Categories: Most blogs cover a wide range of sub-topics, and those are called categories. A technology blog, for instance, might have different categories for software, hardware and science news.

Comments: Virtually all blog platforms contain a comment system where readers are able to comment and leave feedback on each page and/or post of the blog. The author might or might not require user registration before a comment can be posted. This feature transformed blogs into live conversations, and it contributed largely to their overall success on the Internet.

Comment spam: Comments made with the sole purpose of gaining a backlink, which in turn will send traffic or link juice (provided the blog in question doesn’t use the nofollow tag) to the site of the spammer. Some spam comments are very explicit and come with several links to drug or gambling related sites. Other forms are more subtle, where the commenter actually tries to leave a relevant message on the blog.

Compete: A web analytics company that, like Alexa, tracks and estimates the traffic levels of websites. They have a particular bias towards the U.S. market.

CPC: Acronym for Cost-per-Click, and it represents a form of online advertising where advertisers bid an amount of money that they are willing to spend for every visitor that clicks on his ad and visits his website or product page. On the other side you have publishers that choose to display CPC ads on their sides, and they earn money for every click. The most popular CPC ad network on the Internet is Google AdWords-AdSense, and CPC rates can vary from $0.01 up to $50 in some rare cases.

CPA: Acronym for Cost-per-Action, and it represents a form of online advertising where advertisers pay when visitors perform a specific action (e.g., when they sign up for an email newsletter or when they end up purchasing the product). Most affiliate marketing programs tend to use a CPA scheme.

CPM: Acronym for Cost-per-Mille, where mille means 1000 in Latin. CPM, therefore, is the cost per 1000 page impressions, and it represents a form of online advertising where advertisers will pay a fixed price for getting their banners or ads displayed 1000 times on a specific website.

CSS: Acronym for Cascading Style Sheets, and it is a language used to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML. The advantage of CSS is that it allows you to control the style of any number of pages simultaneously from a central location (the CSS file).

Digg: The original and most popular social bookmarking site. It is a basically a user-driven site, where the members of the community get to decide (by voting or burying the stories) what should go to the front page and what should not. For most web publishers, getting featured on Digg is a joy. It can send tens of thousands of visitors in a single day. There is some controversy around the quality of this traffic though, due to the peculiar traits of Digg users. For example, it is reported that those visitors don’t stick on the website for long, and they rarely click on ads.

Digg Auto-Bury: It has never been officially confirmed by Digg, but there is strong evidence to suggest that they have a penalty that makes it impossible for the penalized website to reach the front page, regardless of how many votes its stories might receive. Websites and blogs receive the auto-bury penalty when users report them for spam or for not submitting original content repeatedly.

Digg Bury-Brigade: A group (or groups) or active and loyal Digg users that try to keep the site free from what they consider to be spam or low quality content. The make this control by mass burying stories. Certain topics tend to get targeted often by those groups, including blogging, online marketing and search engine optimization.

Domain: Also known as domain name or hostname, it is a name that identifies a website or computer on the Internet. An example of a domain is yahoo.com. Notice that http://www.yahoo.com is no longer the domain but rather an URL.

Duplicate content: The presence of very similar content (usually text) inside a website or across different websites. Search engines tend to penalize websites that contain a large amount of duplicate content.

A-List: Supposedly a list of bloggers (also called A-Listers) that receives more traffic and attention than the rest of the blogosphere. The existence of such an A-List is debated, as well as the reasons behind the higher popularity of those bloggers.

AdSense: The most popular advertising network on the Internet. It is owned by Google, and it allows bloggers to monetize their blogs by displaying contextual text messages. Every time someone clicks on one of the text links, the blogger will earn some money (ranging from $0.01 up to $50 in some rare cases).

AdWords: The opposite end of AdSense. Google AdWords enables companies and individuals to promote their products, services and websites under a cost per click (CPC) model. The advertiser needs to specify the keywords that he wants to target, and how much he is willing to pay for each click. The ads might appear on Google’s search results as well as on the AdSense units found on other websites (called “Content Network).

Affiliate Marketing: A popular way to make money online where you have a merchant that is willing to let other people (affiliates) sell his own products or services, in exchange for a commission. Commissions can be fixed or variable, and based on clicks, leads or sales.

Akismet: The most popular spam filter plugin for WordPress blogs. It was created by the same company that coded WordPress, called Automattic.

Alexa: An internet company (subsidiary of Amazon.com) that tracks the traffic for all websites on the Internet. The rankings used to be inferred from the statistical usage of a browser toolbar. Recently they changed the algorithm to remove the toolbar bias in favor of technology related website. Keep in mind that the lower the Alexa ranking, the higher the traffic of the website. There is some controversy regarding the accuracy of the rankings.

Anchor Text: The text of a backlink. Most search engine experts agree that the archor text is a factor that can influence largely the search rankings of a website or web page. The more topical they are the better (provided some variety is included, else a spam penalty could occur).

Archives: A section of a blog where all or some of the existing posts are displayed. They can be displayed by category, by month, by year and so on.

Atom: A web feed syndication format, developed as an alternative for RSS. It basically enables people to receive updates from a website whenever new content is published.

Automattic: Company founded by Matt Mullenweg, and responsible for the development of WordPress.org (the blogging software) and WordPress.com (the hosting platform), among other projects.

Backlinks: Hyperlinks present in other blogs or websites that point either to the homepage or to internal pages of a website. They are important because Google and other search engines relate the number and quality of backlinks to the trust level of that website.

Blackhat: A group of SEO and online marketing techniques that are not necessarily ethical, and sometimes not even legal. Hiding text behind images or using doorway pages with redirects are examples of blackhat techniques.

Blog: A specific type of website where the author publishes his thoughts, ideas or knowledge about different topics. Usually the content is published in small articles, called posts, and in chronological order. Blogs emerged as online diaries, but today they cover all niches, and compete head to head with mainstream media.

Blog Carnival: An event where bloggers get together to create a collection of articles covering a common topic. Most of the times they have one hosting blog, and participant blogs that will send their contributions to the carnival.

Blogger: Anyone who owns or authors a blog. Blogger is also the commercial name of Google’s hosted and free blogging platform (recognized by the .blogspot extension).

Blogging: The act of writing something on a blog. It can also mean the broader range of activities that bloggers perform (e.g., interacting with visitors, researching content and so on).

Bloglines: One of the most popular RSS feed readers. It is a web-based application that allows the user to subscribe to and manage RSS feeds.

Blogosphere: Term used to describe the universe created by all blogs, its connections, networks and conversations.

Blogroll: A once very popular feature on blogs that allowed the author to share with his readers a list of recommended external blogs. This section was usually included on the sidebar of the blog. These days fewer and fewer bloggers are still using a blogroll.

Many people already wrote about the rules of blog comments before. Most of them, however, focused on the so called blog comments etiquette. That is, they told you how you should always add value to the discussion, respect the other people, never feed the trolls, be genuine and yada yada yada.

While that advice is solid, I feel that it lacks some practical sense. There are other points that I see people doing almost daily when leaving comments, and they can be equally annoying for the blog owner and for the other readers and commentators. Below you will find them: 7 things to avoid while leaving a blog comment.

1. Using the bold or italic attributes to highlight your whole comment

Blog comments can send good traffic to your website, and if you manage to catch people’s attention with your comments, this traffic might increase. Now, attention should be grabbed with a funny or interesting comment, and not by making your comment text bold or italicized.

Use bold only or specific words that you want to put in evidence, and italics on names and titles of books and similar.

2. Signing your comment

As you probably have already noticed, most comment forms ask for your name on the first input box. That is, you already signed your comment even before writing it, so there is no need to finish the comment with your name a second time.

Apart from being redundant information, it is also annoying for some people. For more on this topic read “If You Sign Your Blog Comments, You Are a Dork.”

3. Including a second (or third) link to your website

The previous point applies to website links also. Most comment forms allow you to include a URL that will be used to hyperlink your name. If you include that URL at the end of your footer a second time it will give the impression that you are just spamming the comment section for some links.

4. Leaving a comment without reading the article first

Common sense you say? I wouldn’t bet on it. I have seen a huge amount of comments, both on my and on other blogs, from people that had no clue about the topic of the article in question.

Sometimes they knew what the article was about, but they interpreted the message from the author on a completely different way.

If you are going to leave a comment, make sure that you have read and understood the article to begin with.

5. Leaving a one-word comment

It might be the case that people leaving comments such as “Great!” or “Thanks!” truly read the article and mean it. Regardless, those comments will be considered as spam.

Just take the effort to come up with a complete sentence, will you?

6. Leaving a second trackback

If you link to another post on your blog, your blogging software will send a notice to that blog, which will in turn create a link pointing back to your post on the comments section. This is called a trackback.

Sometimes trackbacks will not work, and in this case you could leave a comment mentioning that you wrote about the post in question. If the trackback worked, however, you would be spamming that blog by leaving a second comment with a link pointing to your article.

7. Leaving a comment as if you are the know-it-all guru on the subject

Whenever I come across a comment that begins with “This is just stupid…” or “You are so wrong…” I already arm myself against potential nonsense ahead.

If you disagree with the opinions of the author, express it politely. Even if you are right about the issue you will be seen as a jerk if you come with the I-know-it-all attitude.

Just take it easy.

As a blogger, there are more than a few mistakes which can and will make you waste valuable time and resources, so that identifying them in order to be able to take action is simply a must.

Let’s not waste another second and start with:

1. Neglecting the Comments Section

The opportunity to interact with your readers is one of the most important things which makes blogging special in the first place. Never make the mistake of neglecting the community you can build around your blog through the comments section, or you will definitely end up regretting your attitude down the road.

2. Not Taking Feedback into Consideration

You will certainly receive your share of emails with suggestions on how to improve your blog, and not taking them into consideration would simply be a shame. After all, if a reader has taken the time to write you an email and share his or her two cents, listening to what that person has to say is the least you could do.

3. Taking Breaks From Blogging

You are obviously only human and will need to recharge your batteries every now and then, but that doesn’t mean that not publishing blog posts for several days in a row is the way to go. Take advantage of the timestamp feature, write a few blog posts before you leave and there you have it.

4. Seeing Blogging as a Chore

The “I’ll just write this post and get it over with” attitude is never recommended if you are serious about seeing long-term results. Pick a topic you are both passionate about and knowledgeable in, and make sure that your posts reflect the way you feel about blogging.

5. Not Respecting Your Readers

When interacting with readers, always be polite and helpful. Don’t look down upon a person simply because the question he or she has asked seems like something obvious. It may be obvious to you, but it may just represent something extremely important to a person who is just starting out. The same way, you should encourage the loyal members of your community to always be ready to help a fellow member out since, as I’ve previously stated, not taking advantage of the comments section would simply be a mistake.

Conclusion

I am convinced that it’s more than clear which blogging traps you need to avoid and, now that you have identified the problem, taking things to the next level is a must. Time is not exactly something you can afford to waste and, as a blogger, maximizing results is the way to go if you are serious about standing out.

What about you? Are you guilty of any of these and, also, which other blogging traps have you identified? What advice would you give to a blogger who is just starting out when it comes to the mistakes he or she should steer clear of?

Thoughts, creativity, and writing should flow freely and without tension. As I was writing an article a few months ago I noticed the strain in my stomach, neck, and jaw. I was straining to get the thoughts out. As if tensing my muscles would actually help me focus or even create something helpful to my readers.

My writing was strained because I was uptight through the process. The tension was creating pain and I knew that I needed to fix the way I wrote my blogs. I ignored it in the past because I thought it was normal, sprinting through my thoughts until I began to stumble, hoping that after the first push of energy was over I would have something concrete to work with. And even when I ended up with a minor headache it was okay because I accomplished the work I set out to do. This cycle couldn’t continue and I needed a system.

1. Outline, Outline, Outline

Writing was usually a chase for me. I would chase after the perfect sentences. A lot of times I would only have a flicker of a thought and begin writing – no planning, just bulldozing ahead, hoping it would all come out into something readable. Now I write a small outline to make sure I know where I’m going with the topic. The outline has reduced my tension because I can see the larger picture. When I get stuck, I check my outline and find myself getting back on track with minimal stress.

You may be a seasoned blogger that laughs at the idea of writing an outline, but if you are good at writing articles it’s because you lay out everything in your head. You may not physically write out an outline, but you probably do in your head. That’s what is important. You have a starting point, an argument that brings people to your side, and a conclusion that ties a neat bow on everything, leaving your audience wanting just a little more.

2. Watch How Your Body Reacts When Frustrated

The first thing I did when I couldn’t figure out how to flush out an idea was tense my stomach. I was building an internal wall instead of a bridge to my next thought. I would get upset because the process wasn’t smooth and I would tense my muscles in my neck and jaw, which caused tension headaches. When I would strain my stomach, my first reaction was to strain my neck and press my fingers on to my eyes. I’ve watched countless co-workers do this because they had stopped relaxing as they were working. My body was telling me I wasn’t acting with intelligence.

As one or any of these indications ping your consciousness you should instantly slow down and breathe into your stomach. Deep breathing usually helps me let go of my frustration. If that doesn’t work I take a break and come back to the article after I have cleared my head. This usually allows me to take a fresh perspective that helps me communicate my message with more clarity.

Your body reacts differently than your favorite bloggers or your friends. If these ideas don’t work for you then try a technique that may work for you. Maybe push-ups or a glass of herbal tea, but regardless of what techniques you use, you need to release your frustration quickly, so you can get back to writing that great post that your readers will love. A blogger that works happy can be felt by the reader.

3. Redirecting Your Thoughts

Sometimes we can let go of frustration, but we still can’t write. We try to push out ideas that just aren’t there. This tension needs to be replaced with a smarter habit. So I use the boomerang effect. When I hit a wall and the flow of thoughts are heading away from my goal of a cohesive piece I redirect my thoughts back to my subject. You can do this by asking yourself the simple question, “Where do I really want this to go?” If you are becoming confused and don’t know what you want to say then go back to your outline and your first paragraph and get a grasp or your original intent. Delete all the stuff that doesn’t fit in with your initial idea. Don’t try to make it fit, just delete it and get back to the core topic. By redirecting your thoughts toward your original idea you’ll create a more coherent piece of work.

Many times you’ll begin writing with just an idea and your keyboard, and hope for the best. If you do this your message is probably going to come out fractured. Always have a plan, and if you get frustrated just let the feelings go and come back to the reason you began the piece. Never be afraid to just scrap what you have and rewrite your game plan because you’ll end up with a better message than if you try to salvage a wreck of a blog.

This three step process will work with any writing project, so if you are writing a history paper or a magazine article then give it a try. You’ll notice that writing is much more enjoyable when you stop letting tension dictate how you operate during your creative process.

What is your favorite stress relief when you get frustrated?

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