Hi there!
Welcome back and thank you for visiting my blog about blogging! Blogs are everywhere… (-;
After all the previous blogs I’ve written, I thought it high time to write something about what exactly blogging is and how you can create your own blog on your own website.
Get ready for another long one 🙂
Nowadays, people are writing blogs about so many different topics, I think there almost isn’t a topic left which hasn’t had a blog written about it! Although blogs about fashion, food and travel are by far the most popular ones, you can basically write about anything.
But it all had to start somewhere right?
Why is a blog called “blog”?
Let’s start with a little bit of history to find out why a blog is even called “blog”. The word “blog” is actually a shortcut for “weblog”, which was first used by Jorn Barger in 1997. When you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense! After all, “web” is an old name for the internet and “log” is a kind of a diary. This means that a weblog is an online diary or journal. Makes perfect sense, right?
Okay, so now you know that a blog is used for writing down someone’s thoughts and experiences online. But how can you create your own blog?
Creating your own blog
Perhaps the most important thing to consider when you want to start your own blog is what do you actually want to write about! Which topic interests you? Do you want to be a travel blogger, fashion blogger, or a blogger about affiliate marketing like me?
The next thing you want to be clear on is: what is the message you want to impart on your audience? What is it you want your readers to take away from reading your blog? What is the purpose of your blog? Do you want to teach them something, or perhaps inspire them to do something? Really think about it!
Something else which is really important is that you want your readers to remember you! Make a lasting impression! You want them to bookmark your blog, come back to read your newest post and even recommend you to others 🙂
Definitely choose something that you see yourself writing about for a long time and which you’ll be able to do consistently! After all, there’s nothing sadder than finding something abandoned… You really want to pick a certain schedule and always stick to it. This way, your readers can look forward to when they will be able to read your newest blog!
Your own website
To own an online blog you will, of course, need your own website. The easiest platform for this is probably to use Wordpress. It’s a free platform and easy enough to use for beginners. There are also many tutorials online if there’s something you don’t immediately understand!
Of course, you’ll also need a domain name for your website and hosting to put your site online! If you want to learn more about how to choose a domain name and good hosting company you can read all about it in a previous blog of mine: 4 Tips for Finding a Good Domain Name
Okay, let’s get back to Wordpress, because there’s a lot more to say about that! When you install Wordpress, you usually start with a very simple and basic template. It’s really quite ugly and boring actually…
Choose a theme for your blog
So what I would do is choose a Wordpress Theme for your blog! These can be both paid and free and you have so many options it’s almost impossible to choose 🙂 Have a look at Themeforest for the most beautiful premium templates.
What’s even better than just finding a great theme is if you can find a demo within the theme that you like which completely (or almost completely) fits your desires. This allows you to just make some slight and easy adjustments to complete the appearance of your blog.
However, as I said, there’s a lot of choice! So before you start diving into it, you might already want to think about the following: what kind of functionalities do I want? Which colour do I want? What kind of logo do I want? What is the purpose of my blog?
Once you have a clear view of what you want, it will be easier to find something to your liking! Otherwise, you won’t see the forest for the trees!
Even knowing what I wanted it was still really hard to find a theme and demo that I liked… I spend many hours browsing through Themeforest. But in the end, I did find what was perfect for me 🙂 So be prepared to spend some time on it, but it will definitely be worth it!
What to do once you’ve set everything up
Now that you’ve set up everything you need for your blog, the real fun can begin! You are ready to write and publish your first blog!
Your blog can be an extremely powerful and profitable tool when used correctly. It’s also one of the easiest ways to get yourself established online, even if you have no experience at all.
But this definitely doesn’t happen by itself! Of course, your content has to be good (content is king!), but if no one knows about your blog, nothing is going to happen, is it?
“Content in King, but distribution is queen and she wears the pants”
You have to share your blog on all your social media platforms! Let everyone know about your blog every time you put a new blog post online!
Blog-hopping
The next thing you need to do is something called “blog-hopping”.
Blog-hopping is the process of visiting someone else’s blog, sharing their content, leaving a comment of value on their post and then hopping over to another blog to do the same thing.
But don’t forget to be genuine in your efforts to make a connection with the other bloggers! Don’t just do it to get more traffic. Really try to add value. Otherwise, your connections will be meaningless.
When you are active on other peoples blogs, the people reading that persons’ blog will also see your comments and if they find it interesting, they might check out your blog next. This will greatly increase your network of connection and thus also the traffic to your blog!
And don’t forget, if someone leaves a comment on one of your blog posts, always reply!
What do you think about this concept called “blog-hopping”?
Would you do anything differently when writing blog posts? If so, what would you do?
Let me know what you think! I’d love to hear your thoughts 🙂
Until next time!
Sandra
