Once the preserve of computer hobbyists and marketing gurus, social web blogging is now an activity which has become truly main-stream: with over 160 million blogs in existence today, everyone and their dog now seems to be doing it…
The ubiquity of blogs can serve as a double-edged sword, however, for those new to this online phenomenon: on one hand, there are plenty of examples online from which to glean some inspiration – on the other, the sheer amount of content out there can make the experience of getting started a bit daunting: just how will your voice be heard in such a vast ocean of content?
Well, worry not – if you are finding the task of getting started with your blog a bit of a nightmare, we have some top tips to help you find your footing…
Establish a theme or topic that you want to focus upon in your blog
You may have any number of reasons for setting up a blog:
- You might want to use it to promote products or services that you are passionate about;
- Maybe you want to share your thoughts on a subject that is close to your heart;
- Or perhaps you are looking to simply generate a response, to connect with others…
Whatever your reasons for entering the world of blogging, it is important to decide upon a clear topic or theme that you will be generating content on: this will make it easier for you to engage with your intended audience and to keep some sort of consistency in place that will encourage people to:
A) Find your blog content.
B) Keep coming back for more.
Configure the blogging tools, theme design and hosting options for your blog
Once you have decided upon what your blog is going to be focussing upon, it will become much easier to start on the nitty-gritty of building up your new blog: thankfully, today’s suite of tools and resources make this super-simple to set up…
- Choose your tools: As a free, open-source bit of kit, WordPress is one of the most popular blogging tools out there (over 60 million websites are powered by this software) – making it a fantastic choice for all blogging beginners: however, there are other options out there – essentially, you’ll be looking for a content managed system which will allow you to easily publish and share your blog posts with the world: make sure to research your options carefully, before deciding upon what is the right choice for your blog.
- Choose or design a theme: Whilst your articles will be the most important element of your blog, it is also important that you don’t neglect how this content will be presented to the world: this is where ‘themes’ come in; luckily, there are plenty of free, open-source themes out there to choose from, especially if you use a well-supported blogging tool like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal; If, on the other hand, you have a clear idea about how you’d like your blog to look and feel, but can’t find a suitable theme online, you may wish to enlist the services of a web designer or a professional agency.
- Get hosting set up: Your choice of hosting is something that you’ll also need to carefully consider before you can start blogging:
If you’d like to go down the ‘free’ route and host your blog with a specialist provider, your blog may be supported by ads and you’ll most likely be limited in terms of your choice of domain name: the good news is that many of the bigger free blog hosting companies out there offer custom domains for a small fee;
Alternatively, you may wish to host your blog yourself: this will allow you to have more control over what appears on your blog and also choose your own domain name;
Make sure to look into what option is best for your blog, thinking carefully about what each option will cost you, how good the support will be and any other benefits/disadvantages that will come with your choice of hosting provider.
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