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Vanilla 1.1.4 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.
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- CommentAuthorvonquatt
- CommentTimeFeb 12th 2008
I've been considering setting up a blog. Do you have any recommendations? Are there advantages to creating one on network, like blogger, or installing it on your own server? -
- CommentAuthorappliedv
- CommentTimeFeb 12th 2008
We do have recommendations . . . and very strong ones at that. Blogs are the darling of search engines. Search engines put a high value on both content (text) and the frequency of updates. The two together can put your site into 5th gear - provided your content is focused and distributed.
Focused means it revolves around select search terms and keywords and distributed means that it's essentially marketed to third party sites to reach new audiences.
Per an internal or network hosted blog, like blogger, we strongly recommend that you set up a blog on your site. You can always syndicate content to external blogs, whether they are yours or simply articles posted on others' blogs.
Search engines love blogs because the content is easy to spider, it's updated frequently and cataloged chronologically. Archiving this volume of content on your own domain is worth its weight in gold - in fact better. The more frequently you post to your blog - and with specific search relevant terms - the maore often search engines query your site for updated content. This frequency alone can increase your site's search relevance.
At the same time, it's valuable to post content away from you site and point back to your site to gain the value of an external link. Keep in mind that search engines are intelligent. You will need to rewrite the content to some extent so that verbatim copy isn't presented in both places.
You didn't ask, but we'll recommend going with the blog software WordPress - http://wordpress.org/. In our experience, there's no comparison to WordPress in functionality and stability. It really is a pleasure to use. In fact, it may increase the frequency at which you post. -
- CommentAuthorappliedv
- CommentTimeMar 6th 2008
A friend recently asked what would be gained by moving their hosted blog from Blogger to his own server, using an application like WordPress. During our conversation, it became quickly evident that the advantages gained in design and functionality freedoms with WordPress are worth the move.
First, design is entirely open to customization. You can select from thousands of free and for purchase templates, or have one custom built.
Second, functional enhancements through WordPress plug-in's are easy to install and range from search engine optimization to ad management and everything in between. The widget/plugins are developed and maintained by an enormous WordPress community. Some are specific to niche industries, developed for a specific purpose, and others are general, like a Weather Channel forecast widget to display the latest weather in a given U.S. city.
There are some costs to consider:
Domain Name: This friends was already using their own domain (approx. $20 annual domain registration fee), so that wouldn't change.
Hosting Account: They would need to setup their own hosting account though - an adequate hosting package ranges from $5 to $15 per month. Absolute requirements include MySQL database server access (one database minimum) and a Linux hosting server. Preferably, the hosting account will be enabled with a user control panel to give you direct access as well as a server software like Fantastico that allows for push-button application set-up and ongoing upgrades. I recommend the host www.emwd.com. EMWD keeps a clean, up-to-date and accessible hosting server environment and their customer service can't be beat.
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