Blogging For Dummies

by Susannah Gardner

Everybody's doing it! And while that logic never got far with your mother, it's a fine reason to start blogging, especially if you have a business to build or a cause to promote. Well-run blogs do more than offer an outlet for your thoughts. They've actually influenced everything from a company's image to the outcome of a local election. Because the blogosphere is pretty crowded, it's a good idea to find out a bit about the anatomy of a blog, what makes a good one, and what it takes to keep one going before you dive right in and start sharing with the world. Blogging For Dummies, 2nd Edition gives you all the basics so you can get a good start. And if you've been around the blog a few times and want to advance to the next level, Blogging For Dummies, 2nd Edition even takes a look at podcasting and videoblogging.

You'll find out how to:


Make your blog stand out in a crowd, build an audience, and even make it pay Choose the best software options, boost readership, and handle comments Generate revenue from your blog with ads and sponsorships Protect your privacy and your job Deal with spam and the inappropriate comments from that guy who posts several times a day Find your niche Attract and keep readers Use your blog to promote your business, cause, or organization Add audio, video, cool widgets, and more Ready? Get Blogging for Dummies and let's get started!

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Business, Reference, Ebooks, Computers, Self Help

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Rebecca Scaglione · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started blogging on July 9, my husband thought it would be a nice idea to get me a few blogging books. I read about half of Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley, put it down, and then picked it back up again a week ago to finish the book.

I literally read this book from cover to cover. I had never read a Dummies book before, but I have been missing out!

Blogging for Dummies was filled with great facts for any person out there who is starting or working on a blog. Even bloggers who have been at it for a while would benefit from some of the information involved.

Some of the things I learned were. . .

Web hosting and creating my own domain name
How to use a Blogger, WordPress or Tumblr blog
Commenting – basically anything you can think of including blocking spam
Podcasting, using photos, using video
Advertising on the blog
Statistics and analytics
Promoting the blog

I ended up with sticky notes all over this book that contained great tidbits of information I can add to my blog to make it better, as well as software, plug-ins, applications, and other blogs I can use as resources.

If you’re interested in starting a blog or have one and want to make it better, check out Blogging for Dummies!

What is one of your favorite blogs or websites? It doesn’t have to be book related!

Thanks for reading,

Rebecca @ Love at First Book

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick review for a quick read. Yeah, I picked this up on a random trip to the library and ended up reading it in a sitting earlier today. It's a very general introduction to getting your bearings with blogging - from finding hosts to figuring out what content you want to blog about, to general netiquette and finding a following. I didn't really learn anything new from it, but it was a good refresher. I liked the organization of the text and how easy it was to get pointers for each of the topics as well as follow along with some screens across different platforms. I use Wordpress.com for my book blog (and as of February 2014, I've celebrated seven years of it being up, though the content has changed quite a bit from where it started).

Overall, I thought it was helpful and I think beginners will find it useful to at least get themselves oriented around blogging and knowing what general things to do with maintaining it once they start.

Overall score: 3/5 stars.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always dismissed For Dummies as a literary franchise gimmick, a collection of self-help books with minimal substantive content and hasty research wrapped in a catchy made-to-order brand name. My apologies for so assuming, at least in the case of Blogging for Dummies.

This is the first For Dummies book I committed to reading in-depth. As an amateur blogger with dreams of going pro, I figured this would be a harmless attempt to up my game. It is that. But I also found Blogging for Dummies to be full of practical advice and worthwhile discussion of blogging ethics. My only gripe is that there are many typos. These didn’t ruin my reading experience, but copy editing on this edition should have been more thorough.

The book is divided into broad sections which subdivide into content-specific chapters. You can jump around and skip to topics of particular interest. For example, I only skimmed chapters on podcasts. However, this might be the very chapter you want to jump to. Best of all, this book fit nicely into my lifestyle. I was able to digest much of it in short 15-30 minute reading sessions, with a few longer weekend sessions (including one where I held the book in my lap and explored the many successful blogs the authors cite).

I’ve been blogging seriously for about a year. I have the writing ability but the technical aspects don’t come naturally. Blogging for Dummies helped me become conversant in the broader skill set needed to blog well. It also gave specific suggestion on how to plan my blogging future. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to improve their blogging habits, as well as for folks who are starting out.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being in general very fond of the Dummies series [1], it is little surprise that I would want to read about an activity I am involved with on a regular basis.  This book does a good job at discussing various logistical matters of blogging and those who follow its clear and sound principles will do well.  Admittedly, and not surprisingly, this book is aimed at not only those who are personal bloggers like myself but aimed at those who have careerist ambitions and who want to integrate more photos and sound and video material in their blogs than I have tended to do.  Likewise, the book also has a lot to say about those who are interested in writing a great deal of code and involving themselves in the structure of their blog in a way that I simply have little to no interest in.  Still, if you want to set up a blog and you need some kind of guidance as to what this involves, including plenty of discussion about the repercussions of writing personal things on the internet where other people are likely to read them and may not be fond of what you have to say, this book is certainly a wise read.  As is frequently the case, it is those people who do not want to be dummies that take advantage of the wise counsel that books like this provide.

This book is a large one at nearly 400 pages and it is divided into seven parts and 23 chapters.  The book begins with an introduction about blogging and its history.  After that the first part of the book explores how to get started with blogging (I), namely through discovering the basics about blogs (1), entering the blogosphere by figuring out what to title one's blog and what sort of material one wants to write (2), and then choosing and hosting blog software (3).  The author then discusses setting up blogs (II), which mostly involves a discussion of the comparison between Blogger (4), WordPress (5), Squarespace (6), and other platforms (7).  The author then discusses the important matters of fitting in and feeling good (III) through finding one's niche (8), creating great content (9), building community with comments (10), and blogging anonymously (11).  The author then discusses going beyond words (IV) by working with photos (12), starting a podcast (13), vlogging (14), and then adding forums for even more community involvement (15).  After that the author discusses marketing and promotion (V) through making the blog easy to find (16), getting to know social networking (17), joining the big four social networks like Facebook and Twitter (18), and measuring blog presence (19).  The author then discusses how to make money from a blog (VI) through various means (20), as well as blogging for companies (21).  The book then ends with the usual part of tens (VII), including ten ways to grow community (22) and ten things all bloggers should do (23), after which there is an index.

The fact that this book has gone into at least seven editions (this review is for the 7th edition) suggests the way that blogging has changed over the course of the last 25 years or so since it began in the early days of the Worldwide Web.  Given the frequency of changes and the ease of bandwidth and the ever-elusive search on the part of content creators for a decent living, it is certain that there will be more changes in the years yet to come, and so there will likely be more volumes of this particular book for later readers to enjoy.  If you think that you have something to say, are willing to be known for who you are, and have some idea of whether you are willing to add materials that would attract readers and structure your posts and develop a community of readers, this book will certainly be useful.  Even for those of us who have blogged for quite a few years may find much to think about, as I may eventually add a forum to my blog to allow for more conversation between readers if there is interest in such a thing.  Even old dogs can learn a few new tricks about blogging from a book like this one.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2019...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2019...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2020...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2020...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2020...

[Richard Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright, I admit that I didn’t actually “read” this book from cover to cover — I skimmed some parts. I am interested in possibly starting a blog, but I’m not thinking in terms of a commercial venture at this point so I pretty much skipped the section. I can been seeing references to Twitter (on the movie review show for example) and had no idea what it involved, and that section did fill in some of the blanks. I skimmed the parts about how to actually do it. The book did give me lots of ideas of directions to explore, pointed out some basic things to keep in mind when and if I venture out into the blogosphere and alerted me to things that I might need to refer back to later (not quite ready for video yet, but a year from now???) A lot of the information and example are in the form of screen shots from sample blogs but in most cases the text in those is too small for my middle aged eyes — even with my drug store reading glasses on. I suspect I will be back. Note to self: check out www.hopstudios.com and www.leftrightminds.com

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have wanted to start a blog for over one year. My biggest fear was not being tech savvy and numerous other insecurities. I found this text to be a fast read with valuable resources. I created a checklist for myself as I read. A link was provided to an online cheat sheet, but I never had any luck with it; hence four stars.

[Patrick Riddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first "For Dummies" book that I have read and would say that it lives up to its title. I have been blogging for almost six months and already knew most of what the book talked about.

I would recommend the book to anyone new to blogging. It will give you the ABC's to get you started and a good base of references to get you on the right track.

[Krissy Mayse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was simple enough that I could use to train people how to blog and helped me with a few trainings by conference call. I will use again in the future to help me create "user friendly" instructions for the folks that I train to use blogs for marketing.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of good information in this book, as with any other "for Dummies" book I've read. Unfortunately, since the topic is web-based, some of the examples were out of date. Still, they were only examples and the ideas behind them were valid.

[Karen & Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very helpful for anyone who wants to start blogging or who desires to learn more and improve their blog or get more traffic to their site. I recommend it.

[Marvelle Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful book but probably easier and faster just to jump in and create a blog. It is pretty self-explanatory.

[David Sarkies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your Own Piece of the Internet
20 June 2014

Sometimes I am a little hesitant reading a book with the words 'for Dummies' or 'complete idiots guide to' in the title because it makes me feel like, well, a complete idiot. It is probably because I like to think of myself as intelligent and take offence at being called otherwise. However, sometimes the most intelligent thing to do is to admit that you don't know anything and then go and learn about it. So, after a couple of people suggested that I start up a blog I decided to grab what appeared to be the simplest, most straight forward, and most exhaustive book on blogging available. As it turned out, this was the book (and the fact that I borrowed it from the library also helped).

Now, when I suggested to somebody that I did not want to start a blog until I read up on it they thought I was, well, an idiot because as far as they were concerned you didn't need to read a book to learn how to blog: you simply went ahead an did it. However, as I said previously, sometimes the most intelligent thing to do is to admit that you know absolutely nothing and then go out and learn how to do it, and in a way I am glad that I did.

So, what did I learn from this book? Well, most importantly there is this idea called bandwidth stealing, and it is something that I suspect goes on a little too much on Goodreads. The reason I say that is because bandwidth stealing is where you embed something (usually a picture) onto your website from somebody else's website. Now, when it comes to pictures on Goodreads, it seems that you are only able to embed the picture from outside of the site, and as such it makes it difficult, especially if you do not have a website to store pictures, not to steal bandwidth. Videos are not a problem because Youtube allows you to embed the videos from their site (they even provide you with the code to embed the videos) but pictures, it appears, are a little trickier.

The other interesting thing is copyright. Okay, we all know (or I hope we all know) that we are not supposed to plagiarise, that is copy somebody's work word for word and pass it off as your own. Sometimes it can be pretty blatant, other times, especially if the work that you are plagiarising is not that well known, not so much. Then there are pictures. Sometimes I wonder how many of us are actually sourcing the pictures that we are using, and whether we are taking care to note whether they are protected by copyright, or whether they are available in the commons (and even giving credit where credit is due). I am sure that a number of the pictures that I use aren't available as such, so I am now checking the pictures before posting them (as well as attempting to find a site from which to embed them from).

Another thing that I have learnt is about advertising. While it is a great way to make extra money from your blog, it won't make you incredibly wealthy, or even financially independent. You need to go further than that (such as selling your ability to write and create blogs). However, you do need to be careful, since the whole idea of creating a successful blog is to create great content to generate traffic (which you then sell to advertisers), because if you don't sell advertising correctly (such as selling text links without hiding them from the Google search engine) it could have an adverse effect upon your blog. The idea of increasing your Google search rankings involves having links coming into your webpage, but if you sell these links, and Google catches you, then they could end up blacklisting you (namely because it artificially inflates your rankings, and it appears, at least at the time, Google did not want the search rankings to be defined by the size of the owner's wallet).

Now, as for blogs. Well, I am sure we all know what blogs are so I probably don't need to go into any detail. However what I have discovered is how pervasive they really are. In a sense you can divide the internet into two basic sections, and that is the commercial web and the social web, and in many cases the two intersect (for instance where a business sets up a blog to generate extra revenue). The way I see it though, if the website is not entirely focused on selling stuff, such as:



or:



then it is part of the social media. There are probably some sites that you are quite familiar with, such as:



and of course:



which are websites that are pretty much dedicated to the social media, though Facebook seems to be all encompassing while Goodreads is primarily focused on reading books. However, both of these sites are blogs in their own way. As a side note, there was an entire section (or minibook) on Twitter, which made me wonder what it's use actually was, considering Facebook does everything that Twitter does, only better. In fact Twitter simply seems to be restricted to status updates, whereas Facebook is so much more. Still, people use it, and use it a lot, so maybe there is some use in it (and it also seems to be growing as well).

Blogs, though, seem to exist in a world of their own, in that they can be about almost anything. What probably makes blogs better than Facebook is that you have a lot more control over presentations (meaning you don't get these sudden changes by the website that everybody hates – such as the dreaded timeline), and you don't need to sign in to be able to read the content. In a way a blog, to me, seems to be what the old printed media was, this time with much, much lower barriers to entry (meaning that you don't need to print hundreds of thousands of copies to be able to reach a large readership). It is not just the development of the internet as a whole, but the development of the blog, that has brought about the death knell of the traditional newspapers. Just take a look at the price range of Fairfax Media over the last ten years to see the impact on a traditional newspaper company. Even though they have created websites they still struggle to survive, and even though they encircle their sites with paywalls, people simply do not want to pay for something that they can get for free.

The web has also given voices to people who originally did not have as much of a voice. The traditional newspapers tend to be right-wing in origin, and only socialists standing on street corners attempting to flog off their own interpretation of current events (and I must admit that their ability to write a newspaper does have a lot to be desired – even though they simply happen to be preaching to the converted) were able to counter that. However, with the development of the internet we suddenly have the centre left The Guardian creating a presence in Australia, as well as The Australian Independent Media Network. It is not just in Australia, because in England we have Another Angry Voice and in the United States we have I Acknowledge, and these are just a handful of left wing political blogs that I have discovered.

However, you may be thinking that blogs are all about politics, media, and current events, when in reality they are much, much more than that. In fact blogs can be about absolutely anything. For instance we have blogs about knitting, gardening, and even basketweaving. So, when it comes to starting up a blog, your imagination is pretty much the limit (though don't expect to become an overnight sensation because you will be up against some stiff competition, especially considering that are over 50 gardening blogs out there, if the search result 'top 50 gardening blogs' is anything to go by).

[Lino Matteo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blogging to Increase Your Smarts

Or

Blogging for Dummies, 6th Edition
by Amy Lupold Bair

First off if you have never blogged and you want to start this is a good book for that. If you have blogged and have read up on blogging but want to hone your knowledge this is still a good book for that. I had read up on blogging and been doing it for a while and so did some pick and choose reading.
Don’t get me wrong. I like Dummies books. Like their format; their simple and straightforward writing style; the depth that they cover most topics - and this book does not disappoint.
Some issues to consider:
Why do you want to blog?
What story, passion or viewpoint do you wish to convey?
Are you ready to do it consistently, accept the criticism and learn and prosper?
My advice is if you want to blog and you want to do it consistently, then you should choose a topic(s) that interest you. Yes you should consider your readers as well, but you should be your foremost reader and critic - so choose wisely.
The following questions, which I have slightly modified (page 30), should help you start to sketch out your intent...
What level of commitment are you willing to make to blogging?
Do you like writing? How is your typing?
What will the blog be about? Will it enhance you personally or professionally? Or both?
Do you think your blog might:
Grow into a new career
Lead to new clients and projects
Build connections with peers and colleagues
How comfortable are you with sharing information about yourself or about your business?
Are you ready for criticism or worse indifference?
I am using Wordpress for my blog so I focused my reading on the sections that concerned it. The book suggest that Wordpress users may want to check out:
Wordpress for Dummies, 7th Edition by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Wordpress Community https://wordpress.org/support/
Before you Blog, you may want to consider tweeting, as it is:
Faster
Shorter
Easier
Can you send out three of your own tweets for 30 days? If yes, and you like it, you are ready to blog!
Find other blogs that you like and tweet about them - see page 154
A great way of knowing your audience is by finding your ‘competitors’ or other people in your selected niche - we think they can be or become allies - Twitter is a good way to do this but you can also use your preferred SM. Twitter is good because you can see who is following and who they follow - that can lead to invaluable insights.
How often to blog is another frequent issue or concern. And it is a good one. There is no right answer, but once you pick a schedule, stick to it! I did a 100 day challenge after 3 months of blogging around. I then decided to do a 365 day challenge (for 2021)….not sure what next year will bring, but one campaign at a time!
Some questions to ask yourself:
How frequently to blog
What time to publish blog posts
The length of the blog posts
When to link to outside sites
When to get off topic
Use of multimedia
Posts that get traction - ie comments, likes, shares…
Writing style
These are issues that you should be considering when researching other blogs and people in your space/niche


Lino Matteo ©™
Twitter @Lino_Matteo
https://linomatteo.wordpress.com/2021...

[Gregory Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A competent explanation of both the technical and social aspects of blogging, including making your blog known, interacting with readers, and whether to blog anonymously. As a result of reading most of this book, I am now convinced I do not have the time and mentality to maintain a blog at this stage of my life. Like all the "for Dummies" books, this is not really for dummies but for the generally intelligent reader who knows nothing about the subject.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative and effective at lowering the first obstacles to starting a blog (Self-doubt, F.E.A.R. (Foreboding exceeding actual reality). Listened to an Audible Edition that predates the rise of Tik-Tok, so some advices are now out of date. I imagine later editions will not only make the necessary updates, but will also offer insights of managing and arranging multiple platforms. It is heavily focused on monetizing your blog, which is fine, but diving more deeply into passion-rooted blogs would have been appreciated.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough coverage of topics related to blogging, especially for beginning bloggers. Have been considering starting a blog and this information led me to forego this experiment. Not because anything was especially daunting, but rather due to the advice on frequency of posts and ways to spice things up. Recommend it though to those contemplating a blogging project.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had a blog for a few years now, and while much of the information in this book is fairly basic, it was helpful to see it all laid out so clearly. I wish I'd read it before I started blogging, but even now, I came away with a few new ideas to implement. I did wish there was a bit more information on SEO, but it at least outlined the basics. I'm sure there's a blog somewhere that goes deeper.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basics for opening and making a blog. Goes over the basics for Blogspot, Wordpress, and other blogging platforms. Also touches on social media platforms to use with your blog such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more.

[Norla Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really read the whole book. Decided after the first three chapters blogging is not for me. Too time consuming and too public, without beinng able to remove from the web. It lasts beyond a lifetime.

[MK · Rating 2 out of 5]

For those who are new to blogging, the text-only explanations in this book may be difficult to understand.
I think it would be quicker to find a YouTube video called ”How to Start a Blog” and actually do it yourself.

[Jenazepol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid review. Nothing too surprising, but it covers everything, and easy to skip chapters if you already know the information to find what you don't know.

[Free PDFs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think you can have a better understanding after reading this books
https://freepdfslibrary.blogspot.com/...

[Abilio Pacheco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but something is missing

[Lorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a very basic beginner book to blogging. If you're new and don't have technology skills, it's a good read. Otherwise, you may find this too simple.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of good detailed information

[Donna]

My interest timed out on this one. #DNF

[Andrew Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good starting point for those who are interested in blogging. Plenty of helpful tips and resources given.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, now l just have to think what l want to blog about !!!!

[Ben Kellermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a fog about blogs? Read this book and it all becomes clear!

Millions of people posted a blog entry this morning. They're promoting products, espousing causes, discussing their lives, and sharing tips on everything from getting the laundry clean to getting their candidate elected. Join the fun! Here's how to choose and use blogging software, pick a topic, add photos, attract readers, and keep your blog interesting.

Blog basics — find out what defines a blog and what type of blog best suits your purpose
What you say — learn how to create appealing content and what you don't want to put in your blog
Compare tools — understand the pros and cons of hosted services and see what Blogger, WordPress, and other tools offer
When smaller is better — explore microblogging, including Twitter® and Tumblr
Speak up — try your hand at podcasting or video blogging
Socialize your blog — boost readership with a presence on social networking sites
Blogging for dollars — see how to put ads on your blog or in your RSS feed, seek sponsorships, and maintain a business blog
Know your visitors — learn to collect and analyze statistics on who's visiting your site, when, and for how long

Open the book and find:

Tips for choosing a topic
How to connect with your readers through comments
Advice on blogging ethics
A comparison of leading blogging software
Help managing routine blog tasks
Hints for conquering writer's block
Ways to boost readership
Why RSS feeds are a great idea
Cool widgets, gadgets, and themes to customize your blog

Learn to:

Use the latest versions of Blogger and WordPress®
Recognize what goes into an effective blog
Find your niche in the blogosphere
Build an audience and make money from your blog

Read More

[Frank Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a point of reference, I picked this book up at my local library because I have recently (Jan 2016, fired up a BLOG site. It became clear to me that there are other factors in selection of reference material other than subject matter.
Blogging for dummies, the copy I picked up is the 4th edition, copyrighted in 2012. I didn’t go check on this until I’d read a goodly portion of the book. It becomes relevant when you consider that a lot of the information and instructions relate to the up and coming blogger’s need to do “things.”
What things, you ask? One is the selection of software. Learning how to recognize a blog. Knowing what to post, and what not to post. Realizing that what you post probably isn’t private. Et cetera.
I did find the book informative and, admittedly, something I should have looked into long before this. While I have no current intention of trying to keep up with others in the frequency of publishing two or three or more times a day, the book also provides offerings for us infrequent folk too.
I did look on the internet and found that there is a newer version of this book, From Blogging For Dummies, 5th Edition by Amy Lupold Bair, and Susannah Gardner. Likely it will dispense with those earlier notations of things we need to do, simply because the programming and internet services have take those chores out of the process.
Like all reference books, there is going to be something that will help anyone stepping into the process. If you are already blogging, or just starting like me, find a copy of Blogging for dummies, find a quiet place and read it. The worst that could happen is that you will get a reminder or two about good typing, composition, how to have a greater impact on your readers.