Image: Cyril Plapied
These days, everyone has a blog. Maybe you should, too, and not because there’s a chance you’ll make money or get famous or impress somebody. Maybe you should start a blog because it’s a learning experience, one more thing to keep your mind busy.
Whatever the reason, in this three-part series of posts I’m going to tell you everything you need to know to establish and maintain a blog. It’s simple, really. So let’s get started.
Part I: Genesis
It’s best to start simply. Don’t rush into anything. Do some research. You’ll find the first steps to creating a blog are very straightforward: choose a topic, find a free, easy-to-use blogging platform, write some content, and gather up a few tools to help you along the way.
1. Find your niche
Just as everyone has a blog, there is a blog for everything. Or mostly everything. I can’t claim to have seen the entire Internet, but just take a look at BlogCatalog or Technorati and you’ll get a sense for just how many blogs are out there.
Don’t let this discourage you.
If there’s one thing you should know about blogging, and about writing in general, it’s that everyone has a unique voice. Everyone has something important or interesting to say, regardless of how saturated a particular niche might be. Perspectives, insights, you know. Don’t hesitate to blog about something simply because there are hundreds of others blogging about the same thing. Just be sure you bring something new to the table.
And whatever topic you pick, make it something you like.
You’d be surprised how quickly that initial spark of inspiration will die if you don’t pick a topic you truly care about. Make it something you can see yourself writing about a year or two from now (and hopefully you’ll make it that far, but that discussion is for Part III).
Do a search for blogs that already exist in your selected niche. See what works and what doesn’t. Find out what’s popular, or discover a void that needs to be filled. But mostly, make it about something you like.
One more thing that needs mentioning: a good blog name is important. You don’t have to be creative or clever. But clear. Not just for the sake of SEO, but you want a blog name that at least points toward the general direction of your chosen topic. Bonus points if it’s catchy or memorable. If you’re ahead of the game, try to make sure it’s also available as a domain.
Once you have a topic, a niche, and a name, you’re all set.
Jump in.
2. Choose a blogging platform.
Not so fast, though. You’ll need a way to get your ideas out there and into the blogosphere, and to do that you’ll need a blogging platform.
Personally, I use Wordpress. I didn’t come to this decision because it’s the most popular platform or because it was recommended to me by a fellow blogger. I chose Wordpress because I’ve tried most of the other free content management systems.
Mambo, Joomla, php-nuke, post-nuke, Geeklog, Drupal, that one that starts with an N. Some are good for blogging, others maybe not so much.
But for a platform that is simple enough for a basic blog yet powerful enough to become something much more if and when you’re ready, Wordpress is your best bet. There is also a plethora of free Wordpress themes, many of them very good, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding a template that fits your style.
However, if you’re not sold on Wordpress, here’s a list of some other decent choices:
For an even bigger list of online content management systems (and, really, a whole lot more), check out OpenSourceCMS, where you can also try them out.
Again, however, I strongly suggest Wordpress, and the remainder of this series will assume that you’ll be using Wordpress as your primary blogging software.
Once you’ve decided on a platform, it’s time to get started.
3. Your first posts
You don’t want to have the grand-opening of your blog marred by the fatal phrases “coming soon” and “under construction,” do you? It’s tacky and something out of the mid-nineties.
Have a few posts ready to go, perhaps an introduction and a few run-of-the-mill articles about your topic. Nothing extraordinary, unless you want them to be extraordinary, but enough to make a good first impression. The goal here is to have some content prepared and ready for your first visitors.
If you successfully choose a topic, you shouldn’t have any problem writing about it. This goes especially for when you’re first starting out: you may have trouble coming up with ideas down the road, but in the beginning it’s usually smooth sailing. So relax and have fun with it.
If you’re not sure where to begin, check out “How To Write Great Blog Content” and “5 Content Strategies That Top Bloggers Use + 3 Things That Set Them Apart” (And while you’re at those two sites, you’d might as well poke around at the rest of their content, because they are both great resources).
You might also want to take a look at The Internet Writing Survival Guide, which contains a few general tips about writing for the Internet.
4. The tools you’ll need
Statistics. Organization. Social networking.
Blogging isn’t necessarily a difficult endeavor, but you’ll need some help if you want to succeed. Luckily, there are a lot of tools out there, and they won’t cost you a thing.
The first you’ll need is a simple stat counter to monitor your traffic. I have two recommendations: StatCounter for basic traffic counting, and Google Analytics for something a little more in-depth. Both are free. Also check out Google’s Webmaster Tools for detailed information on search queries and keywords. There are, of course, other options, but I find these to be particularly easy to use and helpful.
Second. Create a new folder on your computer or a flash drive or, heck, a floppy disk where you can store important blog files. I’m talking graphics, word documents, snippets of code, and especially database back-ups. It’d be a tragedy to lose all that hard work for any reason, so be sure to keep back-ups of everything. You never know when you might need them.
The final tool that I’ll mention here is particularly important to the success of your blog: social networking. The thing that pumps blood through your blog’s veins. Advertise, make friends, spread the world of your blog to the farthest reaches of the Internet.
There are many social networks to choose from, several geared specifically toward bloggers. Here are some of the more pronounced networks and blog/article services:
Like I said, there are others. Do a little searching and you might even find the next big thing.
Don’t get too caught up in the social networking phenomenon, though. It can end up being phony and superficial if you’re not careful — leaving comments on other blogs just for the sake of a link back is bad form, for instance. You don’t need to be desperate.
If your content is good and genuine, and you advertise (reasonably), you’ll do just fine. And you might get to know some good people along the way.
What happens next?
These first steps are easy, but we’re just getting started. As you can see, for the beginning blogger, there are a lot of choices to make and a lot of tools at your disposal. The key to being a successful blogger, however, is in making the right choices and using the right tools.
Check back soon for Part II of How To Be A Blogger.
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Hello Rob,
I like what you’ve got going on here. Your Twitter link doesn’t work.
What’s new? When discussing “how to be a blogger,” do you find it difficult? The reason I ask is because this niche is crowded, and it seems like around every corner I find (myself included), blogging about blogging. Just wondering your thoughts and wanting to get a better understanding of your approach?
-Mig
Hey Miguel,
I checked my Twitter links and everything should be okay. I noticed Twitter is running kind of slow at the moment (for me, anyway), so perhaps that has something to do with it. (Edit: Ah…I just noticed all of the social media links in the post are messed up. Thanks for letting me know).
As far as talking about blogging, I don’t find it too difficult. It’s not the main topic of this blog, just something I like to discuss from time to time because it has a lot to do with writing, especially these days.
But you’re right: the niche is very crowded. I think the best way to get around that (like I mentioned in the post) is to make your advice personal and put your own unique spin on things.
I’ve been running this blog for over a year now (and a few others before this…in fact I’ve been working with the Internet since the AOL 3.0 days), so I feel comfortable just sharing what I’ve learned along the way. I don’t really worry about the over-saturation of the niche, because I figure someone, somewhere, is going to find something I write useful.
I try not to worry too much about it.
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for the lengthy reply. Glad you got the social links fixed. I understand, I too have the same approach with a topic like blogging. When you’re confident in your knowledge and can draw from your experiences, you’ve got good going for you. I agree, putting your own spin on things is simply allowing who you are to shine through without worry about what others think. It’s about being yourself, as simple as that seems: a lot of folks struggle with it because they think they have to adapt or at least try to, take on someone else style. Anyhow, until later.
[...] How To Be A Blogger: Part I, I discussed the basics of starting a simple blog. For this post, we’re going to take a look [...]