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Technical Blogging: Amplify Your Influence
Successful technical blogging is not easy but it's also not magic. Use these techniques to attract and keep an audience of loyal, regular readers. Leverage this popularity to reach your goals and amplify your influence in your field. Get more more users for your startup or open source project, or simply find an outlet to share your expertise. This book is your blueprint, with step-by-step instructions that leave no stone unturned. Plan, create, maintain, and promote a successful blog that will have remarkable effects on your career or business.
Successful people often get recognition by teaching what they know. Blogging is a reliable path to do that, while gaining influence in the process. The problem is getting it right. Far too often professionals start a blog with big hopes, only to quickly give up because they don't get speedy results. This book will spare you that fate, by outlining a careful plan of action. A plan that will bring amazing benefits to your career, new job possibilities, as well as publishing, speaking, and consulting opportunities. And if you are blogging for business, you'll attract new customers, partners, and outstanding employees.
Understand what blogging is and how it can improve your professional (and personal) life. Devise a plan for your new or existing blog. Create remarkable content that ranks well in Google and is shared by readers. Beat procrastination by employing proven time-management techniques that make you an efficient and effective blogger. Promote your blog by mastering on-page and off-page SEO, as well as social media promotion, without compromising your ethics. Analyze your traffic to understand your audience and measure growth. Build a community around your blog and make the best of your newfound popularity, by maximizing its benefits for your career, business, or simply for extra income.
Create and maintain a successful technical blog that will amplify your impact, influence, and reach by following Antonio's step-by-step plan.
Successful people often get recognition by teaching what they know. Blogging is a reliable path to do that, while gaining influence in the process. The problem is getting it right. Far too often professionals start a blog with big hopes, only to quickly give up because they don't get speedy results. This book will spare you that fate, by outlining a careful plan of action. A plan that will bring amazing benefits to your career, new job possibilities, as well as publishing, speaking, and consulting opportunities. And if you are blogging for business, you'll attract new customers, partners, and outstanding employees.
Understand what blogging is and how it can improve your professional (and personal) life. Devise a plan for your new or existing blog. Create remarkable content that ranks well in Google and is shared by readers. Beat procrastination by employing proven time-management techniques that make you an efficient and effective blogger. Promote your blog by mastering on-page and off-page SEO, as well as social media promotion, without compromising your ethics. Analyze your traffic to understand your audience and measure growth. Build a community around your blog and make the best of your newfound popularity, by maximizing its benefits for your career, business, or simply for extra income.
Create and maintain a successful technical blog that will amplify your impact, influence, and reach by following Antonio's step-by-step plan.
300 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
28 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 8, 2019
A fast, clear read with lots of helpful tips regarding every phase of the process a blogger has to go through. Highly recommended!
September 21, 2013
It is a shame that the book is titled "Technical Blogging". It should be titled "Blogging" :)
While I picked up this book to understand if and how different was technical blogging, I came away with useful information about blogging in general; specifically, jargon, technologies, techniques, and possibilities.
Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the basics of blogging -- purpose, niche, etc. Chapters 3 and 4 dig into the operational side of blogging -- hosting technologies, plugins, tracking, etc. These chapters would be very helpful for novice bloggers.
Moving beyond basics, chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 explore the dynamics of keeping a blog alive. While chapter 5 focuses on why content matters, chapter 6 focuses on ways to keep the content pipeline running; a non-trivial problem. Chapters 7 thru 9 are all about the activities required to keep the community engaged and interested in your blogs. The chapters explore activities ranging from responding to comments to analyzing traffic statistics. For me, these chapters were the meat of the book.
Chapter 10-12 focus on monetizing blogs. As I was keen on learning about blogging for the purpose of engaging with readers, I skimmed thru these chapters. While doing so, I was repeatedly thinking that this information will be pretty useful for bloggers keen on monetizing their blogs. So, may be, I will visit these chapters when my blogs are ripe for monetization :)
The last part of the book (chapter 13-14) was about scaling the blogs both in terms of operation (e.g. hiring bloggers) and promoting via social media. Again, a part for seasoned bloggers interested in "building their blogging empire" :)
The book is sprinkled with various useful tips. It would have been great if they were consolidated into a list at the end of the book.
In short, the book is an easy read. It does a great job of educating the reader about blogging in general (not limited to technical blogging). Novice and intermediate bloggers will definitely get a lot out of this book.
While I picked up this book to understand if and how different was technical blogging, I came away with useful information about blogging in general; specifically, jargon, technologies, techniques, and possibilities.
Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the basics of blogging -- purpose, niche, etc. Chapters 3 and 4 dig into the operational side of blogging -- hosting technologies, plugins, tracking, etc. These chapters would be very helpful for novice bloggers.
Moving beyond basics, chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 explore the dynamics of keeping a blog alive. While chapter 5 focuses on why content matters, chapter 6 focuses on ways to keep the content pipeline running; a non-trivial problem. Chapters 7 thru 9 are all about the activities required to keep the community engaged and interested in your blogs. The chapters explore activities ranging from responding to comments to analyzing traffic statistics. For me, these chapters were the meat of the book.
Chapter 10-12 focus on monetizing blogs. As I was keen on learning about blogging for the purpose of engaging with readers, I skimmed thru these chapters. While doing so, I was repeatedly thinking that this information will be pretty useful for bloggers keen on monetizing their blogs. So, may be, I will visit these chapters when my blogs are ripe for monetization :)
The last part of the book (chapter 13-14) was about scaling the blogs both in terms of operation (e.g. hiring bloggers) and promoting via social media. Again, a part for seasoned bloggers interested in "building their blogging empire" :)
The book is sprinkled with various useful tips. It would have been great if they were consolidated into a list at the end of the book.
In short, the book is an easy read. It does a great job of educating the reader about blogging in general (not limited to technical blogging). Novice and intermediate bloggers will definitely get a lot out of this book.
August 16, 2019
I got this book as I am aware of bloggers, but I have never thought about setting one up until recently when I noticed it was something, I needed to do for one of my University courses. Having no idea where to start I thought I’d take a look at this book. It’s a lifesaver as it is methodically laid out and fairly easy to follow, even for me! After reading through this book I’m excited to go back to certain parts of it and set my own blog up. I think this book is perfect for helping those who are looking to set their own blog up or are looking for further information to make their blog more interesting and get a wider readership.
November 13, 2020
Disappointed, the $25 could have been better spent.
As a basic book about blogging, this book is okay, but that is not why I bought it.
What caught my attention was the word technical in the title. I expected a book about writing technical articles like how-tos, manuals, lessons, reviews, coding, best practices, ..., but this book is much more about marketing and promoting than about writing.
As a basic book about blogging, this book is okay, but that is not why I bought it.
What caught my attention was the word technical in the title. I expected a book about writing technical articles like how-tos, manuals, lessons, reviews, coding, best practices, ..., but this book is much more about marketing and promoting than about writing.
December 14, 2017
Lacks references or suggestions for improving one's writing or shaping personal style. It's not at all specific to technical blogging.
If you're looking on how to make your blog more popular, do SEO or monetise, it has some good tips.
If you're looking on how to make your blog more popular, do SEO or monetise, it has some good tips.
May 26, 2022
This was a bit of a disappointing one for me.
I picked this up hoping for one chock-full of tips on creating the greatest and bestest of all Jekyll (or ) sites... Instead, it only had a passing reference to SSGs.
Don't mistake me, the book contained a number of useful tips and what not for building a technical blog, but it was mainly geared around building a Wordpress blog that is explicitly aimed at monetisation sooner than later, something which was reflected in the tips given as well (write guest articles on other people's blogs, etc).
The end result was that it contained a lot less than I expected for the solo developer who wants to enhance his career by meticulously building a solid web presence, without constantly watching page views, calculating ads ROI, etc, or simply maintaining a blog for the sake of becoming a better writer/communicator (only passing references to that, again).
Not bad, but not good either. But maybe I'm just not the target audience for this.
I picked this up hoping for one chock-full of tips on creating the greatest and bestest of all Jekyll (or ) sites... Instead, it only had a passing reference to SSGs.
Don't mistake me, the book contained a number of useful tips and what not for building a technical blog, but it was mainly geared around building a Wordpress blog that is explicitly aimed at monetisation sooner than later, something which was reflected in the tips given as well (write guest articles on other people's blogs, etc).
The end result was that it contained a lot less than I expected for the solo developer who wants to enhance his career by meticulously building a solid web presence, without constantly watching page views, calculating ads ROI, etc, or simply maintaining a blog for the sake of becoming a better writer/communicator (only passing references to that, again).
Not bad, but not good either. But maybe I'm just not the target audience for this.
October 11, 2020
Oh boy. Hard to know where to start. The bragging and also otherwise weird tone was super annoying. Mixed with a kinda weird structure it made me want to blog less, not more. Never had this kind of reading experience with a pragprog book. Don’t know what went wrong so that this was published in this form :(.
August 20, 2019
“It’s my sincere wish that the preceding pages have managed to inspire and motivate you to take action and give blogging a try.” Thank you for the lovely read. I am, indeed, inspired and motivated to get the ball rolling. I appreciate this book. 11/10
May 17, 2023
This book started off well and has a lot of useful information for someone getting started in the blogging realm. But get to the half-way point and things start to get a bit thin.
This might be because I don't intend to be a hardcore-blogger - I read the book because I wanted to set up a blog but not necessarily scale it up to a full scale business, and this is that the final sections are focused on.
As an individual looking to experiment with blogging, the first 3 sections contain a lot of useful information which I used when setting up my blog. Most useful of all, for a technical person, was probably *how* to construct good blog posts.
The second half is a bit of a mish-mash of how to turn a blog into a business and how to use social media to augment your blog. While the business side is somewhat useful, as a technical person, the social media side is pretty easy to find out.
Despite these sections not really appealing to me, which is probably not relevant to everyone, I also found these sections laborious to read and very fluffy; I felt there would be better resources available for the subjects online.
So in 2023, while the first half of the book is still relevant, the second half felt like it contained much less value.
This might be because I don't intend to be a hardcore-blogger - I read the book because I wanted to set up a blog but not necessarily scale it up to a full scale business, and this is that the final sections are focused on.
As an individual looking to experiment with blogging, the first 3 sections contain a lot of useful information which I used when setting up my blog. Most useful of all, for a technical person, was probably *how* to construct good blog posts.
The second half is a bit of a mish-mash of how to turn a blog into a business and how to use social media to augment your blog. While the business side is somewhat useful, as a technical person, the social media side is pretty easy to find out.
Despite these sections not really appealing to me, which is probably not relevant to everyone, I also found these sections laborious to read and very fluffy; I felt there would be better resources available for the subjects online.
So in 2023, while the first half of the book is still relevant, the second half felt like it contained much less value.
February 7, 2024
Nah nah meh meh
July 31, 2012
I was one of the official reviewers of this book and can’t stop talking about it or thinking about it.
I've been blogging for about 7 years now and have read much on the internet as well as one book about the subject. I really thought I knew just about everything I needed to know until I read Antonio's book! The guidance he provides in this book goes well beyond the standard guidance. I truly appreciate the years of experience that Antonio brings to this book and can see how using his advice will substantially increase the quality and interest in any blog by any blogger, regardless of experience.
I highly recommend this book for anyone currently blogging or interested in starting a blog. You’ll be very happy you invested the time in reading this book.
I've been blogging for about 7 years now and have read much on the internet as well as one book about the subject. I really thought I knew just about everything I needed to know until I read Antonio's book! The guidance he provides in this book goes well beyond the standard guidance. I truly appreciate the years of experience that Antonio brings to this book and can see how using his advice will substantially increase the quality and interest in any blog by any blogger, regardless of experience.
I highly recommend this book for anyone currently blogging or interested in starting a blog. You’ll be very happy you invested the time in reading this book.
March 14, 2012
There's a lot of good content in here on how to set up tracking and analysis on your blog, and some good ideas about how to get other people blogging with you. But, it felt like a lot of the "getting started" content was missing. I felt like I was reading a series of blog posts, not a book. Not a bad place to start, and maybe I'll get more out of it as I use it as a reference for revitalizing my own blog.
I would have liked a little more guidance on non-WordPress blogs, as well. I'm on Blogger already, and there's a lot of WordPress-specific content that just doesn't apply to me at all.
I would have liked a little more guidance on non-WordPress blogs, as well. I'm on Blogger already, and there's a lot of WordPress-specific content that just doesn't apply to me at all.
May 29, 2016
Provides a good assortment of blogging related topics and resources in one place with the authors personal experience and advice mixed in. A great resource for getting started especially if you don't have any experience in the topic.
Some of the things can be considered "common sense". I would have expected a bit more about general writing related topics and tips since that is a crucial part of providing regular and high quality content as the author put it. Regardless, I see myself using the book as a reference in the long run.
Some of the things can be considered "common sense". I would have expected a bit more about general writing related topics and tips since that is a crucial part of providing regular and high quality content as the author put it. Regardless, I see myself using the book as a reference in the long run.
June 28, 2016
Technical blogging is an extensive guide to starting and maintaining a blog. More specifically a blog that is technical/geeky in nature.
The book covers a very broad range of topics, starting with setting everything up over marketing your posts to hiring a team of writers.
Because it covers so many things, you'll most likely find things that you know and can skip, while you may want more information on other topics.
In general, I really enjoyed reading the book and did get a number of new ideas that I will be applying on my own blog.
The book covers a very broad range of topics, starting with setting everything up over marketing your posts to hiring a team of writers.
Because it covers so many things, you'll most likely find things that you know and can skip, while you may want more information on other topics.
In general, I really enjoyed reading the book and did get a number of new ideas that I will be applying on my own blog.
November 13, 2011
It's not completed yet (a "beta" book), but this is nevertheless a good overview of blogging. I read it for coverage of a couple of topics, mainly around best practices with stats tracking, and to inspire myself to blog more (reading a book about blogging instead of blogging! The perfect crime!)
I found Antonio's style engaging, and have even subscribed to his programming and math blogs which he referenced often without "selling" them obnoxiously.
I found Antonio's style engaging, and have even subscribed to his programming and math blogs which he referenced often without "selling" them obnoxiously.
September 15, 2013
This was my first book of this type. It gave me a bit more than I expected. Certainly blogging has lot of aspects, it's more than just writing and belong the content choice, writing style and technical aspects, this book went into depth how to perceive it from the business, marketing or sales side. As there can be several possible motivations why we blog, the tools and the content can different widely. So for me this book was about far more than just about blogging.
December 29, 2020
I've been blogging for a few years, so a lot of this book was review for me. I did some pick up some useful tips. It did give me some things to think about and there were a few things I had overlooked. It's definitely made my blog better.
Overall if you have no idea where to start, I would totally recommend it. If you have some experience blogging, you might not get as much out of it, but it's probably still worth it.
Overall if you have no idea where to start, I would totally recommend it. If you have some experience blogging, you might not get as much out of it, but it's probably still worth it.
April 30, 2012
I think this book, helped me to improve my current blog. Too much from the book concerns the commercial part of the blogging, but still I found it very useful and inspiring.
Some very good tips for structuring the layout, for your behaviour as a blogger and for making your writings more popular.
Some very good tips for structuring the layout, for your behaviour as a blogger and for making your writings more popular.
January 14, 2013
If you are serious about blogging, this book is for you. The author, Antonio Cangiano, covers many important aspects such as planning, creating content, promoting, SEO, benefit and social media. Some aspects are directly related to WordPress blogging tool, but most of the book's content can be applied to any kind of blog.
January 1, 2013
This book gives a pretty good overview of the things you should know to roll your own (technical) blog. It will not provide you with a magical recipe to attract millions of views. The author will however show you what it takes to run a blog and get you started.
It is best for everyone who would like to start blogging, but it can be also beneficial if you already have a blog.
It is best for everyone who would like to start blogging, but it can be also beneficial if you already have a blog.
September 5, 2013
The book is quite good for the beginner to write the blog post like me.
The author suggests from finding your host, how to write a good blog, how to promote, etc.
I enjoyed it a lot but it is quite a problem for me to apply all knowledge in this book.
Because I'm not English native speaker, I cannot use some resources he provides.
The author suggests from finding your host, how to write a good blog, how to promote, etc.
I enjoyed it a lot but it is quite a problem for me to apply all knowledge in this book.
Because I'm not English native speaker, I cannot use some resources he provides.
September 7, 2013
This book was pretty good, it touched a lot of key points on starting a blog such as ways to market your blog and really get it off the ground. It did go into wordpress a little too much in the beginning which isn't my choice. Overall, this book is good for readers who never has blogged before.
January 16, 2016
Didn't read from page to page, because most of the content like customizing WordPress and promoting/scaling/monetization/"startup-fi your blog" doesn't interest me.
In the end, chapters 1,2,5 and 6 about ideas, placement and content worth it.
In the end, chapters 1,2,5 and 6 about ideas, placement and content worth it.
May 9, 2013
If you are serious about blogging and want to learn about many useful techniques to build followers, market and promote your blog and even make money from it then this book is a must read.
June 5, 2024
Quite extensive on how to build, manage, grow and monetize a blog. Not really very specific to technical blogging, and sort on writing/communication techniques per se.
July 21, 2014
Gives a very good understanding of how to plan and what to take care when blogging.
December 14, 2014
A cookbooks with useful tips to follow. Good information on monetization and scaling techniques.
March 9, 2021
Must to have for tech blogger
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews