Blog tips

Schwetzingen, Germany (photo from trekearth.com)

http://thekingpin68.blogspot.com/2008/06/do-you-have-soul-do-you-have-spirit.html

I have learned much through blogging, and as a child of God, I have much more I can learn.

From:

http://www.rss-specifications.com/10-tips-for-bloggers.htm

In italics:

10 Tips for Bloggers

Tips for creating a blog.

There are no hard and fast rules on how to blog. Having said that, bloggers will likely increase their exposure by following some simple blog guidelines.

Some quick tips from real life experiences for future blog material:

When you are in a charismatic/Pentecostal church and a speaker states that God is telling them such and such, be skeptical.

When a person starts rolling around on the floor in convulsions at a charismatic church evening service, it is time to split, as I did.

When a charismatic pastor claims a wife for you in 2001 and it has not happened by 2008, he was well-meaning, but very likely wrong.

Incense smells really bad and is a negative with Eastern Orthodox Churches.

If two Latter-Days Saints missionaries speak to you on the street in Manchester, since you were late for the Christian church service (again) and decided to go for a walk until the service was over, be sure to know Ephesians (2: 8-10) that we are saved by grace through faith in order to do good works. Also be familiar with Romans, Galatians and James in general terms in regard to grace, faith and works, and do not be surprised if the leader is irritated by the time the session is over and his partner states nothing. The leader stated: ‘I did not come all the way from Utah here to England unless the Mormon faith was true!’ I informed him that I came from Canada to Manchester and I stated it was not true. I noted that we needed to seek Scripture through the guidance of the Holy Spirit to find out if at least one of us was right in our religious faith and philosophy.

1.) Stay on topic.

Opinions are generally accepted but the content of the items in the blog should all relate to a general theme. Unless you have an uncanny knack for wit, humor or cynicism, the majority of your readers will be interested in the content that relates to a specific defined theme or loosely defined area of interest.

I am loose on the subject of staying on topic. Some of my posts have multiple topics in order to attract more readers. I reason I do have some good (hopefully very good for the sake of this blog) satirical abilities and therefore can pull of adding humour to my articles. I do of course desire comments on the topic in the article, but off topic comments are fine. Another issue is if someone wishes to comment on an archived article, very few will read newer comments to that article and so I would appreciate the comments being placed in a newer post with a link to the older post, which I can place in my reply if the commenter does not.

I do not want unfriendly commenters/critics that dump their views on my blog and then will not back them up with reason and evidence. As I have stated before this is like when my German Shepherd Husky, Rebel, having broken out of the backyard would post a parcel on the neighbours yard and then take off quickly after. As a child I vigorously rejected the moral idea of picking up the dog waste. Perhaps I thought it would fertilize the lawn and Rebel was providing a public service.

2.) Stay informative.

If you are attempting to create the impression that you are knowledgeable about a specific industry or sector, be sure that you stay current on news.

Yes, this is a good idea and is why I do not quote the New World Bible Translation of the Scriptures.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/n00.html

New World Translation

Bible "translation" produced by the Jehovah's Witnesses to support their false doctrines.

Finally, a word should be said about the New World Translation by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Due to the sectarian bias of the group, as well as to the lack of genuine biblical scholarship, I believe that the New World Translation is by far the worst translation in English dress. It purports to be word-for-word, and in most cases is slavishly literal to the point of being terrible English. But, ironically, whenever a sacred cow is demolished by the biblical writers themselves, the Jehovah's Witnesses twist the text and resort to an interpretive type of translation. In short, it combines the cons of both worlds, with none of the pros.

Why So Many Versions? and which translation is best? by Daniel B. Wallace, Ph.D. Associate Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

3.) Old news is not news.

While blogging every day can be a drain, it is important that the information presented is current and accurate, writing an article or blurb about something that happened 6 months ago, will not be of interest to many.

This is not always true in Christian studies and philosophy, as some concepts have been discussed for millennia or hundreds of years. Blogs are not primarily in existence to discuss news, but to discuss topics.

4.) Adhere to a schedule.

Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don't create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver.

I have a loose schedule of three to six blog articles per blog each month. The quality of the articles is more important than the quantity of articles.

5.) Clarity and simplicity.

Keep your posts and blog entries clear and easy to understand. Remember, the web is global and expressions, idioms and acronyms don't always translate. Sometimes a little explanation goes a long way..

Yes, and do not use slang and pet names unless it is in the context of your friends, right Mr. Charles Nelson Chucklins and Mr. Bobby Bluff?

6.) Keyword-rich.

If the goal of your blog is to increase your visibility, include related keywords in the title of the blog. Use the title as a headline to attract interest. Each item post should have a title that will attract attention but still be relevant to the post.

The copywriting course I took a few years ago taught me that some non-academic writing needs to appeal primarily to emotions. I try and use copywriting techniques when writing blog article titles.

7.) Quantity matters.

In order to attract the attention of search engines, you will need to develop content and substance. A headline or simple sentence is not going to generate the interest of readers or help with search engine ranking. Be sure to archive old blog posts to develop a large portal of similarly-themed content.

No, do not have any archives in order that any past mistakes you have made on posts or recent changes in views you have made from older articles can be caught by anyone in the public ever.;)

8.) Frequency.

If your blog content is updated frequently, search engines will tend to spider the pages at regular intervals.

Yes, a blog where you post on your birthday and Christmas will probably not do all that well. I will state publicly that I am totally against the idea of any spiders getting into my two blog's inner workings.

9.) Spell checking and proof-reading.

It only takes a few extra moments and can save you from having to make embarrassing explanations. Remember that whatever you publish on the Internet can be found and archived. Think carefully about what you post before doing so.

Spellchucker, what four?

10.) RSS.

RSS will increase your blog's reach. It is important that you include your blog's content in an RSS feed to increase readership and distribution.
Most weblog audiences are small, but with time and regular updates audiences grow.

Both thekingpin68 and satire and theology use this feature, but I tend to find my blog link's new articles through my posted blog lists. I really do not want everyone’s posts always being emailed to me, sorry. I do read them, however. I appreciate some blog links mailed to me at times, very much. Please feel free to email me!