blogging 101 by riccardo schiaffino and corinne mckay ata 52nd annual conference boston, october...

Blogging 101Blogging 101by Riccardo Schiaffino and Corinne

McKay

ATA 52nd Annual ConferenceBoston, October 26-29 2011

© Riccardo Schiaffino, Corinne McKay 2011

present...present...

andand

IntroductionIntroduction

• An interesting blog may be a good way to boost your presence on line.


• And this, not only if you are looking for translation blogs, but also if you are looking for "translation" in general:


• However, to help boost your sales you have to plan carefully what to write to attract not only other translators but your clients and prospects.

Purpose of blogsPurpose of blogs

• Blogs are often considered personal diaries• They also have other uses

– Professional brochure– Dynamic web site– Other uses

• Some people don't use their blogs to communicate with readers; for example, there is a translator who uses his blog as a repository for his glossaries, and I think it would be

possible to find other uses for a blog.

How to start your own blogHow to start your own blog

• Starting a blog– Starting a blog is simple. You can just go to one of the

various free blogging platforms, create an account, select a template, and start blogging.

– Keeping it up and making it interesting for yourself and for others, however, requires dedication

– Blog only if you like to write, and you are confident you'll have the constancy to do it. If you are bored by your blog (maybe you have chosen topics not because they interest you, but only because you thought they may attract more readers), it will be even more boring for your readers.


• Domains– You should get your own domain for your blog. – Even if you don't start hosting your blog on your own

domain, it is a good idea to buy the domain name: you can use it later, and at least this way you prevent others from using it.


• Redirects– If you can, also get names and domains that are

similar to your own, then redirect your traffic from them to your main blog or site.


• Redirects– For example, besides

http://aboutranslation.blogspot.com, I have http://abouttranslation.blogspot.com (two t's). I created that blog with the sole purpose of redirecting to About Translation..

http://aboutranslation.blogspot.com/

http://abouttranslation.blogspot.com/


• Free blogging platforms– Blogger and WordPress. Blogger (owned by Google)

is free. WordPress also is free, but you may have to pay for some features. There are other blogging platforms available, both free and not, such as TypePad Micro, etc.

• Blogger

https://www.blogger.com • WordPress

http://wordpress.com• TypePad

http://www.typepad.com/features

http://wordpress.com/


• Other blogging software–If you already have a web site, your host probably offers installable blogging software as a part of the services included in your hosting package. Our company’s hosting service, for example, offers WordPress. If you plan to install blogging software on your web site, the choice of free platforms is even wider, with WordPress, Movable Type, TextPattern and Serendipity among the leading contenders.•TextPattern

http://textpattern.com•Movable Type

http://www.movabletype.org•Serendipity

http://www.s9y.org

http://textpattern.com/

http://www.movabletype.org/

http://www.s9y.org/


• Creating an account– Blogger

• Go to https://www.blogger.com• Sign in using your Google Account login• Click on Get Started

– WordPress• Go to http://wordpress.com• Click on Sign up now

https://www.blogger.com/start

http://wordpress.com/


• Selecting and using a template– Blogger

• Once you have created your blog, you have access to a dashboard for all your blogs.


• Selecting and using a template

Using the Template link, you can browse from the available templates, and in Layout you can edit and customize it.

Warning: if you plan change you template significantly, be ready to get your hands dirty with HTML, XML and CSS.

From your dashboard you can also add posts and pages, view the stats for your blog, adjust your settings and moderate your comments.


• Selecting a template– WordPress

• Once you have created your blog, you have access to a dashboard for all your WordPress blogs.

• Select a blog, select Appearance

• You get to the Manage Themes page, where you can browse and select from the available themes

• Once you have selected a theme, you may customize it

• In WordPress, some of the features are available only to paying customers, but there is plenty of scope just using the free ones.

How to personalize your How to personalize your blogblog

– All blogging platforms offer many templates you can choose from. At first you might want to select a template and use it “as is”; later you may decide to customize it. Customizing an existing template may vary from easy to difficult.

– You can add an RSS / Atom feed to your blog (so people may subscribe to it and follow it with readers such as Google Reader)

– Reader comments – Tabs and info about your blog– Statistics– Other things


– Reader comments • Decide how to handle comments

– Allow them or not– Moderate them or not– Moderate only those that are older than a certain number

of days. – Beware of blog spam (comments left on blog posts with

the only purpose to attract visitors to some Web site or other page).


– Tabs and info about your blog • If your blogging platform features them, use tabs or

separate pages.

• You can have one page for your posts, and other pages for more permanent information (about you, your blog, links to your best articles, and so on).


– Statistics • Not only will they tell you how many hits you got,

but also which pages attracted the most visitors, where your reader came from, and technical information such as the operating system and browser used by your visitors.

• Some blogging platforms offer tools to track statistics. In Blogger you can use Blogger’s own, or you can add them yourself.

• http://www.google.com/analytics/• http://sitemeter.com/• http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/counter/index.php

http://www.google.com/analytics/

http://sitemeter.com/

http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/counter/index.php


– Other ways you can personalize your blog • Many gadgets are available to help making your blog more

attractive: – Blogroll (a list of links to other blogs)– Buttons that show your blog ratings – Links to your archive (the list of your

older posts)– Categories or tags to help users find

your posts on a specific subject– Search box to allow readers to find

specific topics– Your ATA certification stamp– Slideshows– Polls– etc.


• Creating your own title banner using a graphics program helps making your blog stand out


• …or you can have your banner created by a professional, and use it to establish your brand

How to write your blogHow to write your blog

• How to find topics to write about – Ideas from the work you are doing– Books you are reading– Tools you are using– Problems you are facing– Interesting news and information you have

found on other blogs or other web sites


• Decide what your target audience is: – Other translators – Prospects – Others

...and write with that in mind

Try to write simply and interestingly, if it bores you, it's going to bore your readers more


• How long should your posts be? – A good length is usually about one screen

(people don't want to scroll down too much when reading on-screen)


• Language – Decide in what language to write your blog

• Your native language • Your source language • A combination of both


– I usually write short blog posts in Blogger's built-in editor.


– I write longer articles using a dedicated blogging text editor (Windows Live Writer – http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer) which displays them as they will appear in the blog. Often, however, I start writing more important articles in longhand, then I edit and change them until I’m satisfied, and only then I paste them in Windows Live Writer, for the final layout touches.

– For some of my posts, I show an early version of them to my partner. This helps catching errors or unclear language.

http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer


• To edit my blog posts I often use Style Writer (available from Editor Software: http://www.editorsoftware.com), a program that helps tighten my writing.

http://www.editorsoftware.com/

How to make your blog How to make your blog knownknown

• Comment on other people's blogs

• Offer to exchange links

• Offer to guest blog

• Invite other people to guest blog on your blog

• Most of all, write something interesting

• Make sure your blog is public, and freely accessible by search engines

A short list of interesting A short list of interesting blogsblogs

• The following is a brief list of the translation and terminology blogs I read most often. There are, of course, many other excellent translation blogs: a good place to start to find good language blogs (including translation blogs) is the Lexiophiles’ Top 100 Language Blogs 2011 (http://www.lexiophiles.com/top-language-blogs-and-podcasts).

• About Translation – Riccardo’s blog: information, news, advice and opinions about professional translation http://aboutranslation.blogspot.com

• Thoughts On Translation – Corinne’s blog: an always interesting and useful blog by the author of “How to Succeed as a Freelance Translator” http://thoughtsontranslation.com/

• BIK Terminology – Barbara Inge Karsch: an excellent new blog on terminology http://bikterminology.com/

• Localization Industry 411 – Renato Beninatto: globalization, localization, translation, internationalization http://renatobeninatto.blogspot.com/

• Musings from an overworked translator – Jill Sommer: interesting thoughts on the translation industry and more http://translationmusings.com/

• Translation Times – Judy and Dagmar Jenner: a translation business blog by the authors of “The Entrepreneurial Linguist” http://translationtimes.blogspot.com/

• Translation Tribulations – Kevin Lossner: an exploration of translation technologies, marketing strategies, workflow optimization, resource reviews, controversies and more http://www.translationtribulations.com/

• Fidus Interpreter – Fabio Said: a very frequently updated (1,000 articles and counting) trilingual blog on professional translation by an expert Brazilian translator http://fidusinterpres.com /

Where to download this Where to download this presentationpresentation

• You can find the most updated version of this presentation on About Translation http://aboutranslation.blogspot.com

The EndThe End

Thank you!

From About Translation

http://aboutranslation.blogspot.com

and

Thoughts on Translation http://thoughtsontranslation.com

blogging 101 by riccardo schiaffino and corinne mckay ata 52nd annual conference boston, october...

Documents

interesting blog

blog domains

blog redirects

blog statistics

main blog

dedication blog

blog reader comments

introduction slide