The Basics of Blogging

The basics of blogging really refers to exactly how do you go about starting a blog. If you have never created a blog before then this is not a silly question and actually does require at least some thought and oraganization of the process.

You need to be able to go from an initial idea for a blog through the physical actions of getting your blog into a material product that is published and accessible to your target audience on the Internet.

So what are the steps for creating a blog from scratch:

• You need a subject and a name for your blog
• You need to decide if you want a free blog or your own domain i.e. what blogging platform do you want to use
• You need to register with a free blogging host or purchase a domain name
• For the ‘own domain’ option you will need a web hosting package
• You need to create your blog on your chosen blogging platform, i.e. choose a theme and set up your blog
• You need to decide on your target audience and write your blog content for that audience. This is not just about text you should be considering whether you want to include graphics, videos, podcasts and live RSS feeds
• You need to promote your blog and publicize its presence on the Internet using SEO (search engine optimization) techniques. Note: SEO starts with the URL you use for your blog, the title you use and the content you put in your blog, if you want to be found on the Internet you need to be using the right keywords and promotion techniques.

The list above is, in a nutshell, what you need to do to publish a blog, there are a few decisions to be made and some new skills to be learned. Some of the decisions you make will be influenced by exactly how technically savvy you are and will depend on what your objectives are for your blog, you may well be tempted down the easiest technical route.

Be wary of this, the easiest route may not ultimately be the best choice for you, so think long and hard before making a decision you may come to regret, particularly if you are looking to use your blog to generate additional income, as a serious business or to support a subject you are just very passionate about. Of course if you are just blogging for a bit of fun and really are not concerned about what you ultimately want to do with your blog, then choosing exactly the right platform is less critical.

My recommendation for any blogger is that you use an own domain blog, the preferred platform is WordPress and one of, if not the, best hosting package for a blogger is Hostgator

If you are non technical and want to be able to create a unique theme with WordPress then you could consider using WP Remix

I will shortly be putting together a free eBook that will talk you through the physical process of creating and publishing your first WordPress blog using your own domain. Meanwhile for more information and in depth detail on the various stages for creating your first blog I have added hyperlinks to detailed posts on the subjects within the bullet listing which you can peruse at your leisure.

So these are the basics of blogging, still to come is the detailed instructions for creating and publishing a WordPress blog on your own domain.