Text Blog Software

1. Video is NOT searchable (except in YouTube)
2. When creating a blog post with video, ALWAYS use text to describe your video
3. Post it on YouTube to expand your footprint on the web

Almost any regularly updated website, including this blog, hosts RSS feeds. Over the past seven or eight years, the use of the format has exploded. Search engine services support RSS as an output format, so that you can monitor new results that rise to the top over time. Online stores support feeds that allow loyal customers to track new special promotions.

Although there are many applications and users of RSS, the format is still widely misunderstood, largely because services have been created to consume and process RSS in ways that aren't covered by the specification.

So what is RSS? It's a document format that is expressed in terms of XML, a general purpose language for transmitting hierarchical information in a way that (hopefully) is self-describing.  The document is delivered to the consumer over the same protocol that is used to serve up web pages -- HTTP.

Central to RSS is the notion of a channel, which refers to the source of the information transmitted further on down in the document. In here you can find information about the HTML version of the website that is represented by the feed, contact information for the publisher, and date information on when the feed was generated.

In addition to all of descriptive data discussed above, a channel will have a collection of items. An item corresponds to a content unit, such as a post, an article, a comment, a search result, or a product that's on sale.

The item will contain information about its date of publication, a title, a link to the original content unit, and a snippet of the content itself. Some feeds will provide the full content, but a feed is not required to do this. Most advertising supported sites will not provide the full content in the feed because they want the reader to follow the link back to the original website so that ads can be served to the reader.

The content can be plain text or HTML, although most feeds in practice serve out only a limited subset of HTML because the reader may not be capable of rendering complicated HTML.

In the early days of RSS, most readers consumed the format using a standalone program that could parse and display the feed, although most people now use a hosted service like Bloglines or Google Reader. There are even console based readers like snownews, that render the feeds as minimally formatted text.

That's what RSS is, now let's cover some misconceptions about RSS.

• Any web browser should display RSS in a way that looks like a regular webpage -- RSS is an XML-based format. Most browsers released within the last five years are capable of parsing XML, but since XML does not address on-screen formatting, many of the older browsers, such as Internet Explorer 6, will display the XML with indentation to show the hierarchy of data within the document. Firefox has supported a basic level of rendering RSS feeds in a visually appealing manner, but it does not render all of the HTML formatting faithfully. For example, if you have style attributes on an image that resize an oversize image, Firefox will ignore the settings.
• RSS feeds should be tightly integrated with my web-based reader -- Some users have come to expect that clicking on the RSS chiclet graphic on a webpage should result in the loading of another web page that offers you the opportunity to add the feed to an online reader. This functionality is provided neither by RSS nor the browser. Rather, it is usually achieved via a proprietary XSL transform (a language for converting XML into something else), which is no trivial undertaking. Google's FeedBurner is an example of a service that makes use of this technology.
• I want RSS feeds delivered to my e-mail address -- As we learned earlier, RSS is delivered using the same protocol as web pages.  An e-mail is transmitted between mail servers using a different protocol altogether -- STMP, and the content is then accessed via either an open standard, like POP3 or IMAP, or a proprietary protocol like Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes.  Moreover, most e-mail programs don't have a built-in XML renderer for message bodies.  In reality, the person isn't really wanting an XML file, they want something like an e-mail newsletter subscription or message digest, which is something that has been around for a lot longer than RSS.  RSS feed reading has a couple of advantages over the traditional newsletter.  First, RSS readers track which items you have read and which items haven't been read.  Second, RSS readers, like Google Reader have deep caching history that can be searched, so you can quickly retrieve things that you may have read, but can't quite remember where.

• MailOnFeed -- This free online service allows you to follow incoming e-mails via an RSS reader, essentially transforming complete e-mail messages into RSS channel items.
• Notify.me -- This service allows you to conume RSS feed items via completely different channels, like e-mail, cell phone text message, and instant message.

Writing programs that the computer can understand is challenging, to be sure. That's why so few people, in the big scheme of things, become competent programmers. But writing paragraphs and sentences that your fellow humans can understand -- well, that's even more difficult. The longer you write programs and the older you get, eventually you come to realize that in order to truly succeed, you have to write programs that can be understood by both the computer and your fellow programmers.

Of all the cruel tricks in software engineering, this has to be the cruelest. Most of us entered this field because the machines are so much more logical than people. And yet, even when you're writing code explicitly intended for the machine, you're still writing. For other people. Fallible, flawed, distracted human beings just like you. And that's the truly difficult part.

I concur with Atwood and Devlin that there is a strong link between coding and writing.

I did my undergraduate study at Rose-Hulman which specializes in science and engineering, and although it does not offer degrees in the humanities, the leadership at the school strongly encouraged a respect for language, literature, and the arts. Indeed the president of the school at the time, Sam Hulbert, exhorted the student body to be "Renaissance Men" (it was an all-male school at the time :-) ). I took this advice to heart, working hard to hone my skills as a writer.

I had two additional influences during my years as a student. As a junior and senior in college, I took classes taught by Prof. Stuart Leipziger, who whose eloquence as a lecturer was profound. I don't think my understanding of heat transfer and thermodynamics would have been as enriched without his ability to illustrate and enlighten.

In graduate school, I had the good fortune to take a class by the late Prof. J.J. Carberry, who was not only a distinguished scholar in the field of reaction engineering, but also a very gifted writer. His textbook, Chemical and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, uses a writing style seen rarely in the field, rich in its choice of adjectives and elegant in its flow.

These experiences shaped my outlook towards communication, helping me to realize how much of a difference could be made by channeling energy in that direction. By thinking through the process of expression, the weak points of a position could be identified, thereby giving guidance on how to refine the ideas that comprised them.

Back in the mid-90s, when I was trying to make a transition from FORTRAN to C programming, I picked up a cheap book titled C Programming Proverbs and Quick Reference. The author, Ron Wodaski, put lots of emphasis on being a conscientious programmer, someone who was not only coding to solve the problem of the moment, but also solutions that could be reused and maintained by others.

Early on in the book, Wodaski borrows the notion of a "Reader Over Your Shoulder" from the book by that name, written by Robert Graves and Alan Hodges, to instill a sense of self awareness about one's own code.

Calling this awareness the "Programmer Over Your Shoulder" (or POYS, for short), Wodaski pictured him or her as being an intelligent, friendly, yet uncompromising software developer who sits with you as you write code. He even goes so far as to give the metaphorical awareness a name. He called his POYS "Clarence".

One of the goals of having the POYS was to catch yourself when you were about to cut corners on coding. While it is hard to see your own mistakes as you write code, it isn't hard to feel it in your gut when you're about to do something half baked. Maybe it's deciding not to write some comments about some code that's less than obvious, lying to yourself that you'll get back to it later, or perhaps it's deciding that throwing in sanity checks to protect against an error condition would be just too much trouble, given the deadlines that must be met.

The POYS fusses about the things you'd rather ignore, but you know deep down that you shouldn't. It can take some self discipline and brutal honesty to develop a helpful POYS. I believe that Wodaski's writings, published in 1992, presaged the onset of pair programming, which attempts to do code review in real-time. Instead of trusting yourself, you get a real-life POYS to help keep you honest.

At the heart of Atwood's paradox is the central truth that meaningful computation seldom occurs in a vacuum. Time, talent, and treasure are devoted to programming because it is believed that computer applications can satisfy a human goal, be that to inform, to engage in commerce, to facilitate logistics, to forecast future conditions, or even to provide amusement.

These applications operate within the context of an imperfect world. Network hardware fails, people overdraw their bank accounts, bad weather strikes, models get created with faulty assumptions, and people try to circumvent security infrastructure. Useful code has to take into account these and many other edge cases. The firm logic of a programming language must be molded around this imperfect surface of reality.

Careful communication helps mitigate the turbulence of confusion. Agreeing on precise use of terminology helps avoid misunderstanding between product owner and development team. Regular status meetings with meaningful commitments and accountability help keep things on pace. Well documented specifications help developers blaze the trail, and accurate comments help the maintenance programmer follow along. Relevant documentation helps the end user assault the learning curve.

The gift of expressiveness both in code and prose makes a software engineer more valuable because he or she must bridge the worlds of the flawed but forgiving human and the logically rigid, unforgiving, yet incredibly stupid machine.

1. Consider Your Audience - Step into the role of your reader when considering what they would want to see on your blog.  Avoid adding affiliates that have nothing to do with your business.
2. Genuine Recommendations and Personal Endorsements - Try them out yourself to ensure what you are recommending for others is something that you would use yourself.
3. Link to Quality Products - Have you ever been sold a "lemon" car?  Even if you have not, you have probably known someone who has.  This is not a good feeling so avoid selling unsatisfactory products. 
4. Contextual Deep Links - These work best because they pair up like products/services with what you are blogging about. 
5. Positioning of Links - Do not position them above any calls to action or products that your company is selling.  Keep them visible but not to where they will take action on the affiliate before they do your product.
6. Traffic Levels are Important - You can build traffic by adding content on a consistent basis. 
7. Diversify without Clutter - Avoid too many flashy ads on your blog site.  These will just confuse your readers.
8. Be Transparent -  Don't try to fool your customers, they know what you are doing. 
9. Combine with Other Revenue Streams - If you have other marketing revenue streams combine them.  Like the old adage, two are better than one, it is true in this case as well.
10. Track Results - Tracking your results is key.  Obviously, if it is not working you do not want to waste money on that program.  If it is working, continue promoting it on your blog and enjoy the ROI!

• number of words to be written
• amount of time to be spent writing
• severity of negative feedback

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lab.drwicked.com

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"Relevancy starts on-page and is confirmed off-page." 

What am I talking about?  SEO of course!  This actually comes from a comment on one of Chris Brogan's recent posts "The Vital Importance of Links". (note my well thought out anchor text to help Chris out here).  This comment from Jacob Morgan really answers the big question as to the importance of linking for SEO and for a business blogging strategy.  At Compendium we are constantly being confronted by questions about link-building...and while no, this is not our business --- we do work with our mature clients on doing this and how they can best do their own blog seeding, however, as Jacob points out Step One of a successful page is related to on-page factors, or in other words --- CONTENT!  Once this is under control...content is recently and frequently updated; organized around keywords into narrowly focused, highly relevant pages then it is time to seriously consider a do-it-yourself or hired non-spammy link building strategy.  Even with that --- no one will ever link to you naturally without some great content.  So before sidetracking your business blogs with a link building strategy, get the on page factors solved with an easy to use blogging platform.

1. People search.
2. Search engines provide the relevant answer.
3. People read the answer.
4. Some people engage further.

• Show the relevant content that people were looking for.
• Provide a compelling call to action for the person to engage your business future.

John's page has no less than 50 calls to action (text and image ads) on it.  Why?  John's page is not a corporate blog, it's a blog to make money off of corporate sponsorships and advertising revenue.  Other than to buy ad space, the purpose of the site is to make money from folks hitting ads. 

The way to ensure this happens is to place ads everywhere you can find real estate.  It's a great blog and it works at driving advertising revenue to John.  John also does NOT rely on search engine traffic for acquisition.  In fact, I believe Google dropped him from the index a while ago.

Here's an example from Compendium Blogware's Business Blog:

Our focus is not that of a content management system nor of the off the shelf blogging software.  We designed our system + our standard template + our call to action strategy to drive business results from search back to your company.  It’s a proven force already in the industry.  Extraneous features are a diversion and will significantly reduce the conversion rates of those people who land on your blog.

We absolutely want to cross-promote your site – where you can have all of the gadgets and widgets you'd like (and hopefully information in a neatly organized, easy to find, and attractive interface).  However, on your blog, it’s going to hurt your investment. 

A minimalist approach is the best approach – with distinctive call to action(s) that leave nothing to the imagination for organic searchers who land there.  I would add that we’ve proven this methodology by drinking our own Kool Aid!

Additional Resources on Optimized Landing Pages and Maximizing Conversions:

• SEOmoz - Simple Strategies for better conversion rates
• BtoB - Landing Page Optimization
• Jonathan Mendez - How Simplicity, Recognition&The "Perception of Ease" Impact Landing Page Optimization
• Search Marketing Standard - Five Factors for Landing Page Optimization
• Conversation Marketing - 14 Landing Page Upgrades
• Marketing Experiments Journal - Landing Page Optimization Tested

Books on the Topic:

• Landing Page Optimization
• Don't Make Me Think
• Call To Action

"When I use a search engine for consumer research, I'm thinking in terms of the specific thing I'm looking for, not a specific brand. Generally, when I start, I will not use a branded search term. I am building a consideration set. Yes, I likely have brands I have an affinity for, but I won't explicitly include them in my query. I'm looking for the search engine to provide me some alternatives to consider. Typically, searchers will look at four to five results before making their selection. These are usually the top sponsored, and the top two or three organic, results. This represents the prime and very limited "shelf space" of the search results page. If a brand appears that the consumer has an existing affinity for, the chances are good that the site will capture a click-through. If the brand doesn't appear, the company has likely lost the opportunity to connect with a consumer that will soon be ready to buy."

"....the act of searching is done with the left brain. It is a rational, logical interaction, not an emotional one. That's why text-based advertising does well, and graphic or rich media doesn't. We're intellectually engaged in a task, and we're looking for information that will help us succeed in accomplishing that task. We're not looking to be influenced by an emotionally charged message. In fact, we block anything that smacks of overt commercialism or looks like advertising out of our consideration."