DIY WEB PROJECT: BLOGGER

Misc Online Resources

2009-10-26T15:02:00.001-07:00

Development Tools & Resources

Microsoft Word 2007 keyboard shortcuts - Any of these commands can be used in the various web tools’ page editors. In fact, certain actions can only be made with a hotkey command (such as the ability to underline text in the free standard version of Wordpress)

Sourceforge - An invaluable resource for open-source software

Video Tutorial Zone - A collection of free video tutorials

Lynda.com - Easily the best online source for computer software related training/instructional videos. Monthly memberships are very affordable and totally worth it

100 great free and open source tools and applications for web developers - Good suggestions from a talented web designer

Top 10 Open Source Web-Based Project Management Software - Such tools help with communication and keeping track of progress in a team project

35 Extremely Useful Free Online Tools for Web Developers and Designer - Useful tools for all aspects web development

Adobe Dreamweaver - An industry standard website authoring program. Enables users to create fully-functional websites

Useful Articles

7 Factors that Separate Good Websites from Bad - Invaluable tips for anyone planning to build a website. Not to be missed!

What Everybody Ought to Know About Usability & Web Design - Don't worry. After reading this, you'll know

Web Pages That Suck - A hilarious website that's chalk full of useful advice about what NOT to do

World's Worst Website - If your site looks anything like this, please take it down now. You should be ashamed of yourself

Why use a CMS - Yes, why should you use a content management system?

How to Get Free Wordpress Training to Build Blogs and Websites

Best Web Browsers - Due to popularity, functionality, efficiency, ease of use and number of available application/plugins, Firefox is clearly the best browser. It is highly recommended that you use it instead of Explorer (however, every website maker should be testing their creations with both)

Joomla! Vs WordPress

Drupal Vs Joomla!
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3

101 Useful Resources for Online Entrepreneurs

How to Build a Website
Article 1
Article 2

Blogging for Business

Useful Online Services

PayPal - For online business models that take payments via their website

Google Analytics - Invaluable for any business with a larger site that does a lot of business. This tool will point out the user behavior, and how to improve the pages they visit

Skype - Essential for any business that communicates long distance frequently. It will save money!

Gmail (Google mail) - Best free web mail service

Google Talk - Free, easy to set up, goes well with Gmail (and other Google Apps) and very useful for frequent distance voice communication (saves money)

Twitter - If by chance you've been living under a rock for the last few year and have no idea what Twitter is, check out the TwitterManiaManual document attached at the bottom of this page

LinkedIn - A business-oriented social networking site (Facebook for professionals)

Local Business Directories

Any businesses that seeks new customers should list itself with as many free online business directories as can be found. Signups take only a few minutes to complete and some directories offer SEO benefits to sites listed in their database (this helps make the site more credible to search engines and can positively influence the keyword search rankings of some pages).

Local Business Directories can be found through keyword searches for specific geographic locations (ex. Victoria BC or Canada) or specialized industries (ex. travel, real estate, etc). Find as many as you can!

Google Business Center

Yahoo! Local

Bing Local Listing Center

DMOZ - The Open Directory Project is the largest, most comprehensive human-edited directory of the web. It is constructed and maintained by a vast, global community of volunteer editors. Note: For a submitted site to be approved for this unique directory, an actual person needs to review it. This process can take several months so be patient. The wait is worth it. Sites registered in DMOZ receive added credibility with the search engines (which influences search placement)

Stock Images

Photograph Images
www.openphoto.net - Free
www.sxc.hu - Free
www.photogen.com - Free
www.twicepix.net - Free
www.photos.com - Paid

Clip Art Images
www.clipart.com - Free
www.clip-art.com - Free
www.barrysclipart.com - Free

Animation
www.cksinfo.com - Free
www.animation-central.com - Free
www.amazing-animations.com - Free

Blogging for Small Business

2009-09-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise that so many small businesses are using blogs to communicate to their core customer base. They'll use a blog to discuss products, make announcements or share stories and experiences with their customers.

Here are a few examples of small business owners who are successfully using a blog to promote themselves.

Example 1

Chris Kulczycki

Company: Velo ORANGE
Website
Blog (built with Google Blogger)

Chris has a niche in the bicycle market. His small business, Velo Orange, is a "manufacturer and purveyor of [bicycle] parts and accessories for randonneurs and cyclo-tourists". He has a reputation amongst fellow touring bike enthusiasts that has grown steadily over the years. To the point that his blog has become somewhat of a hub for others to share their common interest.

Every few days or so, Chris will make a post on his blog to inform eager readers about changes in his business. It could be a new custom bike for a client or a sales promotion that is currently underway. Either way, his blog postings help him connect with his customers on both a personal level and a professional one.

Check out Chris Kulczycki's Google blog. See if his approach to the medium might stimulate ideas for how you could blog for your business.

Example 2

coming soon...

Editing Tips & Tricks

2009-09-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

Things I've learned about using Blogger...

In the dashboard settings, there is an option to select updated editing tools. Try it
When adding an image for the header, make sure you size it properly before uploading. I just used the windows paint application for this
There are lots of great gadgets that can be added to the sidebar: bookmarks, search bars, personal profiles etc
Blogs are for reading, so use a color scheme and font size that makes sense
Transferring text from Microsoft Word to Blogger editor can cause formatting issues, so try transferring to a New Text Document first. This will strip the text of any Word coding.

Feedback

2009-09-11T13:49:00.000-07:00

Tell us what you think about our website and the material that it covers. What do you think of Blogger tools? Know anything that could help others learn more about it?

Please share your comments!

What is Blogger?

2009-09-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

Blogger is a free blog creating tool offered by Google.

But... I've been living under a rock for the last few years. What the heck are "blogs"?

Blogs are webpages which are used for online journals or web-logs. They are extremely popular these days and have become an effective way for writers, of all types and interests, to gain exposure for themselves or their business (or both).

Sometimes, a popular blog or blog post can attract enough attention that it goes viral. Meaning, it gets linked to from popular sites like Digg or StumbleUpon or reddit.

When a Blog gets linked to from other websites, it can gain credibility with search engines. This will help to improve keyword search rankings for a webpage.

So, blogs are often one of the most effective methods for website SEO (search engine optimization).

To learn more about what Blogger can do, try this About.com post

Is Google's Blogger worth using for my small business?

So far, I really like using Blogger. It doesn't have as many options as WordPress but it's a little easier to use. Posts, edits and layout changes can be made lightning fast. Aspiring blog writers (or bloggers) should try out the tool first to see if can do what they need (though Blogger should be perfectly adequate for most people).

Though, for most websites I wouldn't recommend Blogger as the primary builder. It's best used as an addition to a website.

Here are some points to consider.

Advantages

It's FREE
Very popular & extremely easy to work with
Considered to be the easiest blog management software available
Integrated with other Google applications, such as Picasa, Google Maps and Google Video
Ideal for frequent blog article writing but can also be used as a regular site
Does not require any knowledge of HTML
VERY Google friendly
Flexible for customizing
Easy to learn
Designed for high visitor traffic (so it will not break down)
Several plugins available
Functions with PayPal
Allows for advanced editing with HTML
Posts/updates can be made via emails. This can be done with cell phone or other mobile device
Lets users upload pictures or videos with ease

Learn more about Blogger's features here.

Disadvantages

Options for developing site navigation are rather limited. This makes blogger a bad option for a primary site
Not as robust as WordPress because it's intended primarily for blog creation and management. However, depending on the needs of the user, Blogger might offer adequate functionality with web page construction.
Does not allow JavaScript editing
Not too many options customization (though this can be a good thing for some users)

Additional Comments

Before beginning, it is strongly recommended that new users review all free tutorials available.

DIY Web Project

2009-09-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

In today's technology dependent world, a good website can function as a primary store front. Why not?

Compared to a physical location for business, it costs less. Often, a website is the most effective approach to finding new customers and interacting with them.

However, building any website takes time: a resource small business owners - like you - simply do not have much of. Your time must be used wisely; efficiently.

So, if you've decided to personally develop your business's online presence and have no technical experience, you’ll most likely invest too much of your precious time to learn what's out there. This means trial and error before finding the right “fit". Even then, you might not choose the best tools for your needs and waste time with software that’s too limited or too complex.

To accelerate the learning curve, we've compiled resources for a few of the popular web tools currently available. We encourage all first-time website builders (or people ready to commission a website) to explore the merits and benefits of each choice of software.

Every tool set in the DIY Web Project has shown to be well supported, commonly used and has received high recommendations from enough sources to warrant investigation.

Below you will find links to websites which discuss the software they were created with. Explore these sites, and you’ll get a sense of their capabilities so you can decide which tool set is right for you.

Basic Website Building Tools

Google Sites - Perhaps the easiest web tools available. Certainly not the most robust but great for creating fast, free and easy sites.

Webnode - An easy to use, free web-based tool set that's a step up from Google Sites: more design options and a slightly steeper learning curve.

Content Management System (CMS)

Joomla! - site under construction

Drupal - site under construction

Blog Management System (BMS)

WordPress - A very popular tool set for blogging that can also be used to create a full webpages.

Google Blogger - A free blog publishing tool from Google for easily sharing your thoughts with the world. Blogger makes it simple to post text, photos and video onto your personal or team blog.

Welcome to the DIY Web Project

2009-09-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

The DIY Web Project (Do It Yourself), presented by The Reger Group, is a network of websites which display examples of some of the most commonly used website building software available.

Each website, in this network, discusses a different tool set and provides an example of its product. The tools are all free or offered at a low-cost and are represented because they are either open-source or just plain easy to learn and use.

Visitors are encouraged to explore this network to see which web tool options could be of benefit to their own projects. Please use this website to help you learn about Blogger

Feedback is welcome!

This project is a continuous work in progress and and can only expand through collaborative effort, so please offer any input you may have. Any personal experience with the software being discussed, or various questions you have, should be posted on the "Feedback" page.

Also, take a moment to check out the other web tools we cover in the DIY Web Project.