So you want to start a blog, but don’t know how to get started? There are several options including free and paid sites, so let’s take a look at how easy it is to get your blog up and running.
What is Your Niche
Before you get started, you must decide what your blog will be about. Will it be a diary of your thoughts, an information site for visitors, or a way to build a business? Whatever the case, it is important that you have an idea in mind beforehand. Use keyword research tools and try to find a large audience that isn’t too competitive. You must be able to establish yourself or your brand as an expert in this area.
Building the Blog
There are many blog platform services available that suit a wide variety of needs. If you are short on cash there are free solutions available, but keep in mind that your blog may be used for company advertising and you will have a very hard time monetizing it. This means if the name of your blog is Growing My Garden, and you want to use growmygarden.com as your domain name, the free sites will include their name in the title. For instance, if you use Weebly.com’s free service, your domain name will be www.growingmygarden.weebly.com.
Some people don’t mind the extra extension, but for those who prefer a more professional presentation, you either have to use paid hosting for your blog, or use one of the more popular sites around, Blogger.com. Blogger.com has a unique feature that many people don’t know about, and that is for just $10 per year, you can get a personalized domain name with no extensions and hosting for the entire year.
Simply visit the site, create an account, pick your template, pay your $10, and you are ready to start blogging.
Another great platform is WordPress, but it is a little more difficult to set up. You must obtain a hosting provider for your blog and pay a monthly fee, but the numerous plug-ins and great designs are well worth it. There is a free version of this platform as well that is similar to Blogger (but with more customization options).
Getting Visitors to Your Blog
Once your blog is set up, you are ready to start writing and bringing in your audience. Your first can be all about you or your niche, but now what? Now it’s time to drive traffic to your blog and you do this by interacting with other webmasters. Forums, message boards and social networking sites are all ways to get traffic to your blog. Send an email blast to your friends and co-workers to let them know you have created a blog.
Join various sites, create a profile, and take advantage of opportunity to add a link going to your blog. Once you have done that, jump in and start mingling.
It is extremely important that your interactions offer positive, useful information and not just “Hey check out my blog” type of posts. What you want to do is position yourself as an expert in your field. If your niche is gardening then go and find groups, forums, and other blogs about gardening. Check out the threads and start interacting. Before long, other users will recognize your name and know that you are knowledgeable. In turn, they will visit your blog for more information.
Depending on your goal, you can build a list of people to sell to, develop a massive list of subscribers to do joint ventures with others in your niche, or simply keep providing your readers with useful information.
So you want to start a blog? Well, now that you know how easy it is, what are you waiting for?
