Dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver ahead matey but beware of pirates.

If you're in J-School at Towson University, you've used Dreamweaver. This program allows you to build web pages.

Embedding web content greatly advances your blog. If you're off campus and can't use the labs, .you can skip student loans and take a torrent.

Torrents run on a system similar to LimeWire, a file-sharing network. Torrent programs allow users to download music, movies, games, applications and more. Some programs charge you, others give users (free)dom of information. Most torrent files include instructions and keys.

Download the software, disable the internet connection, copy the files, generate the key, question ethics one last time and complete the installation.

Google Maps

Easy. Google search maps. (Ctrl + V) Paste code into blog post like you would for a picture or video. Google lets you adjust the size of the map but you can also Edit Html and change the px number values to fit. 500 width by 500 Height works well.

This is a cumulative listing of crime in Columbia for 2009. Commercial crimes are green, residential are red and vehicle thefts are blue.

View Larger Map

Use Google maps to visually link readers to the written content. The pinpoints you see can be modified to display thumbnails of the points or a text box or both. Create color borders, plot routes and directions and destinations.
Play with it.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization. Sounds fast, right? Google can find the answer to most queries in the time it takes you to read this sentence. Finding the exact answer to an exact query make take more time however.

Here's what you need to know. SEO is good for your blog because it helps readers and seekers find you and it makes you feel more important, because you are. It all starts with the question; how does Google search?

Google searches by page rank. Every page on the internet has a rank. That rank can fluctuate based on three factors. First Google ranks your blog by how many pages link to it. Then Google looks at the page rank of the pages that link to your blog. The higher the rank the better. Finally, Google measures linking pages' rank by how many links each page contains. More links means a lower ranking.

So how do you improve your SEO? Here are five tips to get you started . . . in the right direction.
First, look at your post headlines. They act as pseudo search queries. I written a post for my blog about Athar Habib, a highly recognizable person in Howard County. In the headline, I write Athar Habib because Google not only searches for the words Athar Habib, Google searches for the precise ordering of the words as Athar Habib. Write precise and short headlines.

Next, link in to the conversation. Remember your blog roll? Use it as a diving board to jump into the pool of links. Link your blog to relevant pages and readers & get them to link to you as well. This is accomplished by hard work and dedication. Columbia Blog Project has a great SEO because I work hard to bring quality content to readers on a daily basis. This doesn't mean you have to post daily but every post should be well written and crafted for readers.

Now that you're publishing quality content to a readership, those readers will tell other readers about your blog. For the same reason you might tell your friends about a great band, readers of blogs will tell other readers about a great new blog, its human nature. If you think about getting the word out like posting fliers, you want to post fliers in places with high volume traffic. The internet equivalent of shopping malls, schools and other social institutions are social networking sites and aggregators.

Analyzing your analytics can also improve your SEO. I check my analytics daily with statcounter. Among the analysis tools at my disposal is recent page activity. Everytime an IP address (computer screen) projects my page, I can see the path the person using that IP address took to reach my page. According to my analytics, the majority of my readers use Google to find me. The analytics also tell me what keywords readers are searching for to find my posts. This information allows me to insert more precise keywords into my posts.

Finally I label each post with precise keywords. At the bottom of the post composition window is an empty bar. I like to insert multiple keywords into the bar before I click save or publish. I've made it a habit and I suggest you do the same.

Layout

The layout of your blog is important. The layout is literally the first thing readers will see when they come to your page. The goal of the layout is to present your posts to readers as quickly and simply as possible.

The template is the most important part of the layout. Blogger offers several templates and styles. My advice is to pick a simple template like minima, minima lefty or simple II. If you've ever created a powerpoint presentation, you'll know that the best presentations are the simplest. Flashy animations and eclectic patterns distract the reader from reading your posts.

Color scheme is also important. Some blogs have white text with black backgrounds, others use drab colors with bright text. My blog, Columbia Blog Project uses black text on a white background. Why black on white, why so simple? First off, complimentary colors strain the eyes and shorten the attention span. Look at any online newspaper site, black on white.

Finally look at fonts and colors. Headline text should be bright and attention grabbing, as should link text. When choosing link colors, take care not to make the link or visited link colors too dark or too similar, otherwise readers may skip over them. Try to limit your color scheme to three colors.

Aggregators

What's an aggregate? In short it's a website that compiles lists of blogs by subject, giving readers more choices. For example, I write a blog about Columbia, MD. In order to reach out to readers who may not find me through Google or a referring link, I've added my blog to the list on hocoblogs.

Adding your blog to an aggregate site increases your traffic. Most aggregate sites rank blogs by the time of the most recent post. If you publish a post at 8 a.m., before the morning rush, your blog will be ranked somewhere at the top of the list. Chances are good that readers will scan the top five or six blogs on any given list, so positioning your blog within that list becomes important.

Also remember that there are three main ways readers find blogs on the internet. The first is through a referral. Blogger readers may find your blog through the blog roll of a fellow blogger. That's why its important to put yourself out there and build relationships with other bloggers.

Next, readers find your blog through search engines like Google. More often than not, readers type keywords into their search queries rather than the name of a blog or specific post. Hence the importance of Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. Finally, readers will access aggregate sites or simply look up your blog's url. Remember the more you put yourself out there, the easier it will be for readers to find you.

AP Style

The Associated Press Stylebook is an invaluable text for journalists. Its a good habit to flip through the pages regularly. I keep my copy next to the toilet paper roll. If you own a copy; mark, highlight or dog-ear pages.

Blog posts should encourage reader comments. Keep in mind however that you don't want readers commenting on your posts because they've found errors. After searching the book, I've come up with my list of 10 commonly used rules followed by their page numbers.

Addresses: Abbreviate Ave., Blvd, and St. only with a numbered address. Spell out and capitalize addresses without numbers. Always use figures for addresses and spell out first through ninth. Use figures for 10th and above. (6)

Age: Use figures for people or animals but spell out ages for inanimate objects. Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives, before a noun or as a substitute for a noun. (9)

Directions: Lowercase north, south, east and west as directions. Capitalize as regions. (73)

It's, Its: It's is a contraction for it is or it has.
Its is the possessive form of the neuter pronoun. (127)

Months: Capitalize months of the year in all uses. When used with a date, only abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. (159)

Numerals: Spell out a numeral at the beginning of a sentence, with the exception of calendar years. Spell out numerals one through nine and use figures for 10-999. (172-173)

Obscenities: Do not use in stories unless part of a direct quote, with a compelling reason. If a full quote that contains obscenities cannot be dropped, but there is no compelling reason for the obscenity, replace all letters except the first with hyphens. (174)

Quotations in news: Never alter quotations even to correct a minor grammatical error or word usage. Do not use substandard spellings such as gonna or wanna unless the quote is for a feature. (203)

Route numbers: Do not abbreviate route. Use figures and capitalize route when used with a figure. (215)

States: Eight states are never abbreviated. Spell out Hawaii and Alaska because they are not part of the contiguous United States. Spell out states with five letters or fewer: Iowa, Idaho, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Utah.

If you still need help double checking your style, Tim Harrower of Inside Reporting has created a list of free online quizzes to test your knowledge of the AP Stylebook.

Links

Easy. See the chain link icon?
If you don't have a new tab open, do so now.
Locate the page you want to link.
Copy the http code of the site. Click (Ctrl + C).
Highlight this text with the mouse.
Click the link icon between Text Color and Align Left.
Click (Ctrl + V) in the window.
Click anywhere, or here to see it again.

Links help the blogger build relationships on the internet. Link to a blog post you Googled.
Click & link a picture to allow your readers to magnify it. A blog roll will let you link your readers to other blogs and pages in your niche.

Leaving comments is the best way to receive comments. Your comments link to your blogger profile and your blog. Want free advertising? Talk to people, they are invaluable source of information. Apply for Google Adsense, it can generate a valuable source of revenue!

[Was this post helpful? Tell me what you think, leave a comment or a link. This post is for educational . . . purposes. I wasn't trying to rhyme words, but when I realized it, I went with it.
This post was designed to show you how to insert a link.]

[If you can write this shorter, simpler or more concise, email me a copy and I will display your rehash in a post and link to you!]