Blog Newbie Question

**TomAnto** · 02-22-2008, 11:03 PM

I just started a blog and submitted my first article. A few people left comments on my blog saying that they added me to their Google News Reader. I have no idea what that means. I'd appreciate if if someone could explain it.

Thanks

**PPP** · 02-23-2008, 06:58 AM

Google Reader lets you keep track of all your favourite websites, blogs etc. in one place. They automatically check to see if anything new has been posted so if people have added you to their Reader they'll be told as soon as you put new content on your blog.

Congratulations on getting comments for your very first submission. What's your blog?

**TomAnto** · 02-23-2008, 09:15 AM

Thanks,

The Blog is under construction. I never thought anyone would actually look at it so soon.

The only article I have posted deals with 1031 exchages. I have about 10 others I'm editing and planned to post in the the comming month. They deal with legal issues related to real estate generally, taxation of real estate transactions, and construction law. I'm also working on a couple of things related to general construction and flipping homes, all of which I have either personal experience to draw from or formal education to guide my writing.

**Jim B** · 02-23-2008, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by TomAnto

Thanks,

The Blog is under construction. I never thought anyone would actually look at it so soon.

The only article I have posted deals with 1031 exchages. I have about 10 others I'm editing and planned to post in the the comming month. They deal with legal issues related to real estate generally, taxation of real estate transactions, and construction law. I'm also working on a couple of things related to general construction and flipping homes, all of which I have either personal experience to draw from or formal education to guide my writing.

where is the blog, you should post it here as well. is it a wordpress blog, or some other platform? if it is a wordpress blog I recommend that you install the DoFollow Plug-in.

**TomAnto** · 02-23-2008, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Jim B

where is the blog, you should post it here as well. is it a wordpress blog, or some other platform? if it is a wordpress blog I recommend that you install the DoFollow Plug-in.

It is on wordpress, what is the "DoFollow" Plug in, what does it do, & how do I find it?

I'm really not ready to make it completely visible yet, I'll post here when I am. I'm concerned because I need to button a few legal disclaimers down and check on the local disciplinary commission on what I can & can't do first. I'm 99% sure I'm okay but just need to be 100% sure, or as close to 100% as I can get.

I promise I'll post it here once I'm ready. My plan was to prepare several articles and issue them in succession. The current one was only intended to be a test to see how it worked. Well, I guess it works. Crazy that it is starting to move, 66% of the people viewing it have subscribed, added it to their reader, or tagged it.

**PPP** · 02-25-2008, 01:51 AM

Looking forward to seeing the blog here, certainly sounds interesting.

I'm curious as to where you put your initial article to get such a great response. Did you put it on another forum? Was it through friends?

So many of us are trying to promote our blogs so success stories are great to hear!

**TomAnto** · 02-25-2008, 02:48 PM

That is the crazy thing, all I did was post one article. I haven't promoted it anywhere. Traffic has been nearly doubling daily. Yesterday I let my parents see it, probably helped but not a significant impact.

I've got my disclaimer nailed down, I finally like the way it is organized, and am going to put two more articles up, then I'll post here.

I still have no idea what I'm doing so please forgive me for not rushing to post.

**tsteuwer** · 02-25-2008, 08:46 PM

If you use a WordPress blog, I recommend installing reCAPTCHA. It is a program that helps block spam, much like what it sounds like you are receiving if you just started your blog.

It could be a legit comment, but when I first started our blog, spammers pounded our blog with comments saying "Wow, great post, putting you in my RSS reader." with links back to their porn sites.

Anyway, try googling "reCAPTCHA for WordPress" and you'll find it.

**TomAnto** · 02-25-2008, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by tsteuwer

If you use a WordPress blog, I recommend installing reCAPTCHA. It is a program that helps block spam, much like what it sounds like you are receiving if you just started your blog.

It could be a legit comment, but when I first started our blog, spammers pounded our blog with comments saying "Wow, great post, putting you in my RSS reader." with links back to their porn sites.

Anyway, try googling "reCAPTCHA for WordPress" and you'll find it.

Thanks for the tip, my comments were from an accounting site, an estate planner, and a gal that helped train office managers. I'll look into reCaptcha

**Jim B** · 02-25-2008, 09:36 PM

You need to get Akismet for the spam

do follow means that when someone leaves a comment on your blog and puts their website in with there name there is a little bit of link credit passed back to their website. It is a good way to encourage relevant commenting and share a little link credit.