General Blogging & Website Platforms: Expert Guides and Resources

Whether you are new to building websites or a web professional who is new to Squarespace, choosing Squarespace to build your site is a wise decision. An overview of the different editing modes in Squarespace can help you figure out where to go in your Squarespace site to perform a certain task. Even a basic task can sometimes turn into a huge hurdle, however, which is why it's important to know where you can go to find help.

All blogs start in the same way: A person picks a blogging application, creates a blog, and publishes a post online. What happens then depends on each individual blogger.This Cheat Sheet supplements the information provided in Blogging All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition and helps you find resources and tools to make your blog a unique place that allows you to reach your goals.

When you start a new blog, one of your most important decisions is choosing what blogging software to use. You also need to decide what type of blogger you’ll be. Is there a certain niche that would be a great fit to match your interests and expertise? Whether you’re a new blogger or looking to switch blogging platforms, the range of blogging tools and options you find here can give you a head start on your search for your blogging software and blog niche match.

Software that filters the incoming comments in various ways can provide a defense against spammers by identifying and removing comments from your blog that look like spam. These filters give a blogger great tools: They run all hours of the day and they don't require any effort on your part. But an automated process is never as smart as a human, so you might occasionally lose a valid comment if you use a filtering system.

You may notice that bloggers are often worried about branding. Personal branding was not something that bloggers ever considered in the early days of blogging, but now the word branding is used at least as often as one might refer to a blogger’s voice or style.A person’s brand refers to how others remember them: their readers, potential clients, fellow bloggers.

Two of the many ingredients for a successful blog are good and frequently updated content. But what does it really mean to provide good and frequent content as a blogger? Use the following tips to help move your blog into the successful zone.Good content compels, satisfying the readers’ immediate interests but leaving them hungry for more.

Blogs are so quick and easy to set up that you can start one without having much of a plan in place for what you want to blog about, why you're blogging, or what you're trying to accomplish. Some people thrive on this wide-open playing field in blogging, but others quickly become bored (or boring!). ©Shutterstock/MaglaraTo get your blog started on the right foot, think seriously about why you're blogging, and then make a commitment to attaining your goals.

Blog design is a very personal experience. The blog that you're starting is a reflection of you and your individual style. The decisions you make about how your blog looks are just as important as the technology that you choose to run your blog and what you choose to put on it.Because the web is an ever-evolving medium, no solid rules exist that tell you what you should or shouldn't do with your blog.