Blogging For Dummies, 5th Edition

Blogging For Dummies, 5th Edition

by Amy Lupold Bair, Susannah Gardner
Released December 2013
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118712092

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Book description

The best book on blogging, updated and better than ever!

The blogosphere keeps changing and evolving, and so does this top blogging guide. A terrific book whether you're just starting out or are already blogging regularly, this book provides solid information on blogging basics, the anatomy of a good blog, and the tools you need to get started. You'll learn how to set up an account, find ample coverage of social plug-ins and emerging platforms like Squarespace and Overblog, and discover savvy ways to write your first post. Best of all, the book explores how you can make real money from your passion and become a professional blogger.

  • Updates you on the latest blogging software and utilities

  • Explains search engine optimization, so new readers will find your blog

  • Reviews advertising tools and techniques you can use to attract readers

  • Helps you integrate your blog with social media

  • Delves into professional blogging and how to make money from your blog

    • Start blogging like a professional with the new edition of this top guide, Blogging For Dummies, 5th Edition.

    Table of contents

      1. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Foolish Assumptions
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Getting Started with Blogging
        1. Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basics
          1. Making Yourself Comfortable with Blogs
            1. How people use blogs
            2. Recognizing a blog
            3. Blog anatomy: Dissecting a typical blog
          2. Starting a Blog
          3. Choosing What to Blog About
          4. Creating a Successful Blog
            1. Setting goals
            2. Writing well
            3. Posting frequently
            4. Interacting with comments
          5. Designing for Success
        2. Chapter 2: Entering the Blogosphere
          1. Assessing Your Involvement
          2. What Happens When You Publish?
          3. Blogging Ethically
            1. Telling the truth
            2. Making mistakes
            3. Handling dialogue
          4. Keeping Your Job While Blogging
          5. Blogging without Embarrassing Your Mother or Losing Friends
            1. Understanding what's at stake
            2. Protecting others in your life
          6. Protecting Your Privacy and Reputation
        3. Chapter 3: Choosing and Hosting Blog Software
          1. Having Your Own Domain Name
            1. Picking a domain name
            2. Registering a domain
          2. Finding Web Hosting
            1. Doing your research
            2. Buying web hosting
          3. Deciding on the Right Blogging Software
            1. Budgeting for software
            2. Making sure you get the basics
            3. Upgrading with bells and whistles
          4. Understanding Hosted Blog Software
            1. Reaping the benefits
            2. Living with the limitations
            3. Choosing hosted software
          5. Understanding Blog Software That You Install on Your Own Server
            1. Reaping the benefits
            2. Living with the limitations
            3. Choosing non-hosted blogging software
            4. Installing blog software
      3. Part II: Setting Up Your Blog
        1. Chapter 4: Starting a Blogger Blog
          1. Starting a Blog with Blogger
            1. Creating an account
            2. Naming your blog
            3. Using the Dashboard
          2. Writing a Post
            1. Adding a link
            2. Spellchecking your text
            3. Including an image
          3. Publishing Your Post
            1. Previewing your post
            2. Configuring post settings
            3. Launching your post
          4. Viewing Your Blog Post
          5. Selecting the Dashboard Settings
            1. Making basic changes
            2. Making comment changes
            3. Making e-mail changes
          6. Customizing Your Blog
          7. Choosing a new template
            1. Using the Template Designer
            2. Editing page elements
        2. Chapter 5: Starting a WordPress Blog
          1. Choosing between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
          2. Installing WordPress
            1. Registering a domain
            2. Selecting web hosting
            3. Getting the software
            4. Uploading the WordPress files
            5. Setting up the database
            6. Running the install script
          3. Getting Familiar with Settings
            1. Logging in
            2. Setting up an Editor account
            3. Using the Dashboard
            4. Checking out the panels
          4. Creating a Post
          5. Customizing Your Design
          6. Finding Out More about WordPress
        3. Chapter 6: Starting a Tumblr Blog
          1. Introducing Micro Blogging
          2. Starting a Micro Blog with Tumblr
          3. Creating a Text Post
            1. Formatting your blog post
            2. Adding an image to your post
            3. Adding links to your post
            4. Publishing your post
          4. Customizing How Your Blog Looks
          5. Configuring Your Settings
        4. Chapter 7: Creating a Squarespace Blog
          1. Creating a Squarespace Account
            1. Selecting a template
            2. Choosing a site name
          2. Adding Blog Content
            1. Uploading images
            2. Importing content from other platforms
          3. Customizing and Connecting
            1. Linking your social networks
            2. Using the Squarespace sidebar
      4. Part III: Fitting In and Feeling Good
        1. Chapter 8: Finding Your Niche
          1. Deciding What Belongs on Your Blog
            1. Parent blogging
            2. Turning your offline hobby into a blog
            3. Talking technology
            4. Getting political with it
            5. Reporting news
            6. Revealing it all
            7. Sharing a deal
            8. Design, lifestyle, DIY – oh my!
          2. Learning from the Pros
            1. Lurking on other blogs
            2. Participating by commenting
          3. Reaching Out to Other Bloggers
            1. Meeting in person
            2. Using social networks
        2. Chapter 9: Creating Great Content
          1. Knowing Your Audience
            1. Finding your competitors
            2. Discovering the secrets of success
            3. Profiling your audience
          2. Writing Well and Frequently
          3. Linking to Serve the Reader
          4. Breaking Through a Blank Screen
        3. Chapter 10: Building Community with Comments
          1. Getting Interaction Going with Comments
            1. Getting involved
            2. Enabling comments
          2. Managing Comments
            1. Establishing community guidelines
            2. Editing comments
            3. Deleting comments
            4. Moderating comments
          3. Recognizing Spam Comments
          4. Fighting Spam with Software
            1. Protecting your comment form
            2. Screening for spam
          5. Dealing with Coverage on Other Blogs
        4. Chapter 11: Blogging Anonymously
          1. Deciding How Much Anonymity You Need
          2. Going Anonymous
            1. Establishing a pseudonym
            2. Setting up a new e-mail address
            3. Choosing passwords
            4. Starting your anonymous blog
            5. Being time and location aware
          3. Approaching Content Cautiously
          4. Stepping Up Security
            1. Understanding IP addresses
            2. Using software safely
            3. Keeping up
          5. Resources
      5. Part IV: Going Beyond Words
        1. Chapter 12: Working with Photos
          1. Getting Equipped
            1. Picking a digital camera
            2. Choosing photo-editing software
            3. Choosing a photo-sharing tool
          2. Choosing Visuals for Your Blog
            1. Taking photos
            2. Using art from other sources
          3. Editing Photos
            1. Getting photos into Picasa
            2. Cropping a photo
            3. Adjusting brightness and contrast
            4. Adjusting color
            5. Optimizing a photo for the web
          4. Inserting Photos into Blog Posts with Flickr
        2. Chapter 13: Starting a Podcast
          1. Deciding to Podcast
            1. Reaching a wider audience
            2. Choosing between audio and video
          2. Planning Your Podcast
          3. Assessing the Tools
          4. Dressing Up Your Podcast with Music and Sound Effects
            1. Creative Commons Search
            2. Magnatune
            3. Music Alley
          5. Publishing Your Podcast
            1. Assigning metadata
            2. Choosing a format
            3. Storing your podcasts
            4. Delivering your podcasts
          6. Promoting Your Podcast
            1. Adding your podcast to FeedBurner
            2. Adding your podcast to iTunes
            3. Getting listed in podcast directories
        3. Chapter 14: Diving Into Vlogging
          1. Defining Vlogging
            1. Understanding why you should vlog
            2. Discovering available vlogging platforms
          2. Setting the Stage
            1. Choosing the right equipment
            2. Creating a vlogging space
          3. Editing Your Vlog
          4. Promoting Your Vlog
        4. Chapter 15: Leveraging Community with Forums
          1. Deciding Whether Forums Will Work for You
          2. Researching Software Options
          3. Choosing between Free and Commercial Forum Software
            1. Browsing commercial forum software
            2. Perusing open source forum software
          4. Getting Finicky about Features
          5. Installing Forum Software
          6. Cultivating Community Standards
      6. Part V: Marketing and Promoting Your Blog
        1. Chapter 16: Reaching Out with RSS
          1. Getting the Goods on Web Feeds
            1. Breaking it down further
            2. Generating web traffic
            3. Creating a feed for your blog
          2. Subscribing to an RSS Feed
            1. Browser newsreaders
            2. Finding a web-based newsreader
            3. Signing up for a feed
          3. Making the Most of RSS
        2. Chapter 17: Joining the Twitterverse
          1. Understanding Twitter
          2. Getting Started
            1. Signing up for an account
            2. Finding friends to follow
            3. Tweeting
          3. Exploring the Settings
          4. Tying Your Blog into Twitter
        3. Chapter 18: Diving Into Social Networking
          1. Thinking Strategically
            1. Connecting with your audience
            2. Selecting networks
            3. Protecting your privacy online
          2. Getting Familiar with Social Networks
            1. Friend-based networks
            2. Hobby-based networks
            3. Professional networks
            4. Media-sharing networks
            5. Informational networks
            6. Location-based networks
          3. Sharing It All
        4. Chapter 19: Measuring Blog Presence
          1. Exploring the Power of Statistics
          2. Knowing What the Statistics Mean
            1. Hits
            2. Page views
            3. Unique visitors
            4. Repeat visitors
            5. Errors
          3. Getting Web Stats
            1. Choosing hosted statistics software
            2. Choosing installable statistics software
          4. Finding Out What Others Are Saying
            1. Google Alerts
            2. Twitter
            3. Technorati
            4. IceRocket
      7. Part VI: Getting Business-y with It
        1. Chapter 20: Making Mad Mad Money
          1. Finding Out How Advertising Works
            1. Planning for advertising
            2. Looking at the formats
            3. Assessing business models
          2. Getting Advertising Going
            1. Google AdSense
            2. MediaWhiz SEO
            3. SiteScout
          3. Putting Ads on Your Blog
          4. Putting Ads in Your RSS Feeds
            1. Feedblitz
          5. Getting Paid to Post
            1. Placing products on your blog
            2. Blogging professionally
          6. Tying in Affiliate Marketing
            1. Amazon Associates Program
            2. LinkShare
          7. Seeking Sponsorships
            1. Negotiating a sponsorship experience
            2. Setting boundaries
          8. Accepting Gifts, Not Obligations
        2. Chapter 21: Blogging for Companies
          1. Putting Blogs to Work for Your Business
            1. Considering the benefits of a business blog
            2. Checking out businesses that blog
            3. Deciding whether to blog
          2. Planning for Business Blog Success
            1. Setting goals
            2. Choosing a blogger
            3. Deciding what to write
            4. Generating sales or action
          3. Delivering with Technology
            1. Enabling comments
            2. Creating RSS/web feeds
            3. Podcasting
            4. Starting a wiki
            5. Joining a social network
          4. Advertising on Blogs
            1. Going contextual
            2. Advertising via ad networks
            3. Sponsoring a blog
      8. Part VII: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Grow Community
          1. Write Often
          2. Listen and Respond to Readers
          3. Visit and Participate
          4. Guest Blog and Invite Guest Bloggers
          5. Communicate with E-mail and Newsletters
          6. Get Social
          7. Involve Your Readers
          8. Connect Offline
          9. Go Mobile
          10. Diversify
        2. Chapter 23: Ten Things All Bloggers Should Do
          1. Discover Your Voice
          2. Stoke Your Muse
          3. Survey Your Readers
          4. Find Your Tribe
          5. Know Your Traffic Sources
          6. Set Goals
          7. Define Success
          8. Create a Monetization Plan . . . or Not
          9. Prepare to Grow
          10. Know When You're Done
      9. About the Authors
      10. Cheat Sheet
      11. More Dummies Products

    Product information

    • Title: Blogging For Dummies, 5th Edition
    • Author(s): Amy Lupold Bair, Susannah Gardner
    • Release date: December 2013
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781118712092