Basic tools for your blog

IF you have got your blog up and running there are a few extra tools you might want to consider to give it a little extra zing.

Most of the sites I have put together for people are based on TypePad and the features I mention below can be placed in a Notes Typelist so they will display correctly.

But even if you don’t use TypePad there is no reason why you can’t include these tools on your site.

StatCounter
There are many stats packages available but I use StatCounter on all my sites and have never had any problems with it. You can see how many page impressions your site receives, as well as visitor numbers and where they’ve come from – just don’t get addicted to refreshing your stats.

Feedburner
The daddy of RSS tools. Using a couple of the features offered by Feedburner can prove very useful, the first one of which is its newsletter script. People can easily subscribe with their email address and once a day receive your most recent articles. Make sure you place the code near the top of your site so people can spot it. The other useful tool is their Headline Animator which allows you to feature other stories from elsewhere on your site, handy if you have more than one site.

Google Search Box
As you write more and more articles you will want to make it as easy as possible for people to find what interests them on your site. This is where the Google Search Box comes in. It is quick and easy to install, allowing you to change the odd setting so it will fit effectively into your site, you might want to use <br> to fit it into a column.

Technorati
This is the bloggers' search engine and can prove a useful tool to both bring people to your site as well as allow you to discover corners of the web you may never have crossed. To register with Technorati you need to include a small piece of code on your site, it then checks this and will begin indexing your site. One thing I usually turn off is the search facility as it takes some time to update.

And a final tip, especially useful for business blogs, is to include your company address on every page, often you will find a space at the foot of one of your columns, it helps with location based searches.

To see how all these tools look on a living, breathing site take a look at Aspire Therapy, based near Preston.

Comments

[Julian Gill]

Thank's for the mention Craig, and for all the expert advice. I'd highly recommend a blog to develop and focus your business idea or your interests. Still getting my head around some of the above, but the basics are so simple. Just need to get writing.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Julian, you are so right that developing a focus is one of the key benefits of using a blog.
I'll be looking out for some new articles ;-)
Craig