How to Make a Genealogy Blog
An Affordable and Effective Choice for a Genealogy Website
Jan 24, 2009
A genea-blog is a blog for a family historian to post about his or her on-going ancestry search. Thomas MacEntee, who runs the Genea-Bloggers group on Facebook, says harnessing the power of search engines is one reason family historians and genealogists are turning to blogs for their genealogy research.
“If you have a genealogy blog, the surnames you are researching get picked up by the major search engines such as Google,” explained MacEntee in an email. “For this sole reason, many genealogists and family historians will simply post their data. I can’t tell you how many stories I hear from fellow genea-bloggers about finding long lost cousins or even family relatives they never knew existed."
Saving Money and the Environment By Blogging for Genealogy Research
“Traditional research can be costly,” advised MacEntee. Researching family history may involve travel expenses to go to court houses, city halls and archives to look up original source materials, as well as the cost of photocopying documents.
With free blog providers such as Blogger or WordPress, a genea-blog is one way for someone performing genealogy research to save money. “With the current economy, many of us are choosing not to ‘go local’ but to ‘go global’ and use the Internet for various resources,” explained MacEntee. “It also is much more ‘green’ in that it doesn’t leave as big a carbon footprint as traditional research.”
How to Get Started with a Genealogy Blog
MacEntee recommends that anyone interested in researching family history by creating a genea-blog join the “Genea-Bloggers” group on Facebook. “It is the best way to get started and to ask for assistance,” he said. “If someone has never blogged before, they will find a welcoming group of people who are willing to show them the ropes.”
Anyone new to Facebook and blogs in general can visit the Facebook Bootcamp for Genea-Bloggers. The technical blog explains how to use both Facebook and blogging platforms for genealogy research. “It shows them how to participate in carnivals, how to add a badge to their blog, how to burn a feed, etc.,” MacEntee explained.
Two Important Resources for Blogging about Family History
MacEntee has also set up a website called GeneaBloggers as well as a project called gene@pedia. Gene@pedia, MacEntee explained, “is a communal information resource so that new genea-bloggers can look up information on the genea-blogging community. It is also another way for genea-bloggers to market their blogs as well as vendors and associations to market their services.”
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