It’s pretty easy to start your own blog–even if you think you’re not tech-savvy and don’t know the first thing about what you’re getting yourself into.
First you need to choose which blog platform you’re going to use. We’ve written an article giving some basic information on the most popular blog platforms. If you aren’t sure how committed you’ll be to blogging and just want to try it out, I suggest that you start with a free platform like Blogger.
Blogger has a wizard that will help you get your blog started. You’ll begin by creating an account, naming your blog (they’ll let you know if the name you want is already taken), and choosing a template.
Choosing a Name for Your Blog
This can be daunting. In fact, I think I went through three name changes before I settled on Don’t Try This at Home. There are many things to consider:
- what do you want your blog to be about?
- what words reflect that idea or content?
- what graphics would you like to use?
Think about how these things all come together and what they say.
Consider staying away from generic words like ramblings, writings, blog, etc. These words won’t set you apart from the thousands of others who are also using them in their titles.
Choosing a Template
Just about every blog host out there offers generic templates for you to use as you start your blog. If you know a little HTML you can quickly change a few key elements and make the template unique to your personality. We have several articles on design.
My advice is to stick with your generic template for a while. Let yourself become used to blogging and allow yourself to evolve. As you do, you’ll have a better idea of what you want your site to look like. Besides, if you’re spending all your effort in the looks department, you’re probably slacking in the writing department. Don’t let the project fall apart because you’re trying to do too many things at once.
Remember: We all started with the generic templates.
Setting Up a Stat Counter
Once you’re blogging you’ll want to know who’s reading and how those readers are finding you. You can read more about stat counters here.
Several free and easy-to-use counters are available, and all come with
step-by-step instructions for installing it on your blog. Some of the
more popular ones are BlogPatrol, LiveBlogStats, ShinyStat, Site Meter and StatCounter.
Setting Up a Blogroll
A blogroll is just a linked list of blogs you like to read. Blogrolls are a great way to start a community. Blogrolls also allow you to share with your readers the types of blogs you enjoy reading. You can tell a lot about a blogger from his/her blogroll. For more tips on blogrolls, read this article.
Generating Traffic
There are so many ways to generate traffic. You can claim your blog with Technorati, sign up with Stumble Upon, join blogrings, or come up with a great weekly carnival (e.g., Works-For-Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer) or weekly post .
The best way to generate traffic, though, is simply to write well and write often. "You can shock them, you can offend them, but you must never bore them." (I’ve seen that attributed to both Noel Coward and F. Scott Fitzgerald–regardless of who said it, it’s true.)
You can find more tips on generating traffic in these articles.
Related posts:
- Should I choose a hosted or non-hosted blogging platform? This article defines what hosted and non-hosted blogging platforms are...
- FAQs from Beginning Bloggers Melanie Nelson answers some of the most frequently asked questions...
- What is the difference between blog categories and blog tags? When I talk to beginning bloggers, I’m asked all sorts...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
WordPress Admin
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much and that was seconds in getting an answer. I am laughing I kept typing in different url: I was not sure what mine was, then when you sent back info it was on your email!! You can tell I have no idea what I am doing. I also have post in draft that I have written 2 months ago that I tried to send cropped pictures from picasa2. I can send the pictures first using the blogger button in Picasa2, but I wish I could find away to choose them after I write the post in draft. Thank you so much I have trying so long and been on your site and did the feed burner and just hope I got that right. Thanks for all your articles.
Thanks so much for the information, You have helped me figure out blogging problems that I tried to fix for months, with one email from you. Thanks so much for helping learn to blog. Katherine
What a great website. I’ll have to come back again. Clicked you through SITS.
I am having a lot of fun blogging, and I love learning how to be better!
SITS is http://thesecretisinthesauce.blogspot.com