WRITING A BLOG
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What is an education blog?
An education blog or edublog is a blog (weblog) created for educational
purposes. Blogs offer a huge instructional potential as an online
resource.
There are many ways to use an education blog they offer many
benefits.In section Weblog types, uses and advantages from paper The
Use of Weblogs in Higher Education: Benefits and Barriers the following
classification of edublogs according to the role (instructor or student)
played by the writer of the weblog is proposed:
Instructor weblog: weblogs written by instructors are mainly used as an
additional communication channel to share information with students.
Instructor weblogs usually contain course content, course management
information, general commentary to all students about their learning
progress, etc.
Student weblog: weblogs written by students are basically learning
weblogs or project weblogs. A learning weblog is a learning diary that
reports the learning experience, both the learning content and the
learning process.
Besides, a weblog can also be the result or the learning outcome of a
subject. Finally, a project weblog, often authored by a team of students,
documents the project progress and findings.
SLIDE 84-89
To share their passion
When you are passionate about something, you want to share
it with the world. Whether it’s a passion for fishing,
photography, or marketing, blogging is an excellent way to
share that passion.
When you blog about something you are passionate about, it
opens the door to connecting with those around the world who
speak your language and have the same passions.
To educate others
If you are someone who loves to teach, blogging can be a
platform for teaching people who have an interest in your areas
of expertise. Through blogging, you will not only teach others,
but you will also teach yourself more about the topic.
You will learn because you will always be looking for more
things to teach your readers. Teaching through blogging can
naturally lead to monetization by creating online information
products.
To gain exposure
Business owners who blog increase exposure for their business
in a number of ways. Creating blog content on a regular basis
for your website gives Google something new to index, thus
increasing your website’s visibility in search results.
Creating blog content for other publications in your industry
gives new, relevant audiences the opportunity to discover you
and your business. This exposure gives you more traffic that
you can convert into leads and customers.
To build authority
For those that want to speak at events in their industry or
become an author, blogging is a platform that you can use to
build authority.
As you blog about the niche you are most knowledgeable
about, people will begin to recognize you as an authority in that
niche. This recognition will lead to interviews, podcasts, and
ultimately invitations to speak and contracts to publish a book.
To rank in Search Engines
As mentioned earlier, your blog gives Google new content to
index on a regular basis. You can use each piece of content
to rank for specific keywords that will attract your target
audience to your website.
For businesses, a combination of static web pages and blog
posts allows them to target commercial keywords (those that
attract customers) as well as non-commercial keywords (those
that attract information seekers). Both audiences customers
and information seekers can lead to new business.
To have content to share
Social media audiences are more receptive to blog posts than
they are ads or sales pages, and likewise, are more likely to
share blog posts with their connections than ads or sales pages.
By creating blog content, you give yourself more to share on
your social media profiles, and you give your visitors something
to share when they visit your website. Social sharing of your
content will increase exposure to your target audiences and
lead to more incoming traffic.
Blog posts also give you a non-sales way to promote your
business. If someone were to ask to do something on a social
network, you could easily reply with a blog post. As opposed to
replying with a sales page for your products or services,
replying with a blog post will be seen as helpful. It will naturally
lead the person to your products and services, especially if you
incorporate a good call to action at the end of each of your
posts.
SLIDE 90-91
1. . Choose a great blog platform-
Here are the popular blogging platforms we’ll be comparing in this
article. If you’re interested in a particular platform
WordPress.org
Web.com
Wix
HubSpot CMS
Gator
WordPress.com
2. Choosing a Web Host
You need a host that can support your website. Therefore, you must
take the type of site you want to create into consideration when
choosing a host.
3.How to Set up a blog on your own domain
Since there are over 600 million blogs on the web, it’s important your
niche is as specific as possible. This will help you stand out from the
crowd.
4. Design your new blog
We recommend choosing a blog topic that you feel passionate about or
interested in. It’s even better when you’re an expert at something, as
this helps you to grow your blog through writing quality content to help
others.
Ask yourself the questions below and try listing at least 10 topic ideas.
What do I want to learn more about?
Do I have a hobby or passion that I can share?
What do I enjoy writing about?
Am I an expert in something?
Am I passionate about something?
5. Useful resources for blogging
Now a simple query “resources for bloggers” in the Google search
engine produces a lot of results with articles on how to create and
develop your blog.
Useful resources for blogging
Click to Tweet
Copyblogger
Unavailable to everyone or just me?
Google Docs
Keywords from Google
Mashable
PicMonkey
ProBlogger
Social Media Examiner
Theme generator for the blog from HubSpot
