How to start a blog is one of the biggest questions new bloggers ask. But how do you learn how to start a blog? You may be wondering what makes a blog different than say a forum or a social networking website. And you may also be wondering about how to get your first blog up and running. Here’s some advice on How to start a blog that will save you time, money and energy:
First, you need a domain name. The domain name of your blog will be your unique web address and is crucial to the success of your blog. So make sure you pick a domain name with some relevance to your topic or content. (I’m using bluehost for my blog, but you probably have more or less the same idea in mind.)
Second, you need a home page. A home page is simply a summary of all your posts, videos, photos and other content on your blog, organized by category. So make sure that you have a home page that offers something to your visitors in order to help them navigate through your pages.
Third, you need blogs categories. Nowadays there are hundreds of blog categories, so make sure you choose one that is relevant to your topic or niche. Also, many blogs offer categories based on interests, hobbies, or even specific types of people. These are especially useful if you want to target particular types of visitors, such as SEO bloggers, who often discuss topics related to the search engine industry. (This is very useful if you want to target these visitors in order to market affiliate products or services.)
Fourth, make sure that your pages are easy to navigate. One way to do this is to use a navigation system like HyperCard. Other bloggers stick to using plain text, although it is becoming more common for blogs to use hyperlinks, which make it easier for visitors to find the content they are looking for. Personally I think that blogs with a navigation system tend to be less cluttered and easier to follow. Personally, I like to have my sidebar and most of my footers be clear so that visitors can focus on what they are reading.
Fifth, your email marketing campaign needs to start with an email list. This is the best possible starting point, because then you will have an idea about what you should be focusing on. The best way to build your email list is to offer something free to your visitors, whether it be a video, ebook, report, blog post or other type of content, and offer subscribers free updates on the basis that they opt-in to your mailing list. Once you have a steady flow of traffic to your site, then you can consider paid advertising campaigns.
Sixth, many bloggers start their blogs with a WordPress theme. This is fine if you know how to use it and are happy with the layout. However, if you are a beginner and don’t know HTML then it may be better to learn some CSS and start from scratch using a pre-made theme. The reason for this is that you can use several different themes (which are usually just one HTML file) to customize your entire blog design and build a functional website from the ground up.
Seventh, keep the static pages simple and keep the dynamic content at the sidebars. Visitors hate having to scroll down to see more content and if you have several static pages to make sure they are easily accessible. Another good tip is to use dynamic images on your static pages; however, if you do use them make sure they are not too large. Most blogs today have generous limits on the size of images that you can place on the sidebars.