Unlike many websites on which pages may stay pretty much the same from visit to visit, a blog, short for weblog is continually refreshed by content updates. It can be log-like in having daily or periodic event entries, or can contain photos, articles, recipes, the blogger’s thoughts, or products for sale. Blog tricks are effective approaches that make blogging better. Some blog tricks only work for a particular type of blogging software, but there are also some blog tricks that are generally effective for all bloggers, no matter which software they use for blogging.
Some useful blog tricks can be taken advantage of even before you have your own blog. One is to choose a blogging software that at least one close friend, relative, or colleague uses: sometimes having assistance that doesn’t require waiting for a forum post response can be invaluable. Another trick is to prepare for the future before it arrives by thinking about whether static pages would ever be useful and what the export and upgrade possibilities would be if one wanted to move to a hosted blog and use these criteria — as well as ease, cool themes, and other more immediate considerations — to choose one’s blogging software.
Another of the most effective blog tricks has to do with publicizing your blog. It is possible to set up a Twitter® account with the same name as your blog. There are online applications that you can set up to automatically post a tweet when you blog. For these, you use a template that might say something like “New blog post at
Registering your blog with Technorati® or other blog directories is another valuable blog trick to spread the word about your blog. These directories help people locate blogs that are of interest through the blogger’s use of tags and a description to identify their blog’s content focus. The authentication process can sometimes take some time, so be prepared for that.
Finally, always keeping a copy of one’s blog content on one’s computer is a very valuable trick. Many blogs allow deletion in the case of a violation of the Terms of Service (TOS), and bloggers have reported having their blog deleted even when no such violation had occurred. Even if the ruling is overturned and the blog is restored, a blogger will be in better shape to face this eventuality if he or she is not concerned about lost material. In addition, having a copy of your posts allows you to search and perform analysis of your posts when offline.
