Booknet Canada

Blogs

Introduction

Blogs are often held up as the poster children of online media. Easy to create, share and collaborate on, blogs are an excellent gateway to the benefits of online marketing.

Blogs employ information-sharing tools that open lines of communication between the author and readers. The dynamic, collaborative, and participatory nature of blogs allows for the easy and extensive transfer of information to large communities.

Blogs are easy to create, but keeping them updated requires a consistent and ongoing commitment. That being said, blogs are a faster and simpler way to publish marketing content than email newsletters, which require composition, layout in HTML, setup in list management programs, and distribution scheduling. Free blog platforms such as WordPress, TypePad and Blogger allow you to rapidly compose, broadcast, and manage your content.

Blogs for Book Publishing

A blog can be a great way to communicate with your readers whether you’re an author, a bookseller, or a publisher.

Blogs provide rapidly updated information to a vast, interconnected expanse of readers. By using permalinks, comments, and trackbacks, bloggers can link to each other and increase their readership. RSS feeds allow bloggers to provide constant updates to their subscribers, keeping them connected and engaged on a more active and intimate level. There are many ways to evaluate the success of a blog, including Google Analytics, Technorati, and FeedBurner, which will be covered in this how-to guide.

When you’re planning to start a blog, don’t think of it as part of a short-term marketing plan. Blogs are a long-term commitment if you want them to be successful. That way, you’ll build a network of loyal readers who engage with your content.

Setting Up Your Blog

Setting up a blog is quick and easy. There are various blogging platforms available, but how do you know what to choose?

In the blogosphere, there are three tiers of blogs:

1. Beginner

   There are some great free and easy-to-use blogging platforms like Blogger and Posterous that are appropriate for beginners and casual bloggers. These platforms offer:

   • A user-friendly and intuitive way to start blogging.
   • Free hosting, but that means you’re going to end up with a URL like example.blogspot.com instead of example.com.
   • WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors so you don’t need to know how to write HTML to make your blog posts pretty. Some elements of the HTML code can also be tweaked, but not all.
   • Automatic permalinks that are usually based on the title of the post.
   • Templates that make design easy.
2. Intermediate

   Intermediate blogging platforms are stepping stones to more advanced platforms. Often, these blogs are the little siblings of more advanced blogging platforms. For example, WordPress.com is tied to WordPress.org and TypePad is tied to Movable Type. Intermediate blogs offer:

   • Free hosting, like with beginner blogs.
   • More customization options than beginner blogs through HTML and CSS, but not as much as advanced blogs.
   • Usually do not allow advertisements.
3. Advanced

   Advanced blogging platforms like WordPress.org and Movable Type are those that offer the most flexibility and customization options. While they require a bit more technical knowledge, they also look the most professional if the blog is going to be connected to your corporate brand. Advanced blogging platforms offer:

   • Hosting wherever you choose
   • Complete control over the look and feel of your blog
   • Extended functionality since you can use many different tools on your blog

Choose the blog that’s right for you, whether it’s Blogger, Posterous, WordPress.com, TypePad, WordPress.org, or Movable Type. Each website has detailed instructions on how to set up a blog that makes it quick and easy for you to jump into blogging.

Blogging Tools

There are a few tools that can help you and your readers get the most out of your blog.

Permalinks

Permalinks are links that lead to individual blog entries.

Permalinks reference and archive past entries on the front page, providing blogs with dimension and history, and preserve information that might otherwise be buried.

• Permalinks are usually found by clicking on the blog title or on a link that says “permalink.”
• Permalinks vary based on the blogging platform you use: some platforms let you choose the way permalinks are set up while others set them up automatically for you.
• If you can choose the appearance of your permalinks, you’ll probably have four options. Normally, these will be:
• Default: http://www.booknetcanada.ca/?p=123
• Date and name: http://www.booknetcanada.ca/2009/12/01/sample-post/
• Numeric: http://www.booknetcanada.ca/archives/123
• Custom: you specify the structure. For example, putting /%postname%/ in will result in permalinks that are specified by post name only (http://www.booknetcanada.ca/sample-post/)

Comments

Comments are the feedback that readers leave in response to a blogger’s post.

By allowing your readers to comment on your blog, you create a line of public communication that you normally don’t have over your website. Often, the dialogue that happens in the comments section of a blog ends up being more interesting than the post itself. The comment feature strengthens relations between the blogger, commenter, and general readership.

• Keep comments open, but feel free to turn them off if things get out of hand.
• You can moderate your comments, which means that a comment will need your approval before it gets posted to your blog.
• Monitor your comments and reply to them – show your readers that their comments matter to you.
• Be transparent in your replies. It’s the Internet so the information is out there anyway – it’s better if the truth comes from you instead of someone else.

Trackbacks

Trackbacks are two-way links between websites. By initiating a trackback, you are actively creating relationships with other bloggers and creating paths for interested readers.

Trackbacks show when websites are referencing one another. If a blogger posts a link from another site, their blogging program will notify the other site of the posted link. The other site will then display an excerpt of the entry with the posted link, along with a link back to the post on the blogger’s site.

Enabling Trackbacks

• Enabling trackbacks is an easy option with your blogging software. In WordPress, for example, you’ll find a checkbox beside “Allow link notifications from other Weblogs (pingbacks and trackbacks.)” under Options -> Discussion.
• You can also allow trackbacks on a post-by-post basis. In WordPress, this is done through the “Allow Pings” option in the Discussion box.

Sending Trackbacks

• Find the trackback URL and copy it. It’s usually between the content and comments, and will either appear as a plain text link or as a link that says “trackback.”
• Write a post on your blog that references the blog post you want to send a trackback to.
• Before publishing the post, paste the trackback URL in the “Send trackbacks to” box, which is usually found in an advanced editing section.

RSS

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows your readers to subscribe to your blog. Readers will receive a notification every time your blog is updated, so they’ll be up-to-date on your posts.

Add an RSS button to your blog so that your readers can subscribe – stay in their sights and they’ll be more likely to engage with you and share your posts with others.

• Adding feed buttons is as easy as adding a line of code to your blog. Search online for the button you want to add and you’ll find the code you need.
• Try Feedburner to create feeds and keep track of readers who are subscribing to your blog.

Sharing

Adding a share button is as simple as adding a line of code, but drastically expands your reach and helps you find new readers.

Share buttons make it easy for your readers to share your blog posts with their online networks. You can add a generic ShareThis button that lets the reader choose what platform they want to share it on, or you can highlight specific platforms by using specific buttons for Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Technorati, etc.

• Just like adding an RSS button, the codes for share buttons are available online.
• ShareThis is an example that lets you pick the type of button you want and the platform you have, and it will generate the code you need with a few clicks.

Evaluating Your Success

There are a lot of tools available that can help you evaluate the success of your blog. Here are a few:

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a website analytics program that provides detailed statistics using metrics like:

• Page views
• Visitors
• Visitor content contribution
• Bounce rates
• Repeat visitors
• Referring blogs and search engines
• Most popular blog content

For more information on Google Analytics, please refer to the How to: Google Tools section of this website.

Technorati (http://www.technorati.com)

Technorati is one of the largest blog search engines. It indexes the web and provides regularly updated blog data and rankings.

Technorati Authority measures a blog’s influence online. Each blog will be given a rank between 0 and 1000, with 1000 being the highest possible authority. The calculation is based on linking behavior and categorization over a short period of time. The short time period helps you understand how your authority can quickly change depending on topics that are trending at that time.

• Sign up for Technorati and create a profile to get yourself in the Technorati directory.
• Use Technorati to keep tabs on your online visibility and that of your competition.
• Try Technorati Mini. This desktop widget updates every minute so you know what’s happening on your favourite blogs.

FeedBurner StandardStats (http://www.feedburner.com)

FeedBurner is an easy way to let your readers subscribe to your blog, but it also comes with useful stats such as number of daily feed subscribers, average subscribers over time, popular feed items, which feed readers subscribers are using, and which search engines are crawling your RSS feed.

• FeedBurner provides step-by-step instructions, but basically once you create a feed your stats will already be set up.
• Google bought FeedBurner and now your FeedBurner stats will show up in Google Analytics.
• FeedStats Pro used to be a for-pay service that provided additional useful stats such as reach and item views, but now it’s available for free! Turn it on under Analyze tab -> Services -> Feedburner Stats Pro.

Case Studies

Bookseller Blog: Words Worth Books

• This bookstore has four blogs: How to Furnish a Room, Words Worth Books Book Club, Raymond Chandler Drank Here, and Edge of Seventeen.
• Each blog serves a particular niche. Instead of trying to do too much with one blog, they’ve broken it down to serve everyone better.
• How to Furnish a Room was their first blog and is mostly about events and new stock, but also covers a mishmash of things the employees want to share.
• Words Worth Books Book Club is about everything to do with their book club: meetings, book information, interviews, etc.
• Raymond Chandler Drank Here is a mystery-only book club.
• Edge of Seventeen is devoted to teen titles – whether the reader is a teen or not – and is primarily made up of reviews and interviews.
• All of the blogs are updated frequently, keeping the readers engaged and bringing them into the store to find the books that are highlighted on the blogs.
• Comments are open and create a conversation. For example, on Edge of Seventeen the majority of the posts each have comments from at least 5 different readers.
• The blogs are personal. Pictures of the employees appear frequently and personal contact information is provided – readers are even encouraged to email and ask for specific recommendations.
• Information about events and promotions gets out to a wide audience.
• Digital hand selling: These blogs are a great example of how an indie bookstore can do what they do best while shifting with technology and the way their customers shop.

Publisher Blog: New Society Publishers

• New Society aims to publish books that contribute to an ecologically sustainable and just society and their blog WORD OUT! The Blog to Build a New Society reflects this mission.
• Posts are about topical environmental news, but the editor is fantastic at tying stories to New Society’s titles, recommending and linking to their books in the process.
• Events and promotions are included to generate interest.
• Posts are categorized for quick access to archives.
• Share buttons are included at the bottom of each post, making it easy for their readers to spread their content to other networks.

Reader Blog: Advent Books Blog

Author Blog: kc dyer

• Leftwriter is Canadian author kc dyer’s blog.
• She blogs about her life, travels, books, opinions, and things that have caught her interest.
• Comments are enabled and she reads and responds to feedback.
• Upcoming events and appearances are listed, so readers know where to find her on book tours.
• A list of her books is provided, including information about books in progress as a teaser.
• This blog is run on Blogger, which is a great platform for authors who are new to blogging since it’s very straightforward to use.

Tips

• Find the right blogging platform for your needs and skill level, whether it’s a beginner, intermediate, or advanced blog.
• Post frequently and don’t be afraid to write about more than just your books, but make sure your content fits with the overall feel of your blog.
• Use your blog to drive book sales: recommend books and link to places to buy your books.
• Make it easy for your readers to participate: enable comments and reply to them, have contests, and ask for feedback.
• Reply to comments to keep the conversation going.
• Be transparent – a blog is not the place to hide behind a corporate logo.
• Use tools to get the most out of your blog and evaluate its success.

Resources

Blogs With Hosting

• Blogger
• Posterous
• Tumblr
• TypePad
• WordPress.com

Blogs Requiring Hosting

• Movable Type
• WordPress.org