The first choice you have to make as a blogger is what you want your blog to cover. Pick a topic you're either very knowledgeable about, or have a great interest in - this will help you keep your blog fresh and engaging as you make your entries.
Pick the platform on which you wish to run your blog, and do some research into the kind of communities that different websites foster as you look for a blog hosting provider. Older services like Livejournal.com or OpenDiary.com tend to focus more on the interpersonal relationships developed between bloggers on their own sites, while more free-ranging services like Blogger and Wordpress give you a more open connection to blogs across multiple platforms. Some sites, such as the Huffington Post, act as blog aggregators, gathering posts from all kinds of services and bringing them together for a wider audience to read.
One of the newest real players on the blogging scene, according to industry tech blog Mashable, is Tumblr, a service that allows its users to blog then re-blog thoughts including written entries, photographs, video clips and more. This is a blogging service that gains popularity as more and more users decide to use multiple platforms to manage multi-channeled blogging.
Starting a WordPress Blog
Wordpress.com, a traditional signup site, allows you to have your blog hosted on their servers, while at the same time wordpress.org offers software you can download to run on your own hosting site. You also have the option of using Blogger, Xanga or any of the other sites out there, or hosting your own site on your personal domain.
Now, comes the difficulty of choosing the "perfect" hosting solution. This can prove to be a difficult task as there are many different options to choose between. Our editors have years experience and know what to look for so we asked them to pick three providers they find to be reliable and praiseworthy. They are:
No matter what platform, and hosting provider, you use, dedicate a certain amount of time to exploring the options and features it gives you access to. It may seem annoying, but reading those weekly updates and emails can help you learn quick tricks to improve the chances of your blog getting hits from all over the internet.
Finally, once you've posted an entry, you have a blog! Start publicizing your blog, and think up a snappy way to introduce it to the people you meet. Try to find a way to sum up what your blog is about in a short sentence or statement, then practice giving your pitch so that when you meet new potential readers, you can interest them with your "hook" and reel them in as regulars - or even subscribers. By posting regularly, you can ensure a climbing readership over time.
Commented by: Abdullah-al-amin, 26 June, 2011
NICE & COOL SITE! i think Wordpress.com, a traditional signup site, allows you to have your blog hosted on their servers, while at the same time wordpress.org offers software you can download to run on your own hosting site.