Category: News & Trends

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Blogs and RSS Feeds Explained

If you are new to blogging or just want to learn and know more, we havc created and excellent resource center on Blogs and RSS News Feeds.

In our resource center you will find easy to understand information on how to set up a blog to custom FTP publish to your own web server using Blogger, how to create an XML document for your RSS news feed, how to use blogs and feeds for your business, and the technological information on both and how closely intertwined feeds are with blogs.

The resource center contains white papers, presentations from speaking engagements, and much more that I am sure that you will find helpful in understanding and using this exciting technology.

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Invitation to Microsoft Analytics Program

Click this link to be invited to Microsoft Web Analytics – Gatineau Beta http://advertising.microsoft.com/microsoft-adcenter-gatineau

Microsoft is testing a new analytics package similar to Google Analytics and you’ll want to try it out. The link adds you to the waiting list to check it out. You will need a MSN adCenter account in order to try the program out. You will also pay $5 for the account.

I for one have signed up to see if the product is better than Google Analytics and what the differences may be. You may want to sign up as well.

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The Drudge Report – Why Design in Blogs Doesn’t Matter

That’s right, the design of your blog simply doesn’t matter attested to the article linked to our title. In this article the writer values the Drudge Report, a popular political blog at around $40 million. Is is worth it?

Take a look at the Drudge Report here http://www.drudgereport.com/. This is a very lame layout and design and now I am not being tongue in cheek here.

The lesson learned from the Drudge Report is that it’s the content stupid not the design! To me it looks like Matt Drudge could easily spend a couple hundred dollars and get a really great blog design that was interesting to look at and would communicate visually his message better, but who am I to point a finger. According to Conde Nast’s Portfolio.com blog the Drudge Report is visited by 1.3 million unique visitors every month. Go figure! Great content will always excuse bad design, but really Matt, you need an overhaul.

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Forums Aren’t Dead

With the proliferation of blogs, some have thought that forums were dead or on a down hill slide. Personally, I feel that there will always be a place for forums.

I watch some important forums myself and am a regular poster. One of the best I like for my own industry is Webmaster World. I can pick up tips, keep up-to-date on topics, and sometimes even hear of an issue there first.

But forums are not for everyone! I do not recommend the addition of a forum to the typical business owners website, in that case I recommend a blog. The reason for this is that unless a forum is trafficked, has a moderator, and lots of activity, it simply cannot be sustained. A forum with no activity may actually be a liability for you. For smaller websites and business owners the one way action of blogging is a much better match.

So from my point of view, forums have their place and blogs do as well. What forums are you watching and lurking in?