When blogging, it’s considered appropriate to attribute photos, information and just about everything else to wherever you found it. The format can be relatively simple: it should be a link to the source website, preferably the specific page where you found the media in question. If it’s a website that includes content from many users, it’s appropriate to note the user name of the person who added the information you’re referring to.

Jeri Dansky, a blogger and magazine editor, notes that convention requires you to follow instructions for attribution, when available: “Sometimes people will give you explicit instructions on how to handle the attribution, and then I follow those instructions…If I’m using a photo (or text) licensed under Creative Commons, I note that. (Creative Commons provides information on how to give credit.)”

If you do not have instructions on how to attribute information, it’s up to you to create a style that works for you blog. The important thing is to use that style consistently. Especially with concerns about anchor text, it’s important to have a consistent way of deciding how links will read on your blog.

For many bloggers, acknowledging how they found a particular piece of information is important. Jeri uses a simple format: “If I’m acknowledging a source – another blog, for example – that pointed me to something else, I’ll use a [via source] type of text link – where “source” would be the other blogger, with a link to the blog. That’s what other bloggers I respect seem to do, so I follow their lead.”

Many blogs offset sources in some manner. BoingBoing offers a link to sources below the main text of a post, for instance, while Gizmodo offsets sources links in brackets.

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Magazines and newspapers have always made a point of checking facts before they publish them. At many big publications, there is an employee who’s sole responsibility is to take every article the publication plans to run and double check the facts. That can include calling sources to confirm quotes, researching statistics and even making sure that details thrown in more for style than for fact — like the weather on the day of that a particular interview took place — is correct.

Unfortunately, most blogs just don’t have the resources to handle a similar level of fact checking. When you’re a one-guy or gal operation, you aren’t often in a position to hire a fact-checker.

But at least some fact checking is necessary for ensuring that you turn out reputable posts. Lynda McDaniel, a business writing coach and Director of the Association for Creative Business Writing, fact checks her own work as necessary: “I usually interview people for my facts, so I know where I got the information. (Even so, I let my sources check their quotes to make sure I got it right.)”

As a blogger, you can take similar steps. Making sure that you’ve gotten quotes down correctly is an important first step, but verifying the story behind them can be equally important. Lynda points out, “Don’t assume something another blogger or even some journalists said is true (especially from media with a strong, obvious bias). You have to check it out. We’re seeing a lot of half-baked ideas spread like wildfire because someone picked up on a salacious rumor. Listen to that voice within when it tugs at you. You’re on deadline, you want to hit ’send’; you’re in a hurry, so you don’t want to take time to check. But do it. That voice is telling you something needs to be checked. Your intuition is helping you do a better job.”

Even small details deserve extra attention. Check that you’ve spelled names correctly, posted the right locations and times for events and so on. You wouldn’t want another blogger to misspell your name, after all, so why should you let that happen to someone else.

You may be primarily writing from the basis of opinion, but even then, it’s still important to make sure that you have the right facts. “If…you are writing more from your own head, sharing an opinion, for example, check assumptions you’ve made, verify them through Google, newspapers, books or a phone call.”

Your blog posts will be stronger if you’re sure of the facts they rely on.

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Unless you’re blogging for a very specialized audience — such as on an internal blog limited to members of organization — it’s important to keep the reading level manageable. It’s not a question of how smart your readers are. Instead, it’s a matter of how much time they’re able to devote to your post.

Angie Banicki is the blogger behind Angie’s 30 Before 30, as well as a publicist. Her biggest recommendation for styling your blog posts is to keep it quick and easy to read. It’s not a question of length, but rather of formatting and engagement.

Angie points to the short attention span of readers: “I always try and think about what would personally keep me engaged. I generally go back at least three times and shave off sentences. It’s a bit of the twitter method: less characters – short and tweet.”

You can use the format of your post to help break up the text for readers: use photos to tell a story or explain a point, as well as lists and formatting to make the text visually appealing.

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Rod Holmes, of Chicago Style SEO, relies on the Chicago Manual of Style when it comes to writing blog posts. But there are some gaps between the style that the manual sets forth for print and what bloggers routinely run in to: “Everything from the small (how to format hyperlinks—do you include ending punctuation in the link or not) to proper use of sub-headers. All of these issues have SEO ramifications as well. From an SEO perspective, its best to not have the closing punctuation in the link, and liberal use of sub-headers (when properly formatted in the HTML) is vital.”

While some bloggers may want to be above the nitty-gritty details of SEO, the fact remains that you want the search engines to be able to read your blog posts. That means getting your links right, among other things.

Rod offers advice that does double duty for SEO and style:

1. Include links in naturally written text; don’t write the text with linking in mind. This means don’t use links like click here or link:
   Good: My favorite pizza in Chicago is from Bob’s Wizz Bang Pizza.
   Bad: Click here to see my favorite pizza restaurant in Chicago: Bob’s Wizz Bang Pizza.

   Also, the more keywords the link text (also called, “anchor text”) contain, the better they are for SEO.

2. Don’t include closing punctuation in link anchor text.
   Good: I recommend Chicago Style SEO.
   Bad: I recommend Chicago Style SEO.
3. Use sub-headers ever two or three paragraphs. The sub-headers should contain keywords related to the article and the paragraphs below. These sub-headers are important to readers, most of whom tend to skim and scan looking for what they want to read. Sub-headers are also very important for SEO if they are properly formatted. An example would be, <h3>Important Style and SEO Tips</h3>. These tags tell the search engines that this is a third level header and should be given more weight than the rest of the text.

Not only do these points make it easier for your posts to be found online, but they also make them easier to read for human readers.

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Jenny Greenleaf has four books available — but driving around the country, holding book signings for each one isn’t an option. Instead, she’s holding a virtual book signing on Facebook.

How? Each book has its own custom bookplate designed and signed by Jennifer Greenleaf. All customers have to do is forward their receipt to Jennifer once the purchase has been made, and then they will receive their signed bookplate. The email you need to use in order to receive your custom bookplate is jgbooksigning@aol.com.

She agreed to answer a few questions for us about how her virtual book signing is working.

How did you get the idea of a virtual book signing?

I had heard of another author doing one years ago, but their name escapes me.  I remember participating and thinking it was a great way to allow people from all over the place to attend (even if it wasn’t face to face) the event.

Can you describe how you’re conducting your virtual book signing?

Each time someone purchases one of my books, they forward their receipt to jgbooksigning@aol.com.  From there, I’ll forward them a custom book plate.  Each book has its own one-of-a-kind plate, so customers who buy more than one title will receive bookplates that are different from each other.

What kind of response have you had to the event?

It’s been interesting!  There are a handful of people who aren’t attending because they still think they have to go somewhere to participate, and there are others who are wishing it could be on Skype.  I”m considering that for future events because, to be honest, that thought hadn’t crossed my mind until it was brought to my attention the other day.

What books are you making available through your book signing?

• 101 Mixed-Media Art Projects, How-to’s & Ideas: A Beginner’s Guide to Messy Art Without Rules! (Volume 1)
• Maine Living: One Writer’s Perspective (Volume 1)
• While We’re Apart: A Fill in the Blank Book (Volume 1)
• WWhile We’re Still Apart: A Fill in the Blank Book (Volume 2)

The Future of Book Signings

I’ve seen a lot of authors looking for alternatives to the traditional book signing lately. Between the fact that publishers aren’t offering much help in that department and the ever widening geographic area many authors are dealing with these days, it’s tough to plan a big publicity tour. I think that Jenny’s approach is just the beginning as writers look for new ways to connect with their readers online.

You can learn more about Jenny at her blog.

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One of the most important aspects of writing online is getting published online. Publication can take many forms, from a very short story sent out over Twitter to a guest post to an online magazine. Finding these opportunities can be difficult, though. In order to simplify the process, we’re creating a directory of online opportunities.

We’re using a couple of different criteria to determine whether to include a site in the directory, but one of the most important aspects is payment. If a site does not pay contributors, it will not be included in the directory. That said, payment can differ dramatically from site to site. Twitter markets may pay only a dollar or so for a piece of work, while online magazines may pay hundreds of dollars. Many writers prefer to avoid lower paying opportunities, but especially when a writer is starting out, any opportunity may be worthwhile. With that in mind, we’ll try to include any payment that seems reasonable, but leave out those that are more along the lines of slave wages.

You can also submit your own links to help out other writers working online. There is an approval process in place to ensure that spammers cannot slip in a site that won’t be useful, however. I think we can build a very worthwhile database that can be used to find lots of work for online writers.

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I live not too far from DC and I tend to talk to a lot of writers who also specialize in writing for online markets and clients. The combination of that career path and that geographic location means that I’m constantly meeting ex-AOL employees who have been writing online content for well over a decade…sometimes more than a decade or a half. It’s a constant wake-up call that online communication isn’t as new as we would like to think. It’s grown up, survived middle school and is on the verge of graduating from high school.

Changes In Online Content

There’s a certain sense that the world of online content is constantly changing — it goes hand in hand with the idea that it’s a brand new field that we’re still pioneering. The fact of the matter, though, is that the formats, styles and purposes of online content have gelled. Content is a valuable commodity online and the only real changes we’re seeing right now are new markets opening up.

Even Twitter, heralded as a brand new communications tool ready to change the world is on the verge of its fourth anniversary. Of course, new tools are rolling out — but how different is the writing on one website when compared with another?

I have heard from plenty of freelance writers that they’re not ready to focus on writing online content because everything’s changing too fast. Well, I’m calling you on it. Whether or not you’re interested in writing for the web, it’s not a question of a fast-changing medium.

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Today is a tough time to be a writing site covering a wide variety of topics — it’s easy to get painted with the same brush as many of the content mills out there. In order to make sure the site can stand out, Suite101 is looking for a new tagline that can help visitors understand the difference between Suite101 and other writing sites.

“We’ve been using ‘The genuine article. Literally’ as our tagline for years. With a recent site redesign we need a new tagline,” said Peter Berger, the CEO of Suite101, said in a press release. “Since we’re a network of great writers we wanted to ask them—and the broader writing world—for suggestions.”

The company is offering $1,000 to any writer who can come up with a new tagline for the site. You do have to be based in North America to enter a tagline, but this could be a great opportunity for a writer with a flair for summing up an entire site’s characteristics in a few words. The second prize for the contest is a Kindle eBook Reader.

Specifically, Suite101 is looking for a tagline that communicates the following:

Quality, Quality, Quality: We take pride in publishing great articles by skilled writers and think this sets us apart from other sites. Where else do you get guidance from a professional editorial team?

Open to All: Even if you don’t think of yourself as a professional journalist—you may have the writing chops we’re looking for. We need to tell experts, aficionados, pros and even students and novice writers: you’re welcome to apply.

Friendly…but Selective: Our doors are open wide but we’re picky too! Help us communicate that we welcome all applicants but only accept stellar writing submissions.

Descriptive: Our name “Suite101” doesn’t scratch the surface of who we are. We need a tagline to help clarify. Are we a writers’ network? An online publisher? A magazine? A content curator?

You have until the end of the day on January 31st to enter your tagline through the form Suite101 is using to collect entries. You can submit up to three entries, each of which must be 40 characters or fewer in length. That includes spaces and punctuation. Finalists will be voted on by Suite101’s community of 8,000 writers during the month of February.

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The term ‘blogger’ doesn’t always automatically lead us to think of professionals, working with a business to communicate with customers and clients. You might come up with an image of someone operating what amounts to an online diary in the hope of making it big. However, the number of businesses operating blogs are booming. These businesses need bloggers able to effectively communicate about their products and services. This creates an opportunity for business bloggers.

The Biggest Difference

The key difference between a business blogger and someone running a blog for their own amusement is not the topic. Instead, it’s a question of professionalism. There are plenty of bloggers out there who write about business topics on their own time; as a professional, however, you must focus on putting together interesting content with a purpose beyond your own interests. There are other differences, of course: bloggers writing for clients are expected to be able to edit their own work, meet client requirements and build a lasting following. But the biggest concern is always the purpose of the blog posts you create.

Writing for a Purpose

Every client you will ever blog for has a goal for his business blog. That goal can be increasing the number of sales or it can be building an email list. It may even be combination of goals. Each post you write must be written with that goal in mind. Not all posts will be a direct review of a product, of course. But an interview or a report of industry news should be crafted with the idea of interesting clients and customers in making a purchase or signing up for more information.

To meet those ends, first and foremost, a business blogger has to be able to create readable content.

• Minimize typos and other errors. Each post should meet professional standards.
• Keep it simple. While you may write for industries that use jargon, keep it simple so that any layman stumbling across a blog post can understand it. Explain (or link to explanations) as necessary.
• Focus on key concepts. Wherever you can, keep your writing short and sweet. Avoid tangents.

Business blogs also require authoritative content. While you may not be an expert in every field you write about, you need create an authoritative feeling to the content you write.

• Research your topic. While time may limit the level of fact-checking you can do, make a point of verifying facts to the best of your ability.
• Eliminate hedging. Phrases like “I think” or “Maybe” detract from your posts. Take up a position and be firm about it.
• Link to other authorities. While linking to other bloggers and websites is important double check what you’re linking to in order to be sure it’s worthwhile.

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Most of us rely on what amounts to a gut feeling to judge whether one blogger is better than another. We’ll often discount bloggers based on not having their own domain, or consider a blogger to be better if he guest blogs on a big name site. But there aren’t a lot of metrics for ranking one blogger over another. Scribnia aims to change that.

Scribnia describes itself as a ‘rating and discovery engine for bloggers and columnists.’ By visiting the site, you’re supposed to be able to find better writers. It’s not particularly clear who needs to find better writers in this context — are readers looking for interesting and relevant bloggers who write something they want to read? Readers’ searches and comments seem to be the overall focus of the site. Readers can comment about individual bloggers and hopefully boost them up the ranking board. They can also provide ‘context ratings’ that show where a blogger’s focus is.

I think these sorts of comparisons can be useful: when a blogger or online writer is looking to pick up new work, having an objective score that ranks us against other writers is useful (especially if we rank well). But there is little incentive for readers to submit rankings. There’s even less if they have to leave your site to do so. I just don’t see this sort of ranking system catching on unless it reaches a level of critical mass quickly. Technorati is just about the only ranking tool out there that has really reached that level at this point.

Until something comparable catches on for bloggers looking for gigs, other metrics — like page views, social networking connections and blogging experience — is just going to have to do. While this information won’t point to one blogger being better than another, it does provide a somewhat objective view of a blogger’s abilities.

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