Smartphone Blogging Basics for Smart Humans

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There are anywhere from 250 to 300 million blogs in existence on the web right now. All that competition means bloggers need the ability to update posts and moderate comments on the go. Smartphones have become extensions of the human hand and brain, to the point that some people are completely lost without their high-tech gadgets.

A survey by Prosper Insights and Analytics found that 61 percent of mobile phone users utilize their smartphones for all functions of life. While checking email, posting status updates on social media and entertainment all checked-in as popular reasons people use their mobile devices, blogging did not even register. And this may be because people are unaware of how to use smartphone technology for blogging.

WordPress For iOS and Android

Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little, the creators of WordPress, likely never imagined the blogging platform they created in 2003 would power nearly half of the top 100 blogs on the internet 10 years later. News and information websites like TechCrunch and Mashable are powered by WordPress, and even corporate CEOs like Ernst and Young’s Mark Weinberger use WordPpress for his blog. WordPress powers more than 63 million blogs total, according to Snitchim.com, so its likely yours is one of them.

There are free WordPress mobile apps available for Android, iPhone and Blackberry. The app allows you to do almost everything you can do on a laptop with WordPress. But there are some functions that you should probably avoid on the smartphone app versions. Editing HTML code or manipulating anything in your control panel is not a good idea on the mobile platform. One extra space or wrong character can cause headaches, and the small screen and touch keyboards only increase the probability for mistakes. WordPress mobile is great for moderating comments, editing existing content and doing research for an upcoming blog post you plan to publish. It is especially useful when you snap a photo or shoot video at a live event and are able to instantly upload it to your blog.

BlogPress

Several other blogging platforms exist not called WordPress, so the aforementioned app would obviously be useless to those using something else. BlogPress is available for $2.99 and compatible with all iOS devices. Once you download it, the app will prompt you to select the blogging platform you use: Joomla, Blogger, TypePad, etc. You can then enter your login information and access just about every feature you’d have on the desktop versions. The difference is that BlogPress offers a universal interface for all the different platforms, so the chance for malfunctions exists. One reviewer on CNET said he lost an entire draft when he tried to publish a new post. Just like the WordPress app, avoid writing new posts and changing HTML to minimize these potential disasters.

The Mobile Revolution

Smartphones and other mobile devices are quickly replacing the desktop PC as the tool of choice to surf the web. The Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 55 percent of adults used their smartphone to surf the web in 2012. That means more people than ever are viewing your blog from a mobile device than a laptop. Visiting your own site from mobile platforms allows you to see what others are seeing so you can make adjustments where necessary. You can also post and like comments to see how those functions work as well.