When going to a website you have the address for, do you just type it in the Google or Yahoo search box?   You are creating more steps and possible confusion for yourself if you are not using the address bar when you have the address.

Address Bar versus Google Search

The address bar is at the top of the window. When you have the address of the website you’re going to, say for example www.Macys.com, go right to it by typing the address in the address bar. (Finish by pressing [Enter].)

You can use a Google or Yahoo search box to get there as well, but it is a SEARCH box that will show you search results first. You will have to locate the link you want in a cluttered screen full of search results.

A Google or Yahoo search box is best used for searching topics – when you don’t know where you need to go to find the information.  For example, say you want to find out about the Academy Awards.  You don’t have a specific address to go to – just a topic you want to search and explore.

In this Google search of Academy Awards 2012, Google finds 27,800,000 “hits” …

Top of a Google Search result indicates the number of results

Do you subscribe to any blogs?  The word “blog” comes from the term “Web Log.”  You can think of it as an online journal or magazine.  The articles are known as “posts.” 

You may have read blogs without realizing it.  If you search for a topic online and find an article about the topic you searched for – it may have been a blog post.  You can find blogs on about any topic you can think of. You can subscribe to receive all the latest posts.  More on subscribing below.

According to Technorati™ Media, there are 5 types of bloggers:  (From Technorati™ Media “State of the Blogosphere 2011.”, an annual study.)

1) Hobbyist: 60% of the respondents to this survey are Hobbyists, saying they “blog for fun” and do not report any income. Half of hobbyists prefer to express their “personal musings” when blogging. 60% indicate they spend less than three hours a week blogging, yet half of hobbyists respond individually to comments from readers. Because 72% blog to speak their minds, their main success metric is personal satisfaction (61%).

2-3) Professional Part- and Full-Timers: 18% of the total group. They are independent bloggers who either use blogging as a way to supplement their income, or consider it their full-time job. Most of these professional bloggers don’t consider blogging their primary source of income. This group primarily blogs about personal musings and technology

4) Corporate: Corporate bloggers make up 8% of the blogosphere. They blog as part of their full-time job or blog full-time for a company or organization they work for. These bloggers primarily talk about technology and business in their blogs. 70% blog to share expertise, 61% to gain professional recognition, and 52% to attract new clients. They have found that blogging has given them greater visibility in their industry (64%) and company (63%). 63% of corporate bloggers use their number of unique visitors to measure success.

5) Entrepreneurs: 13% of the blogosphere is characterized as entrepreneurs, or individuals blogging for a company or organization they own. 84% of these bloggers blog primarily about the industry they work in, with 46% blogging about business and 40% about technology. 76% blog to share expertise; 70% blog to gain professional recognition; and 68% to attract new clients for their business

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