How Do I Start Blogging

Why Start a Blog?

If you're trying to decide whether you would like to start a blog, think about what you would write about if you had a blog. There are many different reasons to have blog:

• To journal about things happening in your personal and family life
• To write about your business
• To write about a personal experience you are going through, such as cancer treatment or adoption
• To describe a hobby or passion of yours
• To display pictures or artwork
• To share poetry or stories
• To write about your favorite television show
• To practice writing
• To share your expertise with others

You might have other reasons why you would like to start a blog, and any reason is valid. If you want to communicate, educate, entertain or just have a place to express your feelings, a blog is a great way to do it.

How Do I Start Blogging?

Once you know what you want to write about (though of course you can stray form your basic theme from time to time) you will need to consider what blogging software you want to use.

Blogging software usually involves signing up at a Web site like Blogger or WordPress. You can decide to use the free version of one of these programs, which will give you a Web address with the name of the software in it, or you can host your blog on your own Web site, if you have one, so the blog address will be at your own domain name.

If you're just getting started blogging, it's likely you'll want to start with the free service as you get the hang of it and see if you even enjoy blogging. If at some point later you want to start a new blog and host it yourself, you can always do that, too.

Before you can start blogging you'll also need a name for your blog. The name should reflect the content of the blog, be easy to spell, and, of course, a name that someone else hasn't already used. You'll probably need to have a couple of different names in mind, or be willing to use dashes between the words in your blog's name in the Web address, in order to get something unique.

Now that you have signed up for a blog, the question of how do I start blogging still remains. The good news is that blogging software is really easy to use, whether you have a Blogger or WordPress blog or even are just using the blog feature on MySpace.

All you have to do is sign in, click a link that says something about posting, and a page with space for a title and text will open. Just type in your post, give it a title, add categories if you want to organize your posts, and hit post or publish to unleash your brilliance on the world.

Blogging Tips

Here are some things to keep in mind as you build your blog:

• Post regularly: Even if you're just writing for family and friends, they'll want you to post at least once a week so they have a reason to check in on you. If you're writing for your business and are interested in building traffic to your Web site, you'll want to post more than once a week, and daily if you can.
• Remember people are reading: You don’t know who might be reading your Web site, but potentially anyone could be. Don't say things on your blog you wouldn't say out loud. Remember that your current and potential employees and coworkers can find your blog easily, so don't write anything you wouldn't want them to read.
• Keep to your theme: Of course you can throw a post about your family on your business blog every now and then. Readers will like to see another side of your personality. But especially if you're writing a professional blog or something that is meant to be educational, readers will appreciate it when you stay on topic and give them reasons to keep visiting.