RE: blogging, Vol 24, Issue 15

**"Renee Beaulieu" r*@whiteflowerfarm.com**

 1. RE: Advise on setting up a weblog...a blogger (Jeff Ball)

Google does index blogs frequently, so many marketers are starting to use
blogs as a tool to get their sites to show up on search engines.
Theoretically, blogs are fast and easy to post, since they don't require a
lot of knowledge of html. However, you still need a web site where the blog
"lives,"  such as blogger.com. Blogs can be delivered more efficiently than
emails these days, since the RSS feeds don't have to go through spam
filters -- that's the real attraction for many folks.

Google likes blogs because the typical blog includes many links to other
sites for detailed info, and presumably to your own, related, back
issues/columns/blogs; and perhaps to the newspaper or magazine where the
story first appeared, or the university where you found some research.

For the best searchability (in hopes that you don't wind up on p. 44,198 of
search results), write headlines and sub-heads that repeat the specific key
words and phrases of your piece (such as "native perennials for shade," or
"the best flowering shrubs for small gardens," etc), and don't be afraid to
repeat key phrases perhaps more than your writing profs would like. Blogs
usually run shorter pieces, rather than 1,200-word columns. I'd suggest you
assert your copyright on every page. Not that that stops people from
stealing your work... I'd be sure my name and copyrighted term, such as The
Hampton Gardener, appeared on every entry.

Tens of thousands of blogs are started, and abandoned, every day, so I'm not
entirely convinced that blogging is more than a fad. I don't believe
anyone's actually making any money on blogs, either -- even the relatively
well-known political ones. Yet it's also thrilling to understand that
blogging is a simple enough tool that people who still had electricity were
able to report the aftermath of the tsunami within days.

My favorite gardening blog is The Bookish Gardener
http://fortyfour.typepad.com/bookishgardener/  The author writes about her
garden, what she's reading, what music she's listening to, etc etc. She's a
home gardener, not a professional, and it's very refreshing for me to read
the perspective of an avid, passionate gardener who's just having fun. It's
a charming occasional break from the slog.

Cheers,
Renee

Renee Beaulieu, Internet Manager
White Flower Farm
P.O. Box 50
Litchfield, CT 06759
www.whiteflowerfarm.com
860-496-9624 x6361

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