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 host you’re going to use. We've written an article giving some basic information on the most popular blog hosts. 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 host 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 for my (now defunct) personal blog. 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?
- what audience to you want to reach?
Think about how these things all come together and what they say.
Consider staying away from generic words like ramblings, writings, blog, journey, journal, musings, 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 (like your banner and link colors) and make the template reflect the tone of your blog. We have several articles on blog 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 your blogging 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. Several free and easy-to-use counters are available, and all come with step-by-step instructions for installing it on your blog. Two of the more popular ones are Site Meter and StatCounter. However, I’d like to suggest that you set up Google Analytics to track your blog’s statistics. This free program is more robust than Site Meter or StatCounter and includes data on unique visitors, pageviews, popular posts, and much more. Take a look at It’s All In The Numbers for more help on choosing and setting up at stat counter.
Generating Traffic
There are so many ways to generate blog traffic. You can claim your blog with Technorati or come up with a great weekly carnival (e.g., Works-For-Me Wednesday) or weekly post idea. You can also make use of Twitter (send out a tweet with your new post link) or Facebook (use an application like Networked Blogs to include your blog’s RSS feed in your FB updates).
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.)
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