Starting a Blog

Are you considering starting a blog for your business? Or do you just want to start a blog for your own personal use? If so, there are a few things you need to consider before you start.

A blog is another name for a weblog. Which is an online journal or diary that is updated on a regular basis. This can be as often as daily, or as long as monthly. The key is to give your readers regular updates.

All you need to start your own blog is a computer, some typing skills, and the urge to write about something you enjoy. In the beginning blogs were usually started by college students and teens. Now, almost everyone has heard of them, read them and even started them. No matter what age you are it’s extremely simple these days to start your own blog and express yourself, and maybe even make a little money from the effort.

Before you decide to jump into blogging it is important to determine the purpose for your blog.

First, think about what your blog’s topic will be. If you’re new to blogging, you can start learning about the ins and outs of blogging by creating a personal blog. But if you prefer to talk about something less personal and you are an expert on a specific topic like computer programing for example, then you may want to start with a more professional blog. If you own a business then writing about your business can bring you new readers and customers.

There are a wide variety of choices when it comes to blogging.
For instance you could start:

Political blog – Where you can freely discuss your political
views and help promote your favorite candidates.

Opinion blog – so that you can release your personal
frustrations or talk about the details of daily life.

Niche blog – where you can talk about a specific topic or
hobby that you are passionate about.

Educational blog – to share your knowledge on a topic
that you know a lot about.

Promotion blog – if you have a business that you want to
share with the world, then blogging is a great way to reach
customers around the globe.

There are so many options available when it comes to blogging and the choice is ultimately yours as to what direction you want to take your blog in.

After you have decided on a topic you will need to consider which blog platform to use. If you are new at this then you may benefit from a free easy to use platform. If you have some experience with how blogs work and want to host your blog on your own domain then WordPress will serve you well. If you want a professional look to your blog I can set your blog up and have you up and running in a very short time for a reasonable fee. This may be a great option for a business who also needs a web site or who has a web site but needs an additional marketing avenue. Contact me for details and pricing.

The only other thing to consider before using a free blog platform like Blogger is that your blog’s web address will look like this http://www.blogname.blogspot.com. However, if you choose to get a domain name registered and host it then you can lose the blogspot.com part and your blog address will be something like http://www.mycoolblogname.com instead!

Now that you have picked a topic and chosen a platform it’s time to start posting entries on you new blog. Blog entries or blog posts are just bits of information that you put in your blog. They can be as simple a short sentence or as long as an article or report. You can post pictures, audio and even videos if you like. If you want more readers to take notice of your blog provide them with helpful and interesting content. A steady or even increasing traffic flow is one of the major goals of bloggers. Posting quality content is the key to achieving a faithful following.

Once you have gotten the hang of creating and updating your blog you may want to think about adding features  such as plugins that keep track of your visitors and other plugins that will help your blog become more attractive and user friendly for readers.

Now you know exactly what a blog is and how you can start one. Whether you want a blog to just talk about your day or to endorse your business the key thing to remember is to always offer useful, enlightening and entertaining content that will keep your readers happy and engaged! If you do that your blog will be a success.

If you want to learn all about WordPress click this link: Take Your WordPress Skills To The Next level!

Let me know your thoughts or comments below.