Blogger vs WordPress - Which Blogging Platform?

Should you use Blogger.com or WordPress for your blog?

 

It's a matter of preference.  Some experienced marketers dismiss

Blogger.com because it is not as sophisticated or as flexible as

WordPress. But there are other considerations.

 

The fact of the matter is that a number of the world's top bloggers

started out on Blogger.com (including Darren Rowse), partly

because not much was available then.

 

I created this blog on Blogger.com in 2005.  It has been

in the top ten results for a number of keywords for years.

At one stage, it had a PR5 rating from Google but dropped

in rank, partly because I did not maintain my blog posting (I

got diverted creating 100 + Squidoo lenses).

 

Blogger.com has these advantages:

1. automatically indexed by Google (goes in their blog directory)

2. simple to use

3. has become more sophisticated recently with its own plugins

(you can add scripts, affiliate products, etc.) and the plugin

options are built-in - you don't have to go searching for them on the

web

4. has some attractive templates

5. less choice (more built-in) means that it's faster to build your blog

6. you can easily create tags/labels (but not categories).

 

The downside is that Google owns Blogger.com and you don't

normally have your Blogger.com blog on your own domain

(although you have the option to host it on your own domain -

which makes it a bit more complicated to set up.)

 

The parallel of course is that you can have a WordPress

blog hosted on WordPress.com or on your own domain.

 

I did not bother with WordPress initially because my

Blogger.com blog was doing okay and I did not have the

time or inclination to invest in learning about WordPress

themes and plugins.

 

This changed recently when I teamed up with Anne Corcino

of SeoPraxis.com and developed a joint venture. I then

engaged Anne on a paid basis to convert the site for my

offline business (HR consultancy) to a WordPress platform.

Anne is a Master WordPress designer.

 

In working with Anne on the design, I learned a lot about

WordPress and I am now hooked. We are working on a

couple of WordPress sites together and I have created

one to back the SquidooRoo Training Program. This WordPress

blog is built on the marketing-orientated, Socrates Theme:

http://www.squidooroo.com/socialmediamarketing

 

This needs a bit of work at the moment (in terms of plugins)

but is basically self-generating as I use an auto-blogging facility 

developed by Brad Callen.

WordPress has the advantage of lots of plugins that can do

so many things automatically such as SEO and listing related articles,

etc.  You really are only limited by your imagination in how you use

the hundreds of plugins available. 

 

However, the range of themes (layouts) and plugins (action modules)

can be bewildering if you are new to WordPress or not technically

minded.  Even if you have some degree of technical skill, you

need time and patience to get across the numerous options available.

 

If I was starting out now:

 

1. I would engage someone like Anne from SEO Praxis to build my

SEO optimized, WordPress blog

 

or

 

2.  I would put a WordPress blog on my own domain

and use a simple theme that is designed for Internet

marketers such as the Socrates theme I used on

the social media marketing blog above.

 

If I was not technically minded I would start with Blogger.com

and master the art of writing blog posts and marketing first.

There is definitely a major time investment in setting up a

WordPress blog (even though the individual steps are relatively

easy).

 

As Darren Rowse points out, you can always start again with a

new blog (as he did three times). He now has 350,000 subscribers

to one of his blogs!

 

The blogging lesson (#6) of the SquidooRoo Training Program

takes this discussion further by exploring how to focus, write and

create your blog (on either platform) and how to make your

blog the foundation of your business.  There are also resources

with step-by-step instructions for setting up either a Blogger.com

blog or a WordPress blog.

Photo Credit: Choosing a Blogging Platform by edkohler

 

*********************************************
Ron Passfield, PhD, is a Social Media Consultant, Top 100 Squidoo
Lensmaster and  Giant Squid100.

He is the Creator of the SquidooRoo Training Progam, a 6 month
course in social media marketing:
SquidooRoo Training Program

He provides free resources for Squidoo marketing on his
Squidoo authority site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************

Jane's Pick of the Day: Social Learning : the video

Social Learning : the video

Thanks to Conrado Schlochauer of LAB SSJ in Brazil for sharing this video with me - and thanks for the mention!

via janeknight.typepad.com

Jane Knight recommends this video about the value of content creation and social networking for social learning. This is a fundamental theme of my training program on social media marketing:
http://www.squidooroo.com

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

SquidooRoo Training Program - Social Media Marketing

SquidooRoo is a 6 month training program in social media marketing.

The SquidooRoo Program covers content creation, social networking
and promotion including social bookmarking.

Weekly lessons in PDF format are provided over 24 weeks and each
week's lesson includes bonuses designed to help you take action.

Lessons on content creation in SquidooRoo include aspects such as
article marketing, podcasts, video marketing and designing Squidoo
lenses (advanced strategies).

The social networking lessons include social networks such as
Facebook, Twitter, Redgage and Posterous.

SquidooRoo is in pre-launch phase at the moment and is available at
50% discount for the first 50 subscribers.  The price will double
when this target is reached.

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************

How to Add Audio to Your Squidoo Lens

 
Squidoo has implemented a new option that enables you to include a
Yahoo audio player on your Squidoo lenses.

You can see it in operation in the Introduction module to my latest
Squidoo lens:
http://www.squidoo.com/gull

You'll see a hyperlink titled, "CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO - Ron Talks
About Richard Teare - Founder of GULL".

Beside the link is an arrow which indicates an audio player.

The process to activate the audio player for your lens is simple:

In edit mode, click on SETTINGS (right-hand column), then click on
"Play mp3 files with Yahoo Media Player" (just below "maxed").
Then click "APPLY" and PUBLISH.

Then whenever, you enter an mp3 link, Squidoo automatically
activates the player link by putting a small arrow to the left of your
hyperlinked text (as on my Gull lens).

This is not visible until you re-publish the lens after you have
added the mp3 link (and it may take a few minutes after
that to appear).

You can create your own mp3 or add one that you have rights to.
In the SquidooRoo training program, I will be showing you how
to create your own podcasts (mp3s) from free resources...
and I'll even give you royalty-free music as well.

******************************************

Please note: the lens describes how the Global University for
Lifelong Learning (GULL) is bringing education and hope to the
youth and children in the tent camps of Haiti.

Please show the lens some TLC by commenting or Tweeting or
"Liking" or lensrolling or whatever will assist its promotion:
http://www.squidoo.com/gull

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************




SquidooRoo is coming - 6 month social media marketing course

GULL - Global University for Lifelong Learning (GULL)

The GULL Vision - Building Community Through Developing Leaders

GULL is a nonprofit public benefit corporation incorporated in California, USA. GULL is recognized by the Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and endorsed by other Governments, Leaders & Institutions. GULL's aim is to equip everyone, particularly the disadvantaged and dislocated, to acquire practical knowledge and skills through lifelong learning. This approach to personal and professional development is designed to give access to practical education to people who would not normally be able to access formal education.

GULL - Enabling YOU to Make a Difference in OUR World

via squidoo.com

GULL, the Global University of Lifelong Learning, provides professional qualifications on a global basis to people who are unable to access education because they lack the funds or facilities. GULL, for example, is working in Haiti with World Vision to develop the young people as volunteer community workers who, in turn, are educating the young children in the tent camps. World Vision staff are acting as mentors for the volunteers. Both the community volunteers and the mentors can qualify for an action learning based GULL professional award.

Posted via email from Ronpass posterous

SEO for Squidoo Lenses

I was recently asked about the need to add
meta tags to Squidoo lenses for SEO purposes.

For one thing, Squidoo would not allow the
relevant coding. For html code that is allowable,
visit:
http://www.squidoo.com/basichtml

However, the main issue is that it is totally
unnecessary as the meta tags are auto-generated
by Squidoo (thanks to Seth's genius).

Meta tags are already embedded in the lens templates.
This is why Squidoo stresses the importance of
lens title, description, primary tag and other tags
- these are actually meta tag fields!

By way of example, here's some of the code
automatically created for one of my lenses:
http://www.squidoo.com/improve-personal-productivity

HTML code generated by Squidoo (an extract):

meta name="description" content="Personal
productivity is the antidote to stop procrastination.
This lens offers a range of strategies to improve
personal productivity online. It includes stop
procrastination tips... (full lens introduction)

meta name = "keywords" content="personal
productivity, audioboo, beat procrastination,
building focus and productivity, chakra energy,
chakra for productivity...(all tags)

property="og:title" content="Improve
Personal Productivity - Stop procrastination,
focus on productivity" (lens title)

So you can see how critical it is to get your
title, description and keywords right.

Also you need to remember that Google indexes
the whole of a Squidoo lens, including module
titles, module sub-headings, videos and even
comments. For more on this deep indexing
aspect visit my previous post:

Deep Indexing of Squidoo Lenses

If you want to check out some of these ideas for
your own lenses, here's some instructions:

Meta Tag Coding in Google

1. Enter your Squidoo lens URL in your browser.
2. Click "View" and then "Page Source" (HTML will appear)
3. Search for "meta" ("edit" and "find").

Check Google Indexing of Your Lens

This is a bit more difficult. You have to be
able to find a Google search result for the
keyword for your lens.

Take for example, when I search on - improve
personal productivity - my lens comes up on
page 2 (11th result). Here's the entry (note
the importance of lens title - shown in the
Google listing):

Improve Personal Productivity - Stop procrastination,
focus on ... - 7:27am
1 Mar 2010 ... Personal productivity is the antidote
to stop procrastination. This lens offers a range of
strategies to improve personal productivity ...
www.squidoo.com/improve-personal-productivity
- Cached

Now notice "cached" at the end of the listing
and click on this. You will see that Google highlights
in color any occurrence of the keywords - improve,
personal and productivity. Here's an example from
my lens description:
improve personal productivity

Now you can see what Squidoo indexes in your lenses
and what you can do to improve your ranking for your
keywords!

Google picked up productivity in the comments from
the guestbook.  Implications:
1. encourage quality comments (and reply to them
using your keywords or variants of them)

2. help out your fellow lensmasters by providing
quality comments on their lenses (using their keywords
or semantically related words).

If you want some way to regularly update your lenses, try
replying to the comments on your lenses.

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************




SquidooRoo is coming - 6 month social media marketing course.

Why Podcast - profit with your voice

The following podcast discusses the growth of
podcasting and encourages use of this medium.

The flexibility of podcasts, for access and use,
make them a very desirable marketing medium.

Also podcsts reveal a lot about you and
personalises you to the listener.

Podcasts are easy to create and very cheap (just
the cost of headphones with microphone).

*********************************************
Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid100. He provides free resources
for Squidoo marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies

To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com

Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/

Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies

*********************************************




SquidooRoo is coming - 6 month social media marketing course.