Beginning to Blog - session by Bryony Taylor at #cnmac13

Beginning to blogBryony Taylor - @vahva

http://bryonytaylor.com

Introduction to blogging

#cnmac139 November 2013

http://bryonytaylor.com

What’s a blog?

Contraction of web-log – it’s like an online journal

My definition: a place online where you can put stuff!

http://bryonytaylor.com

Why blog?

You could have all sorts of reasons to blog: for CPD, to have a resource to return to, to share what you’re learning with others, for fun, to share expertise, to keep in touch with friends & family, for business…

http://bryonytaylor.com

Blogging platforms

Blogger - http://www.blogger.com

Wordpress- http://wordpress.com

Tumblr - http://tumblr.com

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Types of blog

Series ThematicPersonal Website Mixed

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Personal

A personal online journal

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Series

Blog posts as a series working through a theme

http://pamsperambulation.wordpress.com/category/lectionary/

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Thematic

Single theme

http://songsevokingscripture.tumblr.com/

/

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Website

Blog inside a website

http://insidecranmer.org.uk/

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Mixed

All of the above! Multiple authors

http://bigbible.org.uk/

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Getting traffic to your blog

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Categories and tags help you find things again and help others when they’re searching for content

Tags and Categories

• Categories – like chapter headings

• Tags – like the index

Always put your blog posts in a category and give them a few tags (keywords)

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Connecting to Social Media is essential

Connectivity

Set your blog to automatically publish to your Facebook and Twitter

Add ‘sharing’ buttons at the bottom of your blog posts so that it is easy for others to share your content

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• Always include an image in your post (ensure it is royalty free - http://sxc.hu/ & http://commons.wikimedia.org for free images)

• Always reply to comments (unless obviously spam)

Other things that help

• Split long posts up into separate posts – max length 500 words

• A blog post could just be an image or video – it needn’t be long!

• Read other blogs for inspiration and respond

• Post regularly• Be topical• Have fun!

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My 3 golden rules:

Don’t be afraid!Go for it, don’t be timid, you just have to give it a try.

Don’t be stupid!Don’t write anything you’d be embarrassed for a loved one or your boss to read!

Be yourself! Be authentic, people can spot a fake.

http://bryonytaylor.com

For a step by step guide to creating a blog on wordpress.com visit:http://www.slideshare.net/BryonyTaylor/create-your-own-blog-or-website-with-wordpresscom

http://bryonytaylor.com

Thanks. Keep in touch! http://bryonytaylor.com I’m @vahva on Twitter bryony.taylor@gmail.com http://bigbible.org.uk & http://seedresources.com for extra help and resources