of-use versus customization, it is important to point out that the blogging platforms most adaptable to high customization, like Movable Type, are a bit more difficult to use than very automated platforms like WordPress. So if you are new to blogs and to internet technology, you might want to sacrifice the ability to create a custom background design, or to integrate a unique font into your template, in order to find a program that will be easy for you to use. On the other hand, if you are a veteran web designer with knowledge of HTML or JavaScript, you will probably find the limitations of a user-friendly platform to be frustrating.

Read between the (reviewer’s) lines

Keep in mind that there is really not such a thing as a platform that is objectively the best blogging platform, because every blogger has unique needs, and the blogging movement is more about individuality than anything else, so it makes plenty of sense that there would be many different platforms available that are designed to meet the needs of different kinds of individuals undertaking different kinds of projects. But this diversity is a good thing because it means that you will almost certainly be able to find a program that suits your level of technical aptitude.

However, the fact that no two bloggers require the same things from a blogging platform can certainly make your search for the right platform a bit tricky; so when you are reading reviews of different platforms, try to keep your priorities in mind and do your best to take the reviewer’s viewpoint into consideration. In other words, a negative review written by an accomplished software designer who complains that a popular platform is too limited may tell you that the platform in question is ideal for a beginning blogger.

What’s your UBR?

Simply put, there is no such thing as “one size fits all” where blogging platforms are concerned, so instead of looking for the “best” platform, look for the best platform for your specific criteria. It’s similar to many of the conversations me and my buddy, Douglas, has had over the years about why he finds Joomla so easy, smooth and straightforward to work with, but do not like WordPress and can’t do the things with WP that he often does with Joomla; while I, on the other hand, prefer WP to Joomla for all the same reasons. So take the time to look for the blogging platform you’ll most comfortable with, which simultaneously meets your unique blogging requirements (UBRs). Good luck!

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Defining the Blog – From Text to Corporate




The blog defined

For many years, blogs (weblogs) were defined as text-based websites that kept records of days, similar to a captain’s log on a sailing ship. However, this started to change as the group of people who kept blogs became more diverse. The more bloggers began to explore the limits of their medium and of the technology that made it possible, the more the boundaries of what could be called a “blog” expanded. That having been said, the definition of blogging is something which has been very much in flux for many years, as new technologies that appeared on a seemingly daily basis, redefined what a blog was, what a blog could be, and what a blog should be capable of doing.

Blogging has evolved, taking with it the manner in which it is defined, but among the most challenging types of blogs to have emerged is the corporate blog which, for a significant period of time, struggled to gain legitimacy and acceptance in the blogosphere. In recent years however, corporate blogging has become more mainstream and has gained prominence in an otherwise individual-based medium which often has more to do with the day-to-day activities and personal experiences of an individual blogger than with a cold, “it’s only business” approach of the corporate entity; but there is little doubt that corporate blogging is here to stay, as we will discuss further in the following paragraphs.

Corporate blogging, once considered a controversial marketing tool that might have created more problems than solutions, has turned out to be the kind of advertising strategy with which businesses can derive maximum benefits from their Web marketing efforts. The most practical description of corporate blogging, as indicated in the Brafton website article titled, Corporate Blogging, “is the practice of creating content that addresses industry updates, expert tips or best practices and company news from the perspective of a brand.” The article goes on to say that Corporate Blogging “is used by businesses of all sizes as a means of content marketing.”

The corporate blog

In view of the percieved benefits promised by this method of Web marketing, many corporations, companies and other businesses that were in search of ways to capitalize on the blogging trend, made a calculated determination that a great way to ride the blogging wave is to keep a blog on their corporate website. These unique blogs are often created to appeal to a particular demographic that the company needs to attract; and content published to such blogs may at times have quite a lot to do with activities of the corporation, while at other times, it may have very little to do with the company itself.

A corporate blog will often focus on the kinds of content likely to attract a desired type of Web surfer even if that content is not related to the product or service provided by the company itself, because there are other benefits (advantages?) that can be gained. Such advantages might include, boosting the business’ web presence, which can be derived through one or more of the following coveted features:

  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization);
  • Visitor Engagement;
  • Brand Awareness;
  • Conversions;
  • Thought Leadership;
  • Lead Generation

Some bloggers feel that corporate blogging is a kind of validation for the blogging movement, and shows that this exciting new medium has really infiltrated the mainstream, while other bloggers consider the kind of viral marketing that corporate blogs practice to be unethical or distasteful. In any case, having watched the evolution of corporate blogs and whether how survived and proliferated the Web, instead of succumbing to failure, neglect and extinction served as some interesting and insightful lessons into the habits, preferences and spending disciplines of the modern-day consumer.

A constantly changing blog

As enhancements to the growth and expansion of today’s blogging, there is an abundance of new blog types which include photo blogs, as well as video blogs; and mobile blogging devices may well change the definition of blogging entirely by making it possible for bloggers to create new kinds of posts. And as more companies hire writers to keep blogs with the sole purpose of creating a positive buzz about their brand, bloggers across the globe will debate about whether these manufactured blogs are really worthy of the name. But between all of these different forces that are constantly expanding and reshaping the blogosphere, it is difficult to imagine that the definition of what is, and is not a blog, will ever remain fixed for very long.