Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: Getting Started with Blogging 5 Chapter 1: Discovering Blog Basics 7 Making Yourself Comfortable with Blogs 8 How people use blogs 9 Recognizing a blog 16 Blog anatomy: Dissecting a typical blog 17 Starting a Blog 21 Choosing What to Blog About 23 Creating a Successful Blog 24 Setting goals 25 Writing well 25 Creating a calendar 26 Building community with comments 27 Designing for Success 28 Understanding themes 29 Knowing content types 30 Thinking about audience 30 Chapter 2: Entering the Blogosphere 33 Assessing Your Involvement 34 What level of commitment are you willing to make to blogging? 35 Do you like writing? How''s your typing? 35 What will the blog be about? Is your blog personal or professional? 35 Do you think that your new blog might lead to new career opportunities? 36 How comfortable are you with sharing? 36 What Happens When You Publish? 36 Blogging Ethically 38 Telling the truth 39 Making mistakes 41 Handling dialogue 43 Keeping Your Job While Blogging 44 Blogging without Embarrassing Your Mother or Losing Friends 45 Understanding what''s at stake 46 Protecting others in your life 46 Protecting Your Privacy and Reputation 47 Creating Your Brand 48 Communicating who you are 48 Hitting reboot 49 Chapter 3: Choosing and Hosting Blog Software 51 Having Your Own Domain Name 51 Picking a domain name 52 Registering a domain 54 Finding Web Hosting 57 Doing your research 58 Subscribing to web hosting 59 Deciding on the Right Blogging Software 61 Budgeting for software 63 Making sure you get the basics 63 Upgrading with bells and whistles 65 Understanding Hosted Blog Software 66 Reaping the benefits 67 Living with the limitations 68 Choosing hosted software 69 Understanding Blog Software That You Install on Your Own Server 72 Reaping the benefits 72 Living with the limitations 73 Choosing non-hosted blogging software 74 Installing blog software 77 Part 2: Setting Up Your Blog 79 Chapter 4: Starting a Blogger Blog 81 Starting a Blog with Blogger 81 Creating an account 82 Naming your blog 84 Using the Dashboard 86 Writing a Post 87 Adding a link 88 Spell-checking your text 89 Including an image 90 Publishing Your Post 92 Previewing your post 92 Configuring post settings 93 Launching your post 94 Viewing Your Blog Post 94 Selecting the Dashboard Settings 95 Making basic changes 96 Making comment changes 97 Making email changes 98 Customizing Your Blog 98 Choosing a new theme 99 Using the Theme Designer 100 Editing page elements 103 Chapter 5: Starting a WordPress Blog 107 Choosing between WordPress.com and WordPress.org 108 Starting a WordPress.com Blog 110 Creating an account 110 Using the dashboard 114 Changing site settings 114 Writing a Post 115 Customizing Your WordPress.com Blog 118 Selecting a new theme 118 Installing WordPress 120 Registering a domain 121 Selecting web hosting 121 Getting the software 122 Uploading the WordPress files 124 Setting up the database 126 Running the install script 128 Getting Familiar with Settings 130 Logging in 130 Setting up an Editor account 130 Using the Dashboard 132 Checking out the panels 134 Creating a Post 134 Customizing Your Design 136 Finding Out More about WordPress 137 Chapter 6: Creating a Squarespace Blog 139 Creating a Squarespace Account 139 Selecting a template 140 Choosing a site name 142 Adding Blog Content 144 Uploading images 145 Importing content from other platforms 146 Customizing and Connecting 147 Linking your social networks 148 Using the Squarespace sidebar 149 Chapter 7: Considering Other Blogging Platforms 151 Blogging with Wix 151 Writing with Weebly 155 Checking Out Additional Platforms 156 Part 3: Fitting In and Feeling Good 159 Chapter 8: Finding Your Niche 161 Deciding What Belongs on Your Blog 161 Parent blogging 163 Turning your offline hobby into a blog 164 Talking technology 165 Getting political with it 166 Reporting news 167 Revealing it all 167 Sharing a deal 168 Design, lifestyle, DIY -- oh my! 168 Living on less 169 Reading, writing, ''rithmetic 170 Creating a super niche 170 Examining a new niche 171 Learning from the Pros 172 Lurking on other blogs 173 Participating by commenting 174 Reaching Out to Other Bloggers 175 Meeting in person 175 Attending conferences 176 Using social networks 176 Chapter 9: Creating Great Content 179 Knowing Your Audience 180 Finding your competitors 180 Discovering the secrets of success 181 Profiling your audience 184 Writing for a specific audience 186 Writing Well and Frequently 186 Being yourself 187 Finding rewards in lengthy posts 190 Remembering proofreading and editing 190 Relying on your content calendar 191 Drawing in Readers 195 Hooking with a headline 195 Turning to video and photos 195 Following what''s trending 196 Joining the crowd 196 Listing with listicles 197 Grabbing readers with food 198 Serving the Reader 198 Giving them what they need 198 Giving them what they want 198 Creating content worth referencing 199 Getting linky with it 199 Overcoming Writer''s Block 200 Chapter 10: Building Community with Comments 203 Getting Interaction Going with Comments 204 Getting involved 205 Enabling comments 207 Managing Comments 208 Establishing community guidelines 208 Editing comments 211 Deleting comments 211 Moderating comments 212 Recognizing Spam Comments 213 Fighting Spam with Software 217 Protecting your comment form 217 Screening for spam 219 Dealing with Coverage on Other Blogs 222 Chapter 11: Blogging Anonymously 225 Deciding How Much Anonymity You Need 226 Going Anonymous 228 Establishing a pseudonym 228 Setting up a new email address 228 Choosing passwords 229 Starting your anonymous blog 230 Being time and location aware 230 Approaching Content Cautiously 231 Stepping Up Security 231 Understanding IP addresses 232 Using software safely 233 Keeping up 233 Resources 234 Part 4: Going Beyond Words 235 Chapter 12: Working with Photos 237 Keeping It Simple 237 Getting Equipped 238 Picking a digital camera 238 Choosing photo-editing software 240 Using Google Photos 241 Choosing a photo-sharing tool 242 Choosing Visuals for Your Blog 244 Taking photos 244 Using art from other sources 246 Editing Photos 246 Getting photos into Google Photos 248 Cropping a photo 248 Adjusting brightness and contrast 249 Adjusting color 249 Optimizing a photo for the web 250 Considering other photo-editing tools 250 Chapter 13: Starting a Podcast 251 Deciding to Podcast 252 Planning Your Podcast 253 Assessing the Tools 255 Dressing Up Your Podcast with Music and Sound Effects 257 Creative Commons Search 257 Magnatune 258 Freesound 258 Free Music Archive 259 Publishing Your Podcast 259 Assigning metadata 260 Choosing a format 260 Storing your podcasts 261 Delivering your podcasts 262 Promoting Your Podcast 263 Adding your podcast to FeedBurner 263 Adding your podcast to iTunes 264 Getting listed in podcast directories 265 Chapter 14: Diving into Vlogging 267 Defining Vlogging 267 Understanding why you should vlog 268 Discovering available vlogging platforms 269 Setting the Stage 270 Choosing the right equipment 271 Creating a vlogging space 271 Editing Your Vlog 272 Keeping it simple 272 Keeping it real 273 Promoting Your Vlog 273 Chapter 15: Leveraging Community with Forums 275 Deciding Whether Forums Will Work for You 276 Researching Software Options 278 Choosing between Free and Commercial Forum Software 279 Browsing commercial forum software 280 Perusing open-source forum software 280 Getting Finicky about Features 281 Installing Forum Software 284 Cultivating Community Standards 285 Part 5: Marketing and Promoting Your Blog 287 Chapter 16: Making Your Blog Easy to Find 289 Diving into SEO 289 Understanding SEO 290 Creating an SEO-friendly blog 290 Using SEO tools 291 Underst.