the biggest list of blogging terms ever

There are a lot of terms that come with this blogging gig that can be confusing if you're not technically savvy yet. So I crowd-sourced, and asked my blogging facebook groups what terms confused them. In no particular order, I give you the biggest list of blogging terms ever - some of them even I had to look up definitions for!

• permalink a permalink is the direct link to a blog post that you share with others, for example, pinterest. You can read how to create a permalink here
• Google Analytics the industry standard for tracking visitors to your site. I'll go deeper into using analytics later in the month.
• unique views the number of new visitors to your blog. Google analytics recently changed the title of this statistic to users.
• meta data wikipedia describes meta data as the card catalogue of libraries. Here is an article from the Sydney Morning Herald, with the Government definitions.
• meta tags also called meta elements. Part of the HTML coding of a site's meta data.
  
• tags called "labels" in Blogger. Used to aggregate content under the one identifier eg things I'd tell my daughter, cookie exchange.
• categories the over-arching themes or topics of a blog can be identified as categories. For example kids and recipes are two of the categories I use. Here is an excellent article from Tonya at The Crafty Mummy on how to use labels in blogger.
• HTML HyperText Markup Language, the standard for creating websites
• CSS Cascading Style Sheets, the standard for separating content from presentation
• coding the process of writing the program "the back end"
• bounce rates the percentage of visitors that leave your site after only visiting one page. Data can be found in Google analytics. More details provided later in the month.
• short URL a technique used to create a permalink to a post in a shorter number of characters. Well-known to be used when sharing links on twitter.
• SEO friendly URLs URLs should be straightforward and meaningful. Here is an article from Search Engine Land for more information. This article from Moz also gives clear examples of best practices.
• widget a small application or interface that allows users to perform a limited function
• link up a host blogger provides space for other bloggers to add their blog posts.
• plugin a software component that adds to an existing software program. Commonly used when refering to the self-hosted wordpress platform
• carnival a round up of links, usually submitted by bloggers to a central host blogger.
• blog hop used to move traffic from one blog to another. Bloggers post at the same time, and readers move from the main host blog, through a list of other bloggers (usually provided at each "stop")
• hyperlink the name given to a link on a web page. Here's how to create a hyperlink.
• kill fee the fee paid to a freelance writer if the story is "killed"
• stickiness anything on a website that encourages visitors to stay longer. Measured by ad views and bounce rates.
• private blogging networks a group of blogs connected to one another, usually owned by the same company, with the goal of building links within the network to help particular content rank better.
• social influence how one person's behaviour affects anothers. In marketing terms, it's the how you are affected when reading a blogger's post. Here is a post from Mashable with deeper explanations.
• self-hosted the act of having your website totally under your control
• engagement scores measuring the quality of interactions between readers and your website
• image types blogging and the internet has always been a visual medium for me - you won't find many posts within this space that don't contain an image of some sort. Photos you have taken yourself (or quotes like the one above) are the best sort to use, but sometimes that isn't possible. Here's an interesting article from QuickSprout about different images and the shares they recieve.
• image sizes I have always believed bigger is better, the full width of your text column is best.
• alt tags used on images, and read out to visually impaired visitors
• page views the number of visitors to your site in any one period. Data is found in Google analytics
• image hot linking direct linking to a websites files, mostly used with images, where the image isn't hosted on the site the link is from
• CTR click-through rate. The way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. Calculated as the number of clicks on an ad, divided by the number of times an ad is shown, expressed as a percentage
• click bait headlines of a sensational or provocative manner, used to entice people to click through to a website
• like-gating the practise of forcing people to like a facebook page, in return for something, usually an entry in a giveaway, but also used for downloadable printables, etc. Banned from November 4th, 2014.
• trolling the act of sowing discord by deliberately provoking an emotional response from other commenters
• hex codes hexadecimal codes for colours, read this article for an explanation
• pages refers to static pages on your site that don't change, eg about page
  
• posts refers to each entry in a blog
• canonical URLs directs google to look at one listing, when you may have multiple URLs directed to the same spot. Read Google's explanation here
• 301 redirect a permanent redirection of one URL to another
  
• 404 error indicates that the server was unable to find the item as requested
• SEO Search Engine Optimisation. The process of naturally making a website more visible to a search engine. More information later in the month
• keywords related to SEO, they are the words that you use in a search engine.
• hosting to store a website or blog on another computer.
• FTP File Transfer Protocol. Standard network protocol used to transfer computer files from one host to another via a network such as the internet.
• theme related to self-hosted websites. The framework that contains the files that work together to provide the interface of your website.
• RSS Rich Site Summary (also called Really Simple Syndication) a standard of web feed formats, that include meta-data, allowing frequently updated sites such as blogs to be read in an aggregator such as bloglovin.
• no-follow links a snippet of code that tells google not to transfer your authority to the website you are linking to. Used in accordance to google requirements if money or products are exchanged for review when linking to the item on another website.
• domain a unique name that identifies an internet resource such as a website. For example, lifebehindthepurpledoor.com is my domain name.
• image hosting a third-party service that allows users to upload an image, then share that image on their website via an HTML code. For example, Flickr and photobucket.
• affiliate usually used in reference to a link to an external third party where the poster recieves a percentage of the sale price of an item for directing the person to the sale. Amazon is a popular affiliate marketer. For more information, read this article from wikipedia
• review usually refers to a blog post about a product, either given to the blogger, or purchased by the blogger.
• sponsored post a post written in exchange for payment, either cash or product.

Have I left anything out? What terms didn't you understand when you started blogging?

 

what is a blog? why blog?

I decided if I was going to do this series any justice at all, I had to go back right to the very beginning.

The term "blog" was coined in 1999, a shortening of the term "weblog" In their earliest format, blogs were online diaries, places for the writer/blogger to share the stories of their lives. 

Blogs these days haven't moved far away from their origins, they're still a place to share stories, but they have diversified with the growth of blogging niches, which is when a blog focuses on one main topic, for example, fashion or craft.

So, why should you write a blog?

To share your knowledge

To share your story

To remember events

To grow your business

To collect a topic eg recipes

As a scrapbooker and sometimes crafter, I started my blog to share my scrapbooking pages, and capture our family stories to share with my family living apart from us, and to remember for my children. I like to think of it as an "online scrapbook", something that will be around forever for my kids.

Do you blog? Why did you start?

 

7 things I've learned in 7 years of blogging

Seven years is a long time in the blogging world. Seven years is a long time in life. I love my blog, and the opportunities it has brought me, and the memories it has captured, and the people I've met. I started learning the ropes of blogging (rather than just making it up as I went along) way back in 2009, with Shimelle Laine's Blogging for Scrapbookers class. And I haven't stopped learning since. {or pinning, you can follow my pinterest board about blogging here} Here are my top 7 tips

1. write in your voice. It sounds cliche, because everyone says it, but they say it because it is the truth. Once I started writing as I spoke, without the LOLs, my words flowed, I wasn't trying to be something on paper that I wasn't. That doesn't mean that if you use the occassional LOL that I'll stop reading, or swithc off if you use emoticons, but if it doesn't come naturally from you, don't try to force it, people will notice.
2. make your photos big. I read on my iPad a lot, and regularly use the multi-gesture to make images bigger. My eyes are getting old, and I want to see your beautiful photos, don't make them so small that I have to enlarge them just to see the detail.
3. don't explain absences. People read blogs via email or facebook or RSS reader. Unless they're a long-time reader that you've become friends with, they won't really notice if it's been five minutes or five months since your last post.
4. it's ok to change paths. Just because you started blogging about your babies, doesn't mean you have to keep blogging about your babies. They grow up, after all, and eventually tell you to stop sharing their photos on facebook/instagram/blog. And passions change, too.
5. never stop learning. The internet and social media are ever-changing beasts. You don't need to keep up with everyone else, but keep learning from them, and apply that knowledge when you feel you can.
6. photos + words matter. Even when the days feel long, and babies are grown up, and you think you're talking to yourself, your stories matter.
7. I know more than I thought I did. I've mentioned this before, and I'm sure I'll mention it again. I'm often so surprised when someone asks a question about blogging, and I know the answer. Being able to share my knowledge with others makes me so happy.

What has blogging taught you? How long have you been blogging for?

5 blogging resources I love

Over the years, I have purchased LOTS of blogging resources. And read HUNDREDS of posts about blogging (you can see almost 2000 of them on my pinterest board) But learning about blogging is still one of my favourite things to do.

In no particular order, here are 5 of my go-to resources

1. 365 writing prompts for bloggers & creatives - the best $US5 I ever spent. Read my review here.
2. * 31 days to Build a Better Blog - the first ProBlogger resource I purchased, and probably the best at breaking down all the ideas Click here to visit ProBlogger.
3. * Do-It-Yourself Blog Critique - a step-by-step guide to asking the tough questions about your look and purpose and content, and a whole bunch of stuff.
4. Blacksburg Belle - I'm a long-time fan of April and her blog
5. by Regina - I discovered by Regina via her awesome pinterest images, and love everything I read

This is only a super-small list (and it's taken me hours [between teething cuddles] to put this list together), but I hope it's given you a place to start looking.

* this post contains affiliate links

linking up with blue bird internet marketing

An InLinkz Link-up

back to basics | how to have a sidebar widget without a title

This one's for you, Jos!

When I updated my sidebar picture after Sophie was born, I discovered that I couldn't save the change without a title in the box. I didn't want a title, so I had to resort to a full stop. Then I stumbled over to Sew, Cook, Laugh, Live, and all it's full stops, and realised that I wasn't the only one having problems, so I had to find the answer.

And it's a really simple answer. It doesn't involve playing with your template, although it does involve a little bit of HTML coding.

Just enter this code in place of your title. It's that simple. And as you can see from my sidebar, the dot is gone!

{I found the answer at Design it Chic}

back to basics | back up your blog

When did you last back up your blog? Did you know it's really easy to do in blogger?

First, click settings, then other.

Then the very first item on the list is blog tools - click export blog.

This window will pop up, click download blog.

And then click save file {ok}. Your file is now wherever your computer downloads files to, now you can move it to wherever you need it (I have a folder in my documents for all things blog-related.) As you can see, the file is dated, so you'll always know when you downloaded it.

If you ever need to put the file back, on the same or another blog, you just click the import blog button, find the file and off you go.

I'm still trying to figure out how to backup wordpress blogs, I'll add it when I've got it.

back to basics | sharing permalinks

Permalink? What's that? And why do I need to know how to share it?

A permalink is the link that will take someone directly to a post on your blog, rather than just linking them to your blog. For example, if I wanted to share my post from Friday on Facebook, then I could link to my blog on Friday, and it will be the first post they see. But what if I want to share the post again next week? A whole week of posting has gone by, a link to my blog won't bring up that post first.

So, how do you find the permalink? Click on the title of your post. You'll see a link similar to the one circled above. See how the title of the post follows my blog URL? If you share this link, people will be able to go straight to your post.

This is especially helpful in these days of Pinterest. How many times have you checked a pin weeks later, and not been able to find the article you pinned? Because the blog has shared posts, and the one you want is lost (unless you're really patient, and can find it again.)

Have a question to ask? Fill out this form.

back to basics | how to create a hyperlink

Sometimes I forget that not everyone knows everything about blogging, and that it can be intimidating to ask questions if something looks easy enough that you "should" know how to do it. With that in mind, I asked classmates from Blogging from the Heart if there was anything they would like to learn, and this series was born.

on blogger blogs

• highlight the word you want to hyperlink
• click the word "link" (circled above)
• when the box pops up, the top line will have the word you've highlighted, the second line will have "http://" in the box, type or paste your link here (you can highlight "http://" if you've copied a link and paste)
• if you want the link to open in a new window, click the box 
• if it's a paid link, click "no-follow"
• click ok. Now the word you highlighted will look like "Blogging from the Heart" in the picture above

 on wordpress blogs

The steps are the same as for blogger blogs, but you click on a picture, not a word.

Keeping it real - I didn't learn to create hyperlinks until I had been blogging for six months!

If you have a question, you can use this google document to ask me.