Resources

Check back to this page frequently. We’ll continue to add great blogging resources as we find them, including information on best blogging practices, social media help, choosing a platform for your blog and using images and graphics.

We only post links we know about and trust. If you have resources to recommend to your fellow content providers, please drop us a note using our Contact form. We’ll check them out.

BLOG RESOURCES

Free, basic blog sites

• Blogger.com (your URL will look like youruniquesitename.blogspot.com)
• WordPress.com (your URL will look like youruniquesitename.wordpress.com}

Both provide you with customizable templates to get your writing published and distributed quickly. Multiple authors, scheduled posts. Remember to use at least one graphic per post, citing your sources of course.

Blogging Platform Comparisons

• “WordPress vs. Wix—Which is Right for You?” by Brenda Barron
• “Blogging with Squarespace” by Squarespace.com
• “Blogger vs. WordPress.com: A Complete Comparison” by Tim Brookes
• “How to Choose the Right Blogging Platform for Your Business” by Susan Gunelius Annanova
• “Blogger vs. WordPress: The Ultimate Comparison with Pros & Cons” by Mahesh Mohan
• “How to Choose the Best Platform for Your Blog” by Ginny Soskey

Creating a Blog

• “Web Hosting Services Explained: The Beginner’s Guide to Small Business Website Hosting” by firstguide.com
• “What Is The Best WordPress Host for Beginners?” – an excellent overview from Wise Startup Blog” on selecting the right hosting service for your WordPress blog
• “A Guide To Building Your Own Blog” – StartABlog123.com offers a free step-by-step guide on starting a personal or business blog
• “How To Start A Blog – The Beginner’s Guide to Successful Blogging” by firstsiteguides.com
• “How To Start A Blog“– from WikiHow

Blogging Best Practices and Other Advice

• “10 Practical Reasons to Use Short Paragraphs On Your Blog Posts” by Pauline Cabrera
• “10 tips for an awesome and SEO-friendly blog post” by Marieke Van de Rakt
• “13 Things Successful Bloggers Do” by Elena at BlogShareLearn.com
• “16 Effective Ways to get More Comments on your Blog—Starting Today” by Adam Connell
• “9 Guidelines for Skyrocketing Your Web Content’s Readability” by Nix Tiffany
• “9 Reasons I Hate Your Blog” by Jerry Low
• “Cousin Bait: Blogging to Find Your Family” YouTube(video) by Ann Mitchell and Ancestry.com
• “Headings and Why You Should Use Them” by Michiel Heijmans
• “How Long Should My Blog Post Be?” by John Rampton
• “How Long Should Your Blog Post Be? A Writer’s Guide” by Joe Bunting
• “How to Encourage More Comments on your Blog” by Jeni Elliot aka The Blog Maven
• “ProBlogger” by Darrin Rowse (blog & invigorating podcast)
• “Proofreading Tips” by Mignon Fogarty
• “Seniors as Web Users” by Jakob Nielson
• “The Etiquette of Reblogging” by Linda Dessau.
• “Use Information Correctly: Copyright and Fair Use” by the Goodwill Community Foundation
• “Using category and tag pages for your site’s SEO” by Joost de Valk aka Yoast

PODCAST RESOURCES

Audio Editing

• Audacity (Windows, OS X, Linux) is the usual suspect here.
• GarageBand (OS X)

Music

• Note: You cannot use most music, as you would have to pay ASCAP & BMI fees, however any custom music your brother-in-law may share with you will work.
• Intro Music for Podcasts:  Melodyloops.com‎ offers 3 melodies for $29 which includes MP3, WAV AIF, all length versions and long loops. Can be used on unlimited projects.
• Podbean
• Buzzsprout
• “3 Places to Host Your Podcast” – by Megan Brame-Finkelstein, Huffington Post

Podcast Players to suggest to your listeners

• Check your iOS device for Podcast addict
• Android devices can use Podcast Addict and Stitcher Radio for Podcasts
• iTunes
• Lybsis

Podcasting Advice

• “Audacity: A walk through on the basics of editing audio using Audacity” by Rich Johnstun, YouTube video
• “Garageband Tutorial For Beginners – 5 Things You Need To Know” by Patrick, The GaragebandGuide on YouTube
• “Podcast software and hardware to create a killer podcast” by John Lee Dumas, Razor Social

VLOGGING (A.K.A. VIDEO BLOGGING) RESOURCES

Platforms

• Adobe Spark Video
• Vimeo
• YouTube

OTHER WEBSITE RESOURCES

• “Cyndi’s List”
• “WordPress SEO” by Joost deValk aka Yoast
• “Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide”
• “How to Choose the Perfect Domain Name” from from WhoIsHostingThis.com
• “Pingdom Website Speed Test” is a great tool from Pingdom Tools
• “What is RSS?” by ProBlogger.com

SOCIAL MEDIA

• “How to Rock Hashtags (and Why You Should)” by Olga Andrienko
• “How to Use Instagram” by Jess Bolluyt
• “10 Reasons Why Authors Should Embrace Twitter: Social Media Marketing” by Stephanie Chandler
• “Google+ as We Knew it is Dead, but Google is Still a Social Network” by David Pierce
• “5 Reasons Genealogists Should Be on LinkedIn” by Kerry Scott
• “Doing more with 140 characters” by Prashant Sridharan
• “The Pros and Cons of Social Media Platforms (Part 1)” by Waypostmarketing.com
• “Using Hashtags on Twitter” by Twitter.com

USING IMAGES & GRAPHICS

• “How to Find Royalty Free Images for Your WordPress Blog Posts” by WP Beginner
• “All About Images: Resolution” by the University of Michigan Library.
• “JPEG Myths and Facts” by Sue Chastain
• “Optimizing Website Images” by Rob de Cleen
• “15 Amazing Sites with Breathtaking Free Stock Photos” by Christopher Gimmer
• “10 Must Know Image Optimization Tips” by Mark Haye
• “Image Publishing Guidelines” by Google.com
• “What David Ogilvy and Minions Show Us about the Principles of Successful Image Marketing” by Rynn Jacobson
• “Learn When to Use JPEG, GIF, or PNG with This Graphic” by Melanie Pinola
• “The Shocking Truth About How Web Graphics Affect Conversations” by D. Bnonn Tennant
• “The British Library offers over a million free vintage images for download” by Neil Bennett