Blogging re-defined

Both Facebook and WordPress began roughly in the same year. In the year 2003, Google acquired Blogger platform from Pyra Labs. While Blogger and WordPress are true blue blogging platforms, Facebook started off as a social network. If we go back to the aim of blogging, all the three of them provide the ability to allow the user to post articles, photos, audio and videos. Which brings us to the question, is YouTube a complete blogging platform.

Different ways to blog

The two distinct approaches to blogging is via website article way and social media platforms way.

Website articles method

The free options available for bloggers are as follows

• Blogger by Google – The most beginner friendly option for bloggers with many of them staying on. You get a subdomain by Google and simple blogging interface. Blogger or Blogspot has been around since 2003 without many changes in design. Integration with Google Adsense is added advantage. Simple design means you can focus on blogging and creating content.
• WordPress – Rich in design and functions with themes and plugins. Launched the same year as Blogger, WordPress has grown from a blogging platform to a content management system. The core functionality as a blog tools will not change. You get a sub domain from WordPress and many features far better than Blogger. The WordPress smartphone app helps you to get more followers in a focused manner.
• Others – There is Wix, Weebly, Jimdo, Shopify, SquareSpace, the list goes on. Everybody is vying for the site builder space. They all want to take the complexity out of design by providing templates and giving all functions like payment gateway, shopping cart, etc in the form of simple drag and drop modules. All of them give a subdomain and website for free.

Paid options are as follows.

• Self Hosted WordPress – If you are in for the long haul, self hosted WordPress is the way forward. You have complete control over design and SEO is a breeze. Looking for sponsors or joining an ad network, this options works best. besides giving a professional look. Choose your hosting provider with care since it is going to be a three to five year commitment. Go for the longest duration pack since you will get a straight 50% discount on your first transaction. Check for free addons like SSL cert and business mail.
• Paid plans by WordPress.com – Plans include custom domain, ads by WordPress, spam protection, CDN and much more. It is like a single platform giving cutting edge features of WordPress. But comparatively, plans are expensive.
• Other options – Google Domains provide an option to buy a domain and link it with blogger website. It also give business mail options under G-suite. Except for the basic integration, the setup remain buggy and customer care is non existent.

Blogging by Social Media method

Popularity of social media networks has tempted the masses to change the definition of blogging. People now assume (wrongly!) that posting updates is a form of blogging too. Here are a few pointers suggesting otherwise.

• Blogging is necessarily writing an article of between 300 to 600 words. How will you post a 300 word update on Facebook timeline.
• Every social network keeps insisting that they are only for updates from friends and family.
• Google does not show search results within the social networks.
• Social media posting is for entertainment purpose, at-least that is what your followers will believe.
• Brands are given promotional tools for business purpose which are misused by influencers to boost follows and likes.
• This confusion will remain because blog articles are also called posts and social media updates are called posts too!

Here are a few social media networks and what they can be used for.

• Facebook – To check-in public places of interest like restaurants, shopping malls, picnic spots, museums, gardens, etc. Post pictures and videos of travel experiences. Use a Facebook page to post short stories, poems or funny one liners.
• Instagram – If you are photographer or travel blogger or posting restaurant reviews, this app can work with short updates.
• Tumblr – Can be used to write posts sometimes detailed ones too.
• YouTube – Integrated with Adsense, this has become the big daddy of money spinning vloggers.

If you are an aspiring blogger, you need to take a long and hard look towards social media before taking a call. Businesses and brand have a presence on social media without need for a website. But for a blogger, a website is the only sign of true identity.

The post Ways to blog – Is social media posting a form of blogging appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

AMP Official website and announcements

The official website for AMP is the first place to start for details. It is almost the single reference point to begin with AMP.

https://www.ampproject.org/

But for the beginner point of view, this is the best way to start understanding about AMP.

https://googleblog.blogspot.in/2015/10/introducing-accelerated-mobile-pages.html

This link is from the official Google Blog. Ironically the announcement is of Oct 2015 and as of Jan 2017, Google Blogging Platform still does not support AMP. WordPress however is fully AMP compliant.

What is the problem with mobile phones display

Mobile Phone screens have very less space. And most of the PC users now use the smartphone to do basic internet related things like browsing, emailing, maps, etc. As soon as someone searches Google, the search results are the direct interface between Google and its user. Search results are well within the control of Google. But the websites are not. Also Google has no control over how the websites are displayed on the limited size smart phone screen.

On the smartphone display, the website has its content, pictures and videos and advertisements. These should have some standard display pattern so as to have a uniform user experience. AMP is an attempt to standardize things. All AMP pages will be served from the Google AMP Cache. Google AMP Cache will behave similar to any content delivery network (CDN). There will a delay till Google caches all your AMP compliant pages.

Another interesting explanation of AMP is given in the link below.

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6340290?hl=en

Self Hosted Website v/s Social Media Platform

Once we understand the concept of AMP, we straight come to the question of the utility of a self hosted blog or website. There is no doubt that a self hosted blog provides amazing flexibility as far as design is concerned. Security is also top notch. A self hosted website with a dedicated server is the ultimate blogging machine. Google rankings are bound to be higher with a self hosted blog.

But a self hosted blog also means lots of maintenance. A blogger managing a self hosted blog means that he/she is a webmaster, admin, author, editor and publicist, all rolled in one. Anytime a new tech is introduced, we are back to the drawing boards. HTML 5, Google authorship, Mobile friendly compliance, panda algorithm and so on. Keeping a tab on new tech and making design changes at irregular intervals becomes a pain.

On the other hand, a platform like WordPress by Automattic or Blogger by Google takes care of techs. This means that bloggers can now focus on content and creativity. If your blog is hosted on wordpress.com, AMP compliance is automatic.

Bloggers have recently moved to social media platforms to have an instant reach to audience. Facebook, Tumbler, YouTube, Instagram, all are blogging platforms. Scores of bloggers in fact find no need to have a self hosted blog. The audience reach of these platforms is much higher and simpler. AMP compliance and other such tech needs which might come up in the future are automatically taken care of.

A few examples of AMP

So AMP is a method to display web pages on a mobile phone screen in a particular format. Here are some examples.

First we shall see a side by side comparison of AMP and non AMP page.

The screen shot on the left is AMP display. The position of each element is fixed. The layout does look good and space is optimized.

Google also favors the AMP compliant pages and websites by displaying them in search results in a preferential manner.

AMP pages are denoted by a white lightening bolt in a grey circle. I have also seen a noticeable jump in ranking of my articles after AMP compliance.

Though Google is still experimenting with AMP and search results, here is something interesting. AMP pages might show your featured image next to the snippets. Another eye catching option.

The post What is AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) appeared first on Start Blog Writing.

Earlier we had seen the first essential page from a blogger point of view.

http://startblogwriting.com/essential-pages-blogger-privacy-policy/

Using Jetpack Plugin for creating a Contact Us page

WordPress users install Jetpack plugin for the variety of features and performance that it provides. Jetpack also provides a Contact Form that making a Contact Us page a breeze. Enable the Contact Form in Jetpack Settings under Writing Tab.

A detailed explanation of Contact Form can be found at the following URL.

As seen from the above, the Contact Form option needs to be toggled and turn on bright blue. Once on, a Contact Form button is visible above the text editor.

Jetpack uses a shortcode to insert a contact form on a page or a post. This form can be customized to add more fields. Once customization is over, the contact form shortcode is displayed in the text area.

Contact page for Blogger by Google

Blogger platform by Google uses gadgets to add a contact widget on your blog. The option is available in Layout. Where ever you want to place the gadget click on the Add a Gadget button.

Blogger gadget does not have any customization options.

Of course you can always use a html code to insert a contact link to your email.

The post Five Essential Pages for a Blogger : Contact Us appeared first on Start Blog Writing.