How to Start a Blog - Blogging Tips for Beginners

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Blogging

Blogging is a worldwide social phenomenon that is constantly evolving. Although the word ‘blog’ is originally derived from the phrase ‘web log’, the majority of blogs these days are more just a type of website rather than an online journal or diary.

Blogs are used for all sorts of purposes, by individuals and by businesses as well. It is common practice for companies to use blogs to communicate and interact with their customers and other stakeholders. Similarly most of the online newspapers feature a range of blogs on their main website to offer new channels for their writers and to generate lively discussions and debates with their readers.

It is this interactivity, and encouraging a conversation that is one of the key features of the most successful blogs, and what makes them so distinct from other static types of websites.

Whether you are a business owner who wants to engage with new and existing customers or an individual who wants to share their expertise on or passion about a given subject and wants to interact with people who have a similar interest, creating a blog is a great way to start that conversation. Find out how to start a blog.

Once you've started the key to success from then on is to make sure that you update the blog regularly with new articles, in order to stimulate the conversation and keep it going.

Advantages of blogging

Some of the features that make blogs different from other websites include:

the content is updated regularly, often daily or at least weekly
the content is usually published in chronological order and archives of older articles are available
you can allow readers to leave comments and they are encouraged to do so (though comments may be moderated)
other bloggers can interact by linking to similar articles they have written on their own blogs, or adding links to similar appropriate materials elsewhere
users can subscribe to and receive updates via rss news feeds

In order to maximise interactivity and encourage people to participate in the conversation, blogs often make the most of a range of media such as audio, music, images and video.

Blogging enables you to share thoughts and ideas with an online community and engage other people in discussion and conversation. These could be potential new customers, or just people with similar interests who you can chat to online.

Many blog platforms support the use of audio and video files as well as written articles, which allows you to explore a variety of different media to get your message across and keep visitors to your blog interested.

Blogging sites make it easy to get started

You don’t even need to have any web designing skills to take part. There are a number of blogging platforms that offer free software or blogging templates for you to use. Sites such as blogger.com and wordpress.com allow you to create a free blog once you have registered for an account with them. You may then have access to a range of template designs that will enable you to customise your blog and add various features such as an archive, a tag cloud, or an RSS feed so that people can subscribe to receive updates when you add new articles.

If you then decide to give the site a more ‘professional’ identity, you can even map your free blog to your own domain name for a small annual fee. The advantage of using a free platform for your blog is that you don’t have to do any of the technical maintenance, or worry about hosting the site on your own servers. You can just get on with writing about the subjects that interest you and concentrate on producing engaging articles.

How to start a blog

Here are some useful sites to help you start writing your own blog:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/webwise/guides/how-to-get-a-blog

https://www.blogger.com/start

http://wordpress.com/

Blogging and social media

The increased popularity and widespread use of social media make blogging even easier and more effective than ever. Most free blogging platforms include widgets that make publicising your latest blog post via Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn as simple as clicking a button or putting a tick in a box. Within seconds, any Twitter followers, Facebook friends or LinkedIn contacts can see that you have published a new article, get reading and give you their feedback via comments. They may also choose to retweet or share your link, which will get your message to a wider audience without you having to lift a finger!

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Blog safety

Knowthenet outlines the following safety tips to consider when blogging:

Know your audience

Think carefully about how public you want your blog to be. It’s your site, so you should be in control. The more personal or identifiable the information you wish to share, the fewer people you should share it with. If you want your blog to be public and you intend to advertise it on Google, Technorati etc, or share your articles via various social media sites, then only disclose information you would be happy for everyone on the internet to see.

Understand privacy settings

If you would rather not share information with everyone, keep your blog private by limiting access to your friends and family. Most blogging software available has privacy settings and many include the option to protect access to individual blog articles or your entire blog with a password.

Safeguard your contact details

Ensure your personal safety by not giving out identifiable information or locations for yourself or others. Don’t publish your address details, or any photos that could identify your location. Similarly it’s a good idea not to reveal information about your age, so don’t include your date of birth, year of graduation etc.

Use a nickname

You could think about using a nickname or pseudonym for blogging instead of your real name, and reflect that across the domain name, and any email addresses associated with the blog.

Ensure safety controls exist

Make sure that the blogging site you use has clear privacy and security policies, a simple way to report abuse and explains how the site will respond to reports of abuse. The site should also have tools to help protect your safety including ways to control who has permission to view your blog, a facility to allow you to turn comments on or off, and the ability to block anyone who harasses you in any way.

Know the legalities

Be aware of libel laws and any legal requirements or confidentiality clauses that you are bound to in your employment contract (particularly if the blog relates to your work).

Stay safe when blogging

For more information on how to blog safely, go to:http://www.getsafeonline.org/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=1405

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I want a website – where do I start?

So, you’re thinking about creating your own website. What do you need to do it make it happen?

Firstly, it’s worth spending some time thinking carefully about what you want your website to do, what it should look like, and who you want to reach with it. That will help you to make several key decisions about how the site is hosted, designed and built.

Website or blog?

If you want your site to be interactive, allow comments from readers and encourage them to engage in a conversation with you, then you might want to consider creating a blog rather than a traditional website. Find out more in our Blogging section.

If you would prefer to have static pages rather than articles that appear in date order, and if you want to include any element of e-commerce or advertising on your site, then a website might be more appropriate than a blog.

What do you want a website for?

If you try to answer that question as early as possible in the process, it will really help you to decide what format and style will be best for you, and what features your website needs to have. Here are a few questions to consider for starters:

What's the topic? Is there one main focus, or are you covering a range of interests?
Who do you want to reach? What’s your target audience? Local or global? Friends or everyone?
Is it like a blog, to record your thoughts and opinions and seek feedback from others?
Is it a community site where you hope to reach people with similar interests or hobbies?
Is it commercial site to make additional money on the side?
Is it a fan or tribute site dedicated to a celebrity, musician or sports team?
Is it a heritage site documenting your family tree?

What features do you want the site to have?

It’s also worth thinking about the features you want the site to have as early as possible. You might like to consider including some of the following:

Photos
Video
Audio
Podcasts
E-commerce facility

If you are interested in any of those features that will have a bearing on the way your site is designed and on the way it is hosted.

Getting a domain name

All websites require a domain name, and hosting. Many people start by choosing a suitable domain name for their website and the best way to get your domain name is to use a domain name registrar. Most have free online tools that will enable you to check to see which suitable names are available.

Building your website

Many registrars will be able to bundle the domain name purchase with hosting for your website as well. Some registrars can also provide a website creation service as well. Usually the website creation service is relatively simple and template-based. However, for anyone looking for a quick and easy solution it is often a good way to create your first website.

Alternatively, if you do want your website to stand out from the crowd by having a particular look or special functionality you may wish to consider to building it yourself. By learning the necessary skills to create your own website you'll almost certainly save money in the long run and you'll benefit by knowing how to manage and update the site. There are lots of books and courses available that can teach you how to become a website designer.

However, it takes a lot of time and dedication to learn the design and technical skills and if you do not have the time or the inclination to learn then you should probably consider appointing a website designer to build your website for you. It is probably best to try and find a website designer by asking around and using someone who has come highly recommended by someone that you trust. Failing this, there are many online directories of website design companies. If you approach a company from a directory it is always important to ask to see some examples of their work and to get competitive quotes from several other companies.

Further information about setting up a website

For more information on building your website, see our page on web building tools.
For more information about hosting your website, see our page on web hosting.
For more information about the style and layout of your website, see our page on site design.

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