If you want to be "found" these days you need to be "tagged."
Growing up on a farm, we used to tag the cows with a little tag on their ear. It told us where the cow was from and ultimately that the cow belonged to us. You see, cows can be pretty dumb and they like to get out and mix in with other cows. Then you can't tell them apart!
To put it simply, the tags let us find the cows we were interested in -- ours!
Likewise, when you tag your post, people can easily find your blog information and you become a part of the "global web page" on your topic of interest.
For example, if you wanted to see Technorati's "global web page" on wiki education. (That's just one of my favorite tags.) So, you find the tags that are pertinent to your topic and you add them to your post.
The code is somewhat confusing, so here is how I simply add it to my blogger account. (I think there are other such plugins for wordpress and the other programs out there.)
1 - Use the firefox browser.
You can download it at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/. I personally use it because it is faster, easier, less prone to viruses and pop ups. I've been gradually installing it on my computers a school.
"Greetings fellow traveler. This is a GreaseMonkey user script. Click install to start using it."
If that doesn't appear, you are may also go to Tools and click Install this script.
4. Start tagging! Now, when you go into blogger, you'll see a new box called "Tags." That is where you use your tags. Just be consistent so people know where to go to find your stuff!
Also, don't use a million tags and make sure they are related to your topic or you will be making that awful canned lunchmeat -- SPAM out of your tags. That is a big no no and a good way to fall into blog oblivion!
5. Remember to ping! Finally, remember that you still need to ping the appropriate sites. What is a ping? This is a signal you send to the blog search engines that you have updated your blog and have a new post for them to look at. Once they've looked at you, people can find you. THat is how technorati can show this post minutes after I do it!
There is a way for the script we just downloaded to do this! OK! When you click post you'll be taken to your post screen. You'll see a ping-o-matic button! Just click it and you've pinged!
I have been going to technorati and have an account and ping it manually. I've also tried ping-o-matic out today but am not sure how fast it will go. There are some other services that will also work.
Help! The following hyperlinks will help you troubleshoot any problems.
I know there are a million ways to do this! I'm such a newbie! I thought it would be helpful to blog about it while I'm a newbie and before I forget how hard it is to figure some of this stuff out!
Please experts out there! If I made a mistake or there's something better to do please post it here! (Just don't make me look too much like a newbie!)
It's like my first podcast! It took me four hours to figure it out and set it up! After that it takes me less that 10 minutes!
Keep going edubloggers! It is a good thing we do! Find ways like this to automate! Don't be afraid of it, do it! I want to see more folks showing up in technorati and in the searches so that we can share the "how to" and best practices!
Thank you very much for this. I have just started an education-related blog and had been adding Technorati tags by writing out HTML. The Greesemonkey script makes it much easier!
Just added this plugin for GreaseMonkey - very cool! Thanks.
Just one thing I had a problem with that might need mentioning : this step/solution is from the GreaseMonkey help page:
"Head to blogger, & in settings > formatting, set "show link field" to "yes." This will allow you to see the extra compose fields that are added by the script."
Blogger introduced labels in its new blogging version. Is there a difference between labels and tags, and will they do the same thing, for instance in regard to Technorati?
I've been blogging for a few months and have only just heard about ping-o-matic from your blog Vicki. (I was actually looking for some indicators to help new bloggers, which I found). However, not sure what services to ping from the list? Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Marie - I usually wonder as well -- if you'll give me the current list, I'll let you know - Technorati, Icerocket, and Weblogs are always important ones, as for the others, just pick whichever. Would love to see current list and I'll let you know my opinion, but we may have to find someone who knows more than I about this question.
I'm trying to put tags in my blog. Im done with steps 1-3. But i coudn't relate with steps 4, and so on. I coudnt find a box named tag in mY blog. can you help me with this? tHanks a bunch!
Hmmm - Mechelle - the greasemonkey script may not be working any more. I'll have to update this - if you search for "technorati tag maker" you should turn up several great places to tag!
ITunesPodcast
Digg/coolcatteacher
Flickr/coolcatteacher
Facebook/Cool Cat Teacher
Friendster/Cool Cat Teacher
Linkedin/coolcatteacher
Twitter/coolcatteacher
YouTube/coolcatteacher
Del.icio.us/brightideasguru
Wikipedia/brightideasguru
coComment/coolcatteacher
Upcoming/Cool Cat Teacher
Technorati/brightideasguru
Blog/Cool Cat Teacher
Blippr/coolcatteacher
Thank you very much for this. I have just started an education-related blog and had been adding Technorati tags by writing out HTML. The Greesemonkey script makes it much easier!
http://extrarecess.blogspot.com