Would you like to know how to create a blog? This article offers information on self-hosted blogs and hosted blogs. Find out which type of blog works best for you. Keep reading for help with how to create a blog and starting your own blog.
Blogging is done through blogging software, so the first step in creating a blog is to choose a software type that will work for you. There are two main categories of blogging software.
The Hosted Blog
The first type is hosted software. For this type of blogging software, the basic level of which is free, the setup is easy. You basically open an account with, say, WordPress.com or Blogger.com (owned by Google), and they take care of the hosting. Hosted blogging is the quickest way to get started blogging, but it has limitations. You may be limited in the design of your blog, in your ability to use your own registered domain rather than a subdomain of the blog host, in being unable to avoid advertisements appearing on your blog and in other areas. Some of these restrictions may be lifted by paying a monthly or yearly fee.
Self-Hosting Your Blog
The second type is blogging software that you provide hosting for. You can do this either by downloading the blogging software, say, from WordPress.org, and running it on your own server, or by signing up for a web hosting program that meets the requirements for running the software and makes it available (generally, with shared web hosting you can’t just add whatever software you want to the server, and most blogs are run on shared hosting sites). The web host may already have the blogging software installed if you sign up for a special blogging hosting package, or you may be able to download it through a service like Simple Scripts or Fantastico De Luxe. You can then add free or paid themes, plug-ins, add-ons, etc. and do whatever you like with the blog, with no limits but the software design and at no charge, unless you choose to use paid additions.
Starting Your Blog
Once you get a blog – or as part of the process, if you’re using hosted blogging – you need to choose a name for your blog and create a definition of what your blog is about. Many blog names have a tag line that further describes the blog title so that visitors know what they’re in for. Blogs can be very specific or far-reaching. Usually, the design, including logos, color schemes, and fonts, help to create the impression that you want the blog to have. Besides creating posts, you may want to undertake tasks like:
- Setting up an RSS feed
- Getting your blog recognized by Technorati and similar sites
- Creating a Twitter Account to go with your blog so you can tweet when you post and setting up a connection to automatically generate a Tweet
- Extending your blog into a website
- Getting Advertising for your blog
- Joining an Affiliate program related to your blog
- Setting up the comments section of your blog
- Getting Akismet or another spam filter for your blog
- Study other blogs on similar topics to yours to get (not steal) ideas
- Set up a Links section