Today I attended Wordcamp Israel 2007. Lectures and panels covered topics such as WordPress installation, blogging for business, and more. Lorelle Van Fossen who was the keynote speaker, gave a very interesting lecture regarding “Content Connections: the social aspect of blogging, comments, networking, linking, and how to start and continue the conversation on your blog.” 

For those of you who don’t know, Lorelle is one of the leading bloggers on the topic of WordPress. Her blog Lorelle on WordPress is a very useful source of information for WordPress users. Lorelle also contributes to The Blog Herald on a regular basis. 

Lorelle spoke about the importance of building relevant content on your blog that is worth linking to. She spoke about blogging as a form of conversation with your readers. She emphasized the fact that in order to be a good blogger, you need to be an authentic one. Blogging anonymously is not a sign of authenticity because when you don’t write your name on your blog it shows that you are not willing to take responsibility for your words. 

Lorelle discussed the significance of creating an identity that establishes you as a responsible expert in your domain. This is why the information you place on your about page is so crucial. If someone finds interest in your blog, the next thing he wonders is ”who is this person?” And then the next place he visits is your about page. 

Lorelle pointed out that a good blogger turns his posts into conversations with his readers. She said: “Start the idea but don’t finish it. Let your readers complete it. Make space for people to comment. Let your readers fill in the conversation.” For Lorelle, consistent readership is more important than traffic. Consistent readers become your friends and finish your ideas.

During her lecture, Lorelle also busted two myths. She said:

1) You don’t need to respond to every single comment you get, but you do need to make your readers feel like you’re paying attention to their comments and genuinely care.

2) You don’t need to blog every day. Don’t let a blog consume you. Blog according to your own schedule.

Lorelle gives another last tip: Create a consistent schedule for your blog. For example, every Wednesday, post your favorite video of the week. People will remember this fact and know to come back every Wednesday.

I thought Lorelle gave some very interesting blogging tips to all of us. However I disagree with some of the points. I myself do think that blogging as frequently as possible is important (even though I admit I haven’t been blogging as often as I’d like to in the last few weeks due to time constraints). I also try hard to respond to every comment I get. However, I do believe that Lorelle is right about not letting your blog consume you. You should blog as many times as you feel comfortable with and only as much as you can handle. Do not blog forcefully because 1) it will show in your work. Whether you are passionate about a topic or not definitely shows in your writing  2) once you turn blogging into a “task” you HAVE TO do every day (even if your schedule doesn’t allow for it), you will no longer enjoy it, and will most probably give it up at some point.

I also believe that the whole idea of turning your posts into conversations with your readers is a crucial one because the whole point of Web 2.0 and blogging is to engage in conversation with others who enjoy similar interests or topics of discussion, as you. If you’ve made your readers think and you’ve allowed them to finish your sentences, you’re one step closer to mastering the art of conversational blogging.

Thanks to Niv Calderon for the pic.

BlogDay has finally arrived and here are my five recommendations:

1) Chris Brogan - I was introduced to Chris through Jeff Pulver and have been addicted to his blog ever since. Chris is a social media and networking expert. He works as community developer for Video on the Net and Network2. He is also co-founder of PodCamp, a free unconference that explores the benefits and uses of new media community tools. Chris writes amazing posts on how each of us can use social media tools to effectively market ourselves and create a community around our brand. Chris often writes on how we can improve our usage of networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to socially connect with others. A great blog for anyone who wants to learn how to do social networking right online and offline.

2) Roi Carthy - Roi and I met at Blogference and have become good friends. Roi is a product launch consultant for various startups. He also recently started covering the Israeli startup scene at TechCrunch. He writes about different emerging startups and likes to interview people in the company before writing his post. He covers various topics such as: Business models, product development, and marketing to the blogosphere. Highly recommended for anyone who’s interested in staying on top of what’s going on in the hi-tech industry and finding out more about the people behind the ideas.

3) Stii Pretorius - I met Stii through StumbleUpon and we have kept in touch ever since. Stii is a programmer who lives in South Africa. He writes a lot about programming (surprise surprise :-)), software, and online tools. Even though a lot of Stii’s posts are quite technical, he has a very personal and simple writing style which allures you to read further. Anyone who is mostly interested in the technical aspects of the Web 2.0 world should definitely check his blog out.

4) How could I leave out Kent Newsome? I met Kent when I initially started blogging. He was one of my biggest fans from day one and I will not forget that. Kent the founder and developer of ACCBoards.Com and a few other popular interactive web sites. I love Kent’s blog because Kent writes like no other. He has a very original and unique way of covering what’s going on in the Web 2.0 world and at the same time give you his own personal opinion about it. He doesn’t just tell you about the latest software or social network, but he has something to say about it. Something meaningful and different than any other blogger. His posts will leave you thinking for days. I cannot say enough about Kent’s blog. You should try it out for yourself.

5) And finally…Stowe Boyd - Stowe and I met through the blogosphere. I have been following his blog for a very long time and I believe we can all learn so much from this wise man. In June 2007 he was ranked #2 out of technology industry analysts by Technobabble. Stowe is a strategic consultant to big hi-tech companies as well as small startups. He writes mostly about social tools, and their impact on business, media, and society. Like me, he likes to discuss not only the online tools, but Web 2.0 culture as a whole and what its implications are on our society. His posts are always thought-provoking and often even philosophical and sarcastically humorous.  If you haven’t yet been on Stowe’s blog, do yourself a favor and start today.

So these are my five blog recommendations. I hope you enjoy them. In addition, I would love to hear back from you guys which are your favorite blogs and why.

My friend Niv Calderon wrote a great post a few days ago about the correct usage of tags and the optimization of text for search engines. Unfortunately, many of you won’t be able to read it because it’s in Hebrew, so we both agreed that it would definitely be worthwhile to translate it for all of you since these tips are so extremely useful. Please note that I’ve edited the post a bit and added a few more pointers.

Think you’ve been tagging correctly up till now? Perhaps you’ll think differently after reading this post.

What Do You Want To Search As Opposed To What Do You Want To Find

Let’s start from the beginning.

Tags are actually smart keywords that are associated with a piece of information on the internet, such as text, pic, or video. Tags describe this information, classify & sort it, and enable search engines to give us the results that we seek even by the word’s context. For example, a search engine already knows from experience that “Nasrallah” is related to “Hezbollah“, and so forth.

Why are tags so important?

In today’s era of RSS and Web pages that are personally suited for each user, we can receive our information through its classification in a completely different manner than we used to in the past (and the past is not so long ago). If in the past (and still today) we subscribed to a blog or newsletter, the subscription still doesn’t promise us that the actual content will interest us. Even if it’s a blogger that we really like, who knows what he’ll write about next. Yet today, due to tags (and RSS) we can get exactly the kind of information we are seeking without being dependent on those blogs that we know and to explore diverse writings of new people who use tags to classify their content.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you like a specific Star Trek show. There are tons of people in the universe who have written about Star Trek but of course you don’t have the time to search through all of these sites. Now there’s a way to get exactly what you want. Technorati (or any other such service) will find for you all the relevant posts that are tagged with the specific term you’re looking for, and if you wish, you can even register to a service that will stream all the relevant posts on the topic to your computer. In other words, if once we used to write in Google the term that we are searching, and scroll down through all the search results, today’s tags have flattened our search world and made it into one where we write in the search box exactly what we want to find.

SEO Or Optimization Of Internet Sites For Search Engines

Search engines know how to read the tags that you add to your posts. They scan all the text word for word and then scan the tags. Your tags are supposed to exactly fit the text that you wrote. Many people think that flooding their posts with tags will only encourage search engines to get to these posts. For instance, if you write a post about Jerry Seinfeld and you put the tag “web 2.0″, it is logical that whoever is looking for web 2.0 will get to your blog at some point. Right? Wrong. Exactly the opposite.

Bloggers who abuse tags on a regular basis are detected by search engines. Google’s system is smart. If we take Google’s Page Rank for example, it gives ranking to internet pages based on the number of links that point to it, and amongst other things, is also based on the connection between the metadata and the text. Yes, you heard right - Metadata. In the site’s metadata, the site owner tells search engines (and also the surfers) what exists on his site and what they can expect. When there is no “fit” between this information and the actual content on the site, the search engine gives you “negative points”, views you as less credible, and ranks you lower in the search results. This of course affects the traffic coming into your site. For example, if you wrote one post about Brad Pitt’s latest movie, one post about shopping, and one post about your car, you could see why the search engine would view you as less credible if you added “Web 2.0″ as one of your tags, right? (Another point I will add here: The search engine doesn’t just scan your post. It scans the entire page and also your archive, so if you you usually write about Web 2.0 and you put Web 2.0 as one of the tags in a post that didn’t necessarily contain the term but still was related to it, don’t be worried).

Remember to be exact and consistent. If you used the sentence “Brad Pitt’s latest movie” in your post, use the exact same words in your tags. “Brad Pitt’s latest movie” is not the same as “Brad Pitt’s recent movie”. The best tip I can give you is to simply copy paste the words as they are without rewriting them. (Another point I will add here: Think about your tags as you write your post. If you want to use a certain tag, make sure to place it in your text. It’s a different way of looking at writing, I know, but if traffic is important to you, you should definitely consider this).

Recently a trend has emerged on the Web where people use tags as an addition to their post. There are those who use locations, figures, etc., as a way to explain more about the post (I admit, I’ve done this as well). There are those who will use the subtext of their post as a long sentence tag. While we can’t fight this trend, just like we can’t fight the emergence of slang words, we can still explain to these people that writing complete sentences will not help promote or classify their posts. It will only have the opposite effect and create a minor sub-category in which these posts will be classified.

Be precise and exact with your tags. This will help surfers get to your blog and make search engines love you. More exact tags, more traffic. Think about it.

Now I will add some tags to this post based on all that I’ve learned and hopefully, I’ll do it right.

Thanks to Eszter for the pic.

Technorati tags: tags, tagging, niv calderon, blog, text optimization, search engine, tips, search, keywords, rss, web 2.0, blogger, post, technorati, google, seo, Optimization Of Internet Sites, page rank, metadata, traffic

Did you know that the majority of blog Readers read a very small number of top blogs? Is this social media?  We all have our usual daily reading list: TechCrunch, Mashable, Robert Scoble, Om Malik, Guy Kawasaki, etc. But how often do we invest time in searching for undiscovered blogs with new points of view?

on August 31st, I will be participating in BlogDay. BlogDay takes place once a year and is a day when bloggers from all over the world post recommendations of 5 new blogs, preferably blogs that are different from their own culture and perpective. On this day, blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, diverse, and interesting blogs, from all over the globe.

BlogDay was created by Nir Ofir, VP of Product & Content at blogTV.com, with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest.

Here are the BlogDay posting instructions:

1. Find 5 new blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending them as part of BlogDay 2007
3. Write a short description of the blogs and place a link to the recommended blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link:
   http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2007 and a link to the BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

For all bloggers out there, join me on this day of celebration & discovery, and post your own recommendations. For all my readers, be sure to check back on August 31st for my recommendations.

Here are some tips I wanted to share with you on how to ehance your blog and create more exposure to it.

1) Write about stuff that interests you

If you write about topics that really interest you, it will show in your writing. The more you relate to the topic, the better your post will be.

2) Be consistent and update daily

I try to write one post each day. We are all busy people and have a lot to do, but if you don’t maintain your blog on a daily basis, your readership will decline. As Om Malik says: “There are no Sundays in blogging”.

3) Say Something Meaningful

Don’t just write about the latest software and how to use it, but say what you think about it. What do you think is missing? What do you think could be improved? Give your opinion.

4) Always respond to comments

If your readers took the time to comment on your post, the least you could do is show them that you care. Always respond back. Never be rude to anyone. Even if someone disagrees with your views, they may have a point. Turn the discussion into a positive debate.

5) Talk TO your readers - not AT them

Engage your audience in conversation. Never preach to them or lecture them. Ask for your readers’ opinions, suggestions, and feedback.

6) Display your RSS Feed at the top of your blog

Make it easy for people to subscribe to your feed. This way, they won’t need to remember to go back to your site.

Not all people use RSS though. Some people will prefer to receive your posts to their email address. Offer them this option as well.

7) Get involved in various social networks and add widgets and rich media to your site

This will show people that you not only blog, but that you’re active and social on other platforms as well.  Display your activity on the different networks with widgets. This will enhance your blog immensely and show people what you’re interested in besides blogging. Adding rich media such as your Flickr pictures will also improve your blog. Visuals are always effective - as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”. This is why I always add pics to my posts.

8 ) Promote your posts

I usually update my Twitter with my latest posts. Obviously the more contacts you have, the more exposure you’ll get. If you’re really proud of a post you’ve written, then you can submit it to Digg or Delicious. However, do this sparingly. Remember! You are not a member of these communities just to promote yourself. It is always most satisfying of course when you find out that other people found your writing insightful enough to promote it themselves. 

9) Communicate with your readers 

One way to interact with your readers is by adding all those faces you see on your MyBlogLog widget as contacts. This will allow you to build long lasting relationships with them.

10) Interact with other bloggers

If you’re reading other people’s blogs, leave comments on the posts that interest you. This is another great way to build relationships.

I really believe that blogging is a skill that you learn as you go along. Like anything else in life, the longer you blog, the more you’ll know how effectively interact with your audience and increase exposure to your site. I would love to hear from you guys if you have any of your own helpful tips to add.
 

A couple of people have already asked me regarding the import of my blog from Blogger to WordPress and how easy or difficult it was. Therefore I thought it would be helpful for you guys if I outlined the steps I took.

I recently purchased my own domain and received a WordPress blog with my hosting package. When I tried to find out how I could import my Blogger posts there, this is the information I received from WordPress:

“Users of WordPress 2.2 and above can import from Blogger. Earlier versions cannot import from Blogger because “New Blogger” was released by Google, invalidating all the old importers. Only WordPress 2.2 and later has support for “New Blogger”.

If you haven’t already, you must be using New Blogger and a Google Account on Blogger. If you are still using Old Blogger, the importer will not work.

To start the importer, go to Manage → Import → Blogger and follow the directions.”

I did have the New Blogger, yet it was an older version of WordPress that I received with my package (of course! I got the 2.1.0 version), and therefore I couldn’t just automatically import my Blogger posts there.

Therefore what I did was, I opened a “dummy” account on wordpress.com (which of course had to be the most recent version) and imported my posts from Blogger to that dummy account.  The only problem I experienced in the import was that all the videos didn’t transfer. I had to add them all back manually. Also I had to add a 5 pixels margin left and bottom to all my pics which now appeared almost on top of the text in the posts.

Then I exported all the posts from the “dummy” WordPress account to my real WordPress account by going to: Manage → Export → Download Export File. I then logged in to my real account and clicked Manage → Import → WordPress. There you’ll need to upload the export file. The only problem I experienced in this process was that the names of those who commented did not transfer for some reason. I needed to dig into the code and fix that. I also needed to categorize all my posts now because they were not categorized in Blogger.

I then redirected my old site to my new site. In order to do that, follow these directions.

All in all the process was not as easy as it could be, I think. I am not sure if the problems I experienced were only specific to my case or that they happen quite frequently, but I think that both companies could try to work harder at making the whole transition a lot smoother. There is no reason for me to go and have to manually change stuff myself.

I must add one thing before I finish. I did enjoy my time on Blogger and probably would not have left it if it wasn’t necessary. Even though I have heard some people complain about it, I found its platform very user friendly and intuitive.

I hope this post was helpful and will make your import a bit smoother than what I experienced.

Hi everyone, I finally bought my own domain and moved my blog over here.

I haven’t been writing as much as I’d like to during this past week due to all the technicalities of moving my blog, so please forgive me.

I’d like to send out a special thank you to my friend Liat Adir who created my new, fabulous logo.

Technorati tags: blog, blogging, blonde 2.0, ayelet noff, wordpress, liat adir

A few days ago I received the following comment on my blog:

“Hi, Added a new value add to my blog this weekend - a news widget from widgetmate. I always wanted to show latest news for my keywords in my sidebar. It was very easy with this widget. Just a small copy paste and it was done. Great indeed.”

This comment was posted under my WeFi Makes Connections Easy post and has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. Tip to the people who are trying to market this product: If you’re going to market something. Do it right. Adding spam comments to posts that have nothing to do with your product, and sending the exact same email to my inbox a day later is not the way you want to go.

Blogger doesn’t offer an option to detect spam comments. The only options you have are to add a captcha to prevent automated spam or to moderate the comments, but I find that this takes away from the value of an instant response and I don’t want to resort to this solution. I think Blogger could do better. The least it could do is see if similar comments were posted to a particular blog multiple times, or use the Akismet model.

I did a little research on the topic and found that other bloggers have also received similar comments from Widgetmate. It’s remarkable to me how big Google which is supposedly such an active spam fighter can be defeated by some small time spammers that are using cheap marketing technics to promote their latest product.

I am interested to hear from you guys if you also received the same post.

Thanks to Naomi for this pic.

Technorati tags: commenting, blogging, blogger, widgetmate, widget, marketing, spam, akismet, google

Yesterday I attended the Blogference, an international bloggers conference featuring different seminars and panels on topics such as: How to become a successful blogger, new tools and applications for bloggers, legal implications that concern blogs, how to become a podcasting pro, how to produce low-budget internet TV shows, and blogging ethics. Hosting the seminars were some of the most prominent figures in the blogosphere, such as: Om Malik, Kent Nichols & Douglas Sarine, creators of Ask A Ninja, Jessica Ann Coen, formerly from Gawker and now http://www.jessicacoen.com, Justin Kownacki, producer, director, and creator of Something to be desired, Andrew Baron, creator and producer of Rocketboom, Anton Nossik, CBO of SUP Company (a partner of SixApart for LiveJournal project), and more.

I especially enjoyed Om Malik’s seminar where he gave us all a few good tips on how to create an interesting and popular blog. He discussed the importance of updating your blog on a daily basis, writing about topics which you feel passionationately about, and replying to those who comment on your blog. Om told us that he spends at least 20% of his day going over comments left on his blog and replying to them. And here’s another little tip for you: He mentioned that any individuals trying to catch his attention would be wise to send him a personal mail, explaining to him in a short paragraph what their company’s activity is and showing him that they are regular readers of his blogs and not just trying to “score a point”.

Later that evening, iDrink held a cocktail party for the Blogference attendees and others involved in the internet industry in Israel.

Here are some pics from the Blogference

(taken by Niv Calderon)

Blogference mania

Om Malik

Douglas Sarine, Ask A Ninja

Kent Nichols, Ask A Ninja

Pics from idrink

idrinkers

Om & Lior Katz from Wishood

The Twitter shirt

Technorati tags: blogference, blogosphere, podcasting, blogging, internet tv, om malik, ask a ninja, jessica coen, something to be desired, rocketboom, idrink, wishood, twitter, israel

Following up on my Blogs VS Social Networks discussion, I ask you: How do you choose your online friends? Do you check out their profiles, get to know them a little and only then make them a connection, or do you automatically add anyone just by looking at their pic?

Thanks to Trinity for this pic.

Technorati tags: blogs, social networks, online, friends, connections, community