How to Create Your First Blog
I’ve been running a blog for about two years now, and I’m surprised at the number of visitors I get from my blog and the range of folks who inform me that they first heard about me from my weblog instead of my website. The word blog derives from the term “net log,” a web diary or magazine. If the HBO series “Sex and the City” were being filmed these days, I assume Carrie Bradshaw would be a blogger and a columnist. Why? As she studies her revelations about lifestyles, love, and relationships, she ought to publish them on her blog for the arena to peer and comment upon.
Blogging has opened website introductions to almost anyone because it takes little or no know-how to get a blog up and running. In fact, many provider business owners use a blog platform as their number one website. Some create static pages, as you would find on a conventional website, while others often use the platform as a blog and post updates.
1. Search engines love blogs. The approach that is attractive to engines like Google these days is regularly updated content. I can log in to my weblog at the beginning of the afternoon and post a submission. Within 24 hours, I’ll be notified from my Google Alerts account that Google has indexed that publication.
2. Content can be dispensed quickly. If you educate your traffic to join your blog by offering updates to Bloglines or Feedblitz, they’ll be notified within hours of any new posts to your weblog.
3. Little net programming knowledge is needed. Once your blog is installed, you can simply log into your account, type the info for your post, include photos or photographs as desired, and publish your post.
Four. Reader remarks. Your readers can come up with comments and feedback about your posts immediately when you log an entry. Blogs are a remarkable way to engage your target market.
Are ezines and traditional websites dead? No, because people eat statistics differently. Some are auditory learners and like to hear the information (the notable target market for podcasting and the audio shape of running a blog). Some prefer to acquire updates as they’re published (weblog readers), whilst others like a stable, stationary medium to which they can refer. At the same time, they’re geared up (readers who archive ezines or bookmark net pages).
How do you begin to weblog? Here are ten simple steps you could comply with:
1. Blogging platform. The simplest way to get started is to use the unfastened carrier observed at Blogger.com or WordPress.com. The loose offerings restrain the capacity to customize your blog, so I urge my customers to enroll in Typepad.Com to host your weblog on their servers or buy a hosting account wherein WordPress may be set up. The downloadable WordPress model is available at WordPress.Org and is free of charge if you want to use WordPress yourself for your web hosting account. I use Typepad for my blog so that many examples will relate completely to blogs hosted on that platform.
2. Name. What do you want to name your weblog? Blog names tend to be attention-getting and stale-beat. However, when naming their blog for service organizations, I inspire my customers to use key phrases essential to their commercial enterprise. You may also need to acquire the the.Com version of your blog’s name or your blog’s name with the word “blog” attached as your weblog URL. After you have set up your weblog, your weblog provider can develop greater information about how to map your domain for your weblog. (Note: You do not want to truly forward your weblog in your area call, as that impacts the URLs of your man or woman weblog pages).
3. Look and Layout. How many columns do you need to display? Do you need links to static pages? What shades do you want to apply? How about a signup container for an unfastened giveaway? Should you operate one of the templates provided or have something custom-designed? Do you need your blog data displayed? Do you want to be the only writer, or do you want to allow others to make posts properly? You’ll be asked many questions within the startup section about the appearance of your blog. A Typepad weblog will let you alternate your mind about your format later. A nice way of deciding on your weblog’s look is to observe the layout of other blogs and choose what appeals to you.
4. Widgets. You could include several widgets or upload-on packages in your weblog. Check your weblog software’s site for more information about what features you want to upload on your weblog. At a minimum, as cited earlier, you may want to offer visitors more than one way to get hold of weblog updates via numerous updaters or feeder services.
5. Comments. The most modern sp*am making its rounds online is comment sp*am. Don’t those guys have anything higher to do? Set your comments to moderated; you must approve any comments in your blog before the post goes live. You’ll shop yourself foraches and time by selecting to mild the remarks.
Once you’ve gotten this far, you need to have a simple blog hooked up and be equipped to begin blogging.
6. Blog content. The time has arrived — your blog is prepared to accept posts. What do you write about? You can post content material, wealth articles of interest in your goal marketplace, comment on a current event, solution questions from your site visitors, present a before and after case, take a look at outlining how your business helped someone, etc. Keep your eyes and ears open for information applicable to your target market. I use my blog to bring data that doesn’t match well into my e-newsletter format or something that arises between newsletter troubles. I submit my ezine content to my weblog as nicely.
7. Posting frequency. Blogs are just like gardens — they need watering regularly and require a little care and attention. For maximum effectiveness, you must submit several weekly instances in your blog. I try to put up 4 times a week in my weblog — 2 posts are items I run across or comment upon as noteworthy inside the second, and the latter 2 are the contents of my ezine posted over 2 days. And respond to readers’ comments while they come. Blogs provide a fantastic discussion board for ongoing discussions.
