How to Start Blogging
A blog is a website built around a journal-like platform that authors to document their daily lives, to share their ideas and opinions, to cover a specific niche and earn money, and, most commonly, just for fun. It's not hard to get started, if you have an idea of what you want to do with your blog.
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Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Internet connection
- An interest or passion for a particular topic
- A desire to write
- A minimum of 15-30 minutes a week to author blog entries
Instructions
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1
Determine the type of blog you want to run. Pinpoint what your target audience will be, and how you want to reach them. Keeping a broadly-targeted blog is a good way to reach a larger audience, but without a specific niche to focus on, attracting return visitors may prove to be difficult. Narrowing down your target to a specific audience is a great way to gain popularity in a specific area, but the pool of interested visitors will be just as small and specific. Finding a balance in between these two is a good choice for new bloggers.
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Find a place to call home. You have two different options: a free blog, with some limitations and less control over design and features; and a blog you host on a shared server, with compete control of design and features, but at a cost.
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Post your first entry. Write the same way you would speak to friends or family offline, and your posts will come naturally. As your blog progresses and you continue to author more entries, you'll be able to see how you're writing progresses and how you change and grow, as well.
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Get yourself out there. Joining and posting in forums relative to your interests, visiting other blogs and leaving comments, and linking to your blog through social networking sites are a good way to drum up some attention when you first launch your site.
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Set aside 20 to 30 minutes, 1 to 2 times a week to post new entries and check comments.
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Tips & Warnings
When you first start blogging, use a free blogging site to see how successful you are. If your blog takes off, and it's something you really want to stick with, then consider upgrading to a hosting plan.
When visitors leave comments on your entries, it is common practice to return comments. Not only is this a good way to start building a group of dedicated visitors, it's also a great way to meet new people, make new friends and even build connections in the fields that you are interested in.
Be careful when adding advertisements to your blog. While a few small ads are generally expected by visitors, building your site around advertisements is an annoying and off-putting practice that will deter visitors from returning to your site. Repeated sponsored posts, multiple pop-ups and pop-unders, and advertisements that make noise should be avoided, as this takes away from the visitor's experience and can often upset or anger loyal visitors who are truly interested in your content, but find it hard to enjoy it uninterrupted.
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