What? You don’t have a blog? It’s 2014, for Pete’s sake, how can you not have a blog? How to build a blog site?
I have heard the above countless times. Somehow having a blog today is a thing as normal as having a newspaper subscription was a few decades ago. Today people express themselves in countless ways over the internet, the greatest publishing tool ever invented. People write about their everyday lives, their passions and secrets, and some of them are quite good about it.
How to Build a Blog Site
How to Make a Blog:
In this article I will describe the process I use to create a blog. I will include technical and creative issues in it, making it easier for emerging bloggers to take their first steps online. The rest… well, it’s up to you.
1. The Topic
The first step – after deciding to start your blog, of course – is deciding what you intend to write about. There are so many things a blog can cover – everyday life, shopping, fishing, hunting, cooking, technology and many more. No matter what you decide to write about, the important thing is to know about it and to be passionate about it. There is no use in starting a medical blog if you can’t tell an Aspirin from a sleeping pill, after all.
Choose your topic wisely – it’s quite hard to change after a time.
I, for one, started an IT blog back in the early 2000s – I was passionate about computers since I was a child, and was involved in the IT business back then.
2. The Platform
Depending on how serious you are about starting a blog, you can choose between a variety of platforms – for a variety of prices, of course.
For some topics, like your everyday life or your views on politics, a free blogging platform is the best. Services like Blogger and WordPress allow you to create a blog with just a few clicks and start publishing right away.
If you plan to blog for success, you need to invest in the beginning. Invest in a hosting plan, an internet address (domain name), a theme that will express your chosen topic, and later in CDN (content delivery network) and SEO (search engine optimization) services to reach a larger audience and offer them a seamless, smooth reading experience.
3. The Time
Writing a post about the pair of sneakers you found on sale at the mall does not require too much inspiration. A serious article about molecular chemistry does, and not just that – it needs loads of hard work, research, getting the facts straight and pouring them into a form “edible” for your audience. Writing a serious piece on technology requires hard work and knowledge – re-publishing a press release is not the right thing to do, and it is not appreciated either.
It’s better to take your time and do your homework right before clicking “Publish” than to be corrected by your readers, making a fool of yourself in front of them, and invariably losing them in the long term.
A blog is like a garden – if you tend it every day, eliminate the weeds and give it the attention it needs (instead of wandering off playing. It can bring tasty fruit, in the form of cold, hard cash in your pocket.
