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The Internet has revolutionized our world. It’s really that simple. The introduction of email has reshaped the way we live our lives and how we do business. It allows instant global communication for the masses - no matter where you are in the world you are never more than a quick email away from home. With progress came abuse in the form of spam or junk email. We’re all familiar with this particular problem. There is, however, a new problem. It’s called splogging - the son of spam.

Splogging refers to spammers using blogs (web logs) to profit from as a business. If you’re not familiar with the term blog it’s simply an online journal that legitimate businesses are using to great effect online. Blogs look and act just like normal websites but are usually updated daily by their owners - which search engines just love.

Sploggers are not using blogs legitimately however. It’s the same old routine. They’ve taken something that has real value and use and have now corrupted it for their own purposes. So spam blogs = splogs. It’s a cute name for something that has become a real problem online.

So what do sploggers do? It’s quite a simple process really. They use special software packages to generate hundreds or thousands of blogs each and every day. They then fill these blogs with crap content produced by other software packages - most of this content is barely readable. They then fill those pages of content with adverts. The splogs are then found by the search engines, people click on the ads and the splogger makes lots of money. The splogs are specifically built to offer no real value so that you’ll click on the Google or Yahoo ads instead. It’s a complete scam.

I’m sure you’re sick of seeing these spammy sites show up in search engine results. Splogging adds nothing to the online world and makes surfing the ‘net very frustrating. There’s a difference though. You can take direct action against sploggers.

What can you do?

If you ever see Google or Yahoo ads on these splogs then simply report the splog to the relevant search engine. They hate splogs because of the extremely poor quality of their content. You can report them by using the feedback link on the ads themselves. The splogger may receive a warning or in some cases Google and Yahoo will shut their accounts down completely. The end result is no more money for the splogger and no more splogs.

Help make the Internet a cleaner and more useful place to be. Report a splogger today.

This article was provided by Spam-Site.com where you can find more information on finding a reliable spam blocker.

With more companies adopting blogs, we’re starting to see what works and what doesn’t work from a design perspective. As a cue from Jakob Nielsen’s article on the topic, here are thing problems I often find.

Bad headlines. They’re frustrating. Some bloggers like to get creative… but creativity can affect search engine keyword opportunities. The important thing is that readers have a hint of what the post is about.

Links. Readers like to know where links take them and most of us rely on the status bar, but sometimes that doesn’t help. Some experts say to use click here to help those who are newer to the Web and others say that’s wrong, wrong, wrong. It just depends on the content. When linking, try to pick the best words that give readers an idea of what to expect.

Calendars as the only way to navigate a blog and impossible to find archives or older entries are big problems. I almost always resort to search when I want to find postings no longer on the home page. Unfortunately, some blogs don’t have search. That’s why I put archive links in my sidebar in both the blog and features section of the Web site. As my site goes through redesign, I’m making sure the archives are accessible especially in the features section. I found some old entries from 2001 that are still relevant today.

Bloggers must be regular. No bathroom jokes here, please. When a blog looks abandoned for a month… your audience is gone. They’ll take you off their feed reader and blogroll. If you plan not to do it again or take a long sabbatical… prepare to start over again when you return.

Keep the boss in mind even if your the head honcho. Always blog with a boss in mind. Will your boss (current and future) be offended by your posting? Not only do people get fired for their blogs, but also they could cost job offers. It wouldn’t surprise me if managers are Googling applicants while going through the interview process.

Junky URLs. Nielsen says having a typepad.com or blogspot.com equates to having a yahoo.com or aol.com email address. Some of the bigwigs use Blogspot or Typepad URLs. Guess what? I never remember their URLs. I have to rely on Google. So this makes sense, BUT I wouldn’t call it unprofessional.

Business blogging has many benefits and problems. Companies tread carefully when entering this new world. It’s wise to have policies on the approval process and what can and can’t be said. Like anything else in a business, blogs need to be evaluated to determine whether or not they fit the business’ model.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl’s notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn’t wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.