Plan your blog

A “blog” is a particular type of website that is very easy to publish and update. The name comes from 'web-log", the idea being that it is regularly updated with new ideas and events. Here you will learn how to set up and run your blog, and most importantly why this can be the right medium to build up your campaign and get your message across in a dynamic and interactive way.

One of the reasons that blogging is so popular is that setting up a blog and adding content, can be as easy as setting up a web-based email account and sending an email message. One of the easiest blogging tools to use is Wordpress. You could also look at Tumblr, which is even quicker to set up and use, but not quite as flexible. There is no harm in experimenting as you can always delete a blog you don't want to keep.

You can have a blog on it’s own, accessed through a URL like a stand-alone website. You can also incorporate one into your organisation’s website, especially if you are using a Content Management System.

A blog can combine text, images, audio or video along with links to other web pages and related media. You can use it frequently or occasionally. And most importantly, it is easy to create and simple to maintain.

If you are running a small campaign and want to regularly update your target community and peers about your activities, or you are looking for a way to frequently publish small pieces of information, a blog could be ideal and much easier to set up and keep running than a website but pretty much the same to the reader.

Have a look at some of the blogging stories from around the world in our 'Examples' section.

What's the difference between blogs & websites?

This is a common question and fairly easy to answer. A blog is a
website, but a particular kind. The line between the two terms can be
blurred.

A blogging section can be integrated into a broader website structure
or you can create your website from scratch around a blogging template
and content management system.

Blogs are usually identified by having regular entries, published like
an online journal or web-log (hence "blog"). The most recent entry is
at the top.

Blogs are a dynamic option for your website - which give personality,
connection and high search engine rankings. There are many benefits to
be gained and you do not have to do it all yourself.

Blogs & the social web

Vast numbers of people are using blogs, social networks, photo and
video sharing sites, and these are important marketing and engagement
tools. Building your buzz in these spaces is a good way to recruit
advocates to your cause.

Getting the right bloggers to write about your campaigns (blog
outreach) is a good way to reach interested people. So if you're
working in human rights, you could start by contacting these human
right bloggers.

You can also integrate your own and your stakeholder's social media feeds into your blog or website to keep it vibrant

Build traffic and search rankings by exchanging links with relevant blogs and other sites, and remember that a personal request works best.

A good way to start is by commenting on other blogs that are writing about your topics. It's also a good idea to have a blog as part of your site; it's an easy way to keep the content fresh and the site alive.

Learn what kind of blog posts will attract traffic - sometimes it's a simple as using the right headline. No one knows for sure which blog posts will attract traffic, although there are many different opinions. The main thing is to develop an authentic voice, and monitor your web stats to learn what your audience like.

Your blog can be a tool for focusing your audience on specific points and perspectives. To accomplish this, it is important to be focused about developing your content, and to consider all relevant variables.

• Define your audience — Is your audience local, national, regional or international? You need to think about prioritising the four depending on your organisation’s mission statement, aims and objectives. You may wish to define a primary and secondary audience, this may effect which language/s your blog is in.
• Define your message — Be clear on what you want your blog to do. Is it to campaign for a specific change on an issue? Is it to inform on the work of your organisation? Is it to document for example human rights abuses? Is it for all three?
• Identify your allies — Identify those organisations and groups who are able and willing to support and work with you. You can link to them on the front page of your blog in what is called a “blogroll.” You can also link to their content in your posts, and pursue collaboration in content production.
• Utilise categories & tags — Blogs allow you and your readers to assign topic codes to each post. “Categories” are managed by the blog authors, and are used to index or organise your posts into subject headings. You can select any number of headings for your blog such as: environment, health, education. Although you can use as many categories for each post, too many can be confusing. “Tags” are keywords that you can freely add, they are not fixed like categories. Instead of working like headings, they are used to help searches and inform people about the content of your post. Tags are used extensively in blogging and social networking sites such as Flickr, YouTube, etc.
• Choose language carefully — Choosing which language you wish to use on your blog is an important decision. It is important for us to consider using appropriate local languages when communicating with others. However this has to be weighed against using languages with a larger footprint that may reach a wider audience, such as English, Spanish or French. In an ideal world bloggers could translate their blogs into a number of languages such as a local language and a more 'international' langauge, but this creates more work and requires a higher level of technical skill and additional software.

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