I‘ve been noticing a trend on the Internet over the past few years. More and more people are creating blogs instead of websites. Blogs have all the features of a regular website with two major differences. You can access blogs by typing in the name in the address bar of your favorite browser, you can add bookmarks to save them as a favorite – they have all the same things a website has. but blogs take websites to a new level. I hope by the end of this blog post, you will understand the two major benefits to using blogs.
The first difference is that it is super easy for the person who owns or runs the blog to update content. The old style websites had to be created by people who knew HTML (or internet coding), and were not easily updated. Blogs can be updated very easily. In fact, I update my blog everyday. I can add photos, text, or movies – all the same kind of content that a regular website has. I am sure to include contact information on every page so new clients can reach me easily, too. Just like my website. People are always visiting my blog to see what kinds of weddings I’m photographing, where my wife and I are traveling, or what I am doing when I’m not working.
The second difference between a blog and a website is called RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it is the easiest way to read a blog. There is this little orange antenna symbol that stands for RSS, and when you click on it (and you have an RSS reader), you are automatically subscribed to the blog.
When you subscribe to a blog, every time the owner updates it, you get a notice (like e-mail) that there is a new post for you to read. You don’t even have to open your web-browser, you can usually read the blog right in the RSS reader.
Using RSS is kind of like reading the paper in the morning, but digitally. I wake up, brew my morning cup of coffee, and fire up the laptop. First I check my webpage and stats (to be sure nobody has hacked into it), then scan e-mails for anything super urgent. Finally I settle down with my RSS reader, and go through the 200+ blogs that I subscribe to. Sometimes I am not interested in the topic the person is writing about. Other times I see something interesting. I can read it right in the RSS reader, or click on a link to be taken to the webpage if I want.
On a Mac, the easiest RSS reader I have found is NetNewsWire. It works just like email. When you click on an orange RSS feed button, NetNewsWire opens automatically and saves the webpage for you. Next time the page is updated, you get a little notification in your toolbar. Like the Mail program, I leave it running all the time.
If you have an RSS reader, and you think this has been useful, I would love it if you would subscribe to my blog – just click the little orange RSS link near the top of the page.
Comments on this entry are closed.