5 Websites for Bloggers

Posted by Michael Koby

December 1, 2006

Today everyone has a blog of some kind. It can be a place on LiveJournal, your MySpace blog, or even your own website that you post your thoughts on. This week’s list is for those bloggers out there that are somewhat new to the game and need resources to help them figure stuff out. These websites range from how to write better all the way to how to make money with your blog. So without too much more waiting…

5) Performancing Metrics – One of the things that I find most important about writing, is it helps to write about stuff that people are interested in. While there are a some good tools out there that will help you see where people are surfing on your website, Metrics from Performancing is the easiest to understand. While some might argue that Google Analytics is better, I find that it is much more complicated than Metrics. For someone new who does not need the extras of Google’s Analytics, Metrics from Performancing is the way to go.
4) Creative Commons – One of the most important things about the content on your website is that, it is very much in the public domain. It is very easy for people to copy it on to their own site without having to ask your permission. The Creative Commons, have come up with some licenses that you can use for free to license the content on your website. This makes it easy for people to understand exactly what rights they have for your content. And while the Creative Commons license is not a replacement for copyright, it is a great extension of the copyright laws and regulations.
3) FeedBurner – When dealing with blogs, it is especially important to focus some of your attention on your RSS feed. RSS is how people keep track of what you are posting without having to come back to the site. By utilizing RSS feeds on your website people can easily see what you are writing about and make a clear decision to come to your site to read a complete article. FeedBurner helps you keep track of how many people are subscribed to your RSS feed as well as what items they are clicking on to come to your site to read. When you know what people are reading, you know what you should write about more, and eventually pull more people to your page. FeedBurner offers two levels of service, a free version that allows you to see the number of subscribers as well a few features to a paid version that costs $4.99 a month that allows you to see what people are clicking, offer email subscriptions to your feed, and other features to help you promote and get the most out of your RSS feed.
2) ProBlogger – One of the main reasons that people have begun blogging is because they see it as a nice way to make some potential extra cash. While, I subscribe to the theory that you need content before you can think about making money, the potential to make money through blogging definitely exists. When I added Adsense to my pages here, I wanted to make sure I got the optimal effect from them so I went scouring the internet for tips and tricks on this exact topic. I found ProBlogger’s Adsense Tips For Bloggers article series and was hooked. ProBlogger covers a variety of ways to make money with your blog and are definitely worth your time to read over.
1) Copyblogger – Blogging is all about content. The more content you have, the more chance of people coming to your page to read it. The more content also means a higher chance of repeat visitors. Copyblogger is a great help in getting you going with a focus on content. With tips on everything from titles to marketing posts you can not go wrong with having this website in your RSS reader. The tips given on this site are golden as well as proven to work. Since I have found this site, I have read every new article posted. I do not implement everything I read on Copyblogger, but I do implement several things and take everything discussed to heart. This is a top grade website.