Diane H. Wong November 22, 2021 Every day, thousands of people start a blog but what exactly is a blog? A blog is a type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent post at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.
Blogs are personal accounts, journal entries, or niche writing on a particular topic and are usually created and written by one person. Blogs with similar topics can form internet communities where information and ideas can be shared and friends can be made.
Blogging Software Programmes
There are several publishing platforms for creating blogs. Some are free and others ask for a small fee. The two most popular publishing platforms are:
WordPress: This platform is free and offers state-of-the-art blogging software for beginner and advanced bloggers. It is available at WordPress.org, is easy to install, and has high-quality themes and plugins. Unfortunately, the search engine optimization used by WordPress is below average but plugins can solve this problem.
Blogger: Blogger is popular as it has been around for longer than most blogging software programs. Like WordPress, it is also free of charge and easy to use. Blogger.com has recently been bought by Google, allowing the tools and features of this software to expand. Unfortunately, the templates are simple but can be used as a base to create unique and creative themes.
Tips for Starting a Blog
There are a lot of blogs on the internet. Some have thousands of visitors and fans and some are just personal accounts or journal entries for people wishing to express themselves and post photos. Many bloggers monetize their blogs and blog for money while having fun while others have expanded their blogs into a full-time jobs.
Whatever the reason for starting a blog, there are two main decisions to be made concerning:
The topic of the blog: There are so many blogs that it is impossible to choose an original topic. However, if a blogger chooses a topic he is passionate about and has experience with; his blog will reflect his enthusiasm and personality. Visitors are attracted by a unique voice that makes them feel as though they are chatting with a friend and getting the information they were looking for at the same time.
Hosting: Some blogging services are interesting because they are free but the catch is that they don’t let a blogger use his domain name. Bloggers using free blogging services do not own their blogs or their content and cannot take their readers with them if they decide to move to their domain. On the other hand, there are free blog software programs like WordPress that allow bloggers to create a blog hosted by them and then to move to their domain for a small annual fee.
Building a Blog People Want to Read
Important points on building a blog people want to visit include:
- choosing a title and sub-title that state clearly what the blog is about
- writing a post for the profile page that reflects the unique personality of the blogger
- posting a profile picture so readers can see who the blogger is
- posting regularly on interesting subjects
- writing clearly and well
- answering questions and thanking visitors who comment on posts
- removing dead links from older posts
- posting entries that solve problems for readers as most visitors search the internet for answers to questions
Most people spend a lot of time making their blog aesthetically pleasing to visitors and looking for ways to bring traffic to their blog. There are several forums and tutorials where valuable information on how to make a blog, SEO, traffic, and links can be found. Beginner bloggers can learn a lot by visiting blogs with the same topic as theirs and reading posts on forums.
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