blogs

Let’s bring back blogrolls

This entry was posted in Techniques Writing and tagged blogs Internet writing on by

Blogrolls used to be a standard feature of many, if not most, blogs. A blogroll is a simple thing: a list in a sidebar or footer of links to like-minded or interesting blogs. They’re a way for related blogs to be mutually supporting. I’ve added one to the sidebar of this site, and it will grow in the future.

Blogrolls were popular until Google modified its ranking algorithm to downgrade their links. Maybe they had a good reason; it’s easy to set up a bunch of dummy blogs linking to each other to boost their search rank. But even if they don’t improve a blog’s Google rank, the links are worth posting as an alternative to the search engines. Readers will find interesting blogs and add their RSS or Atom feeds to a feed reader, letting them keep up with information on their favorite topics or from their favorite people. They will in turn have links to other interesting blogs. It isn’t mandatory to reciprocate when others add you to their blogrolls, but it’s considered courteous. (Hint to anyone I’ve listed.)
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Blogs vs. podcasts

This entry was posted in Writing and tagged blogs podcasts on by

To be “cool,” you need to have a podcast, not a blog. Or so a lot of podcasters think. There are certainly times when a podcast is more appropriate. When musical performances are the point — FilkCast, for instance — then a blog with links to audio files doesn’t work as well as an all-audio presentation.

But if the point is to present news and commentary, then give me a blog. Here are a handful of reasons why blogs are better:
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Blogs for bloggers 1

This entry was posted in Writing Writing as business and tagged blogs RSS on by

We writers learn from one another, as well as getting encouragement. Here are some blogs that I can recommend for writers in general and especially for bloggers.

I’ve included the RSS link for each blog. RSS feeds are a great and underutilized way to keep track of interesting content. In case you aren’t familiar with them, they’re a way to subscribe to site updates without filling up your mailbox. You use an RSS aggregator website or application (I use Leaf on the Mac) and check it whenever you like. It will list the latest entries for each site that you’ve subscribed to. To subscribe, you copy the feed link and follow your aggregator’s instructions to add it. If you can’t find the feed link, aggregators can often find it for you if you give them the site URL.
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