subject: How to Start a Blog [print this page] How to Start a Blog How to Start a Blog
People from around the globe are getting more and more interested in the fastest growing online trend today - Blogging! It is not only a way for you to share your passion for writing and everyday thoughts and ideas but it can also help you earn a substantial income too. Here are some ways on how to start your very own blog.- Know what to blog about. Assess yourself to find what interests you most. What topics do you love to write about? What are you good at? It is important that you establish a personal niche for your blog so that you will not be writing just about anything under the sun. In short, have a focus.- Make a decision whether to host your own blog or not. There are a number of free blogging sites online where you can register and open an account for free. Examples of these are blogspot.com, livejournal.com, and wordpress.org. When you create your blog with one of these services, you don't need to purchase a separate domain name and would have a domain name like, "www.Myworld.blogspot.com."The other option is to create a blog using a separate hosting company. If you host your own blog, which is also a good idea, you will have your own name such as "Myworld.com" but you have to pay annual fees that may reach up to $30 per year. WordPress.org is by far the most user-friendly blog software used especially for newbies.- The next thing to do is to come up with your own, unique domain name, if you have decided to host your own blog. After having a name for your website, find a good web hosting company. The most popular ones are Hostgator, Hostmonster, Dreamhost, and Site5.- Install the Wordpress software. See its detailed instructions from the hosting company. There are also many tutorials online on how to install a blog.- Customize your blog. Upload blog content that may include interesting articles, reviews, and comments. Create a theme. Upload pictures or videos, anything to make your blog interesting that will capture your audience.- Promote your blog. Invite friends or other bloggers to your blog site. Create traffic. Get advertisements and sell your ad space to earn money through your blogs.Creating a blog is very easy. It may take just a few hours of your time to create one. If you are a newbie, I suggest you try the free blogging sites first like the ones mentioned above. They have simple, easy to understand instructions, which you can follow. Do more research on how to promote your blog sites and maybe later you can start hosting your own blog yourself so that you can have more freedom to do what you want to do in your site. Remember that creating a blog is easy, however maintaining one is challenging especially if aside from sharing your thoughts online, your goal is also to make money.
