Blogging 101 – Let’s Get Down to the Basics

If you’ve ever wanted to start a blog but are not sure how to, this article will help you take the first steps.

Blogs, blogs, everywhere!

Blogs are everywhere!  No doubt you’ve met someone who is a blogger, know of someone’s brother’s sister’s best friend who has a blog, or maybe you have one of your own.  If you’ve never tried this strange phenomenon, it kind of makes you wonder – what is the big deal about blogging?

What is a Blog?

By definition, a blog is a website or web page run by an individual or small group, that is updated on a regular basis.  You might also hear an article referred to as a “blog”.  A person who has a website or who regularly writes articles for a website is “blogger”.

Sometimes a blog is informational, like my article on preparing for retirement – Retirement 101 – Why You Should Start Planning Now.  At other times it is conversational, like my article on books I like – Six Must-Read Books You’ll Love.  And there are times it’s inspirational – Forty Years? No Way!.  My point is, you can start a blog for many different reasons, but the main one is – you have something you want to share with other people.

How to Start a Blog

Starting a blog is fairly simple. Follow these steps:

Decide what you want your blogging website to be about.

Do you know what your message is? What do you want to say to your audience? What is your passion you want to share with others? Why should people read your blog? Do you have something to say? Are you too scared to write? See my article, Blogging Basics: Who Me? Start a Blog? for information about WHY YOU should start a blog.

Pick a web host.

What’s a host? A web host allows you to have a website or web page on the Internet and be viewed there. Your website is stored on a server and has a specific web address. When people want to see your website (blog) they type your website address into their browser (like Google or Internet Explorer) and voila – your website appears! The one I use is BlueHost. I’ve used them for a couple of years now and have been happy with my choice. There are, of course, other choices available – like GoDaddy, HostGator, Weebly, etc. Be sure to read reviews for the host in which you have an interest and choose one that seems to fit your needs. I like BlueHost – just saying.

Decide on a domain name.

Your domain name is the name that people will type into their browser as part of your “address” if they want to read your blog.  For example, mine is “retiredlivingtoday” because I wanted to write about what retirement is like today – for me. Before you start your blog, you should brainstorm some ideas for the name of your blog. It should be something that is recognizable as your blog. If you wanted to start a blog about fishing, you probably wouldn’t want a domain name like “mykidsmakemehappy”. Don’t confuse your readers.

Be patient when trying to come up with a name.  You’ll probably have to brainstorm several versions before you find a name that both fits your blog AND is available to be purchased. If you Google (search) for a specific topic you might enjoy writing about, several entries will show up. Take a look at some of the website names . . . it might give you some ideas you could use for your own website.

Purchase a domain name from your host.

Purchasing a domain name isn’t terribly expensive. It’s usually around $11 or $12 per year. Once you decide on a domain name and find it is available, you should purchase it . . . if you really are interested in setting up your own website. I suggest purchasing the .com and/or .net version of the website name you’ve chosen. Of course, some people choose .org, especially if you will be writing for a non-profit organization. That’s up to you. But remember .com or .net are much more common than some of the other options. Some designate countries, organizations – like the U.S. government or universities.

Decide the software that will be the “face” of your website.

There are several software products you can choose to be the builder and face of your website. In other words, when you go to a company’s website, you make a first impression about the company based on what their website looks like, how easy it is to use and whether it makes sense. Is it professional? Artsy? Quirky? What do you think the website says about the company?

Do you want your website to say something specific about you? Are you professional, artsy or quirky? What “vibe” are you looking to portray to visitors of your site?

There are so many to choose from. Where do we start? The most common software is WordPress – by far the largest presence on the web. There are thousands of templates available for you to choose from when it comes to the look and feel of a WordPress website. Some other popular choices are Wix, SquareSpace, Weebly, Shopify, Tumblr, Blogger . . . and the list goes on and on.

Since I use WordPress, this article will be focused mostly on it. That’s just my expertise, so here goes.

Using WordPress

WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS) used by approximately 75 million websites. It is free to install, deploy and upgrade. There are thousands of plugins and templates available which make the software flexible and simple to use. There are also thousands of software developers who love WordPress and are constantly developing new functionality you can tap into to make your website awesome! Because of the efforts of other software developers, it is not necessary for you to learn to code in html language to get your website to look like you want.

Before you get too far into WordPress, you will quickly learn there are two versions of WordPress available.

WordPress.com

The .com version of WordPress is the easiest to use because there is less functionality available for you to choose from. WordPress takes care of all of the hosting for you. You don’t have to download software, pay for hosting, or manage a web server. It is very quick to set up your website and start blogging. On the flip side, you aren’t able to:

• add any additional things to your website like plugins (which contain a lot of functionality)
• use backend code, or have database or file access and
• use the simple version of your website name. It will not be yourwebsite.com, but instead will be yourwebsite.wordpress.com.

WordPress.org

On the other hand, if you want a bit more control of your website, you will probably choose the .org version of WordPress. If you want BlueHost as your website host, you definitely need to choose the .org version. The WordPress software is still totally free (unless you choose an upgraded version) and there are thousands of free versions to choose from. You can:

• upload your own plugins to increase functionality;
• customize and add backend code, access databases and files;
• upload your own themes and change whenever you like if you want a new look and feel for your website;
• use your simple website name – yourwebsite.com.

Next Steps

Once you get your host, domain name and choose your software, you still need to choose your template and install it.

The next article in this series will walk you through choosing and installing your template and personalizing your website so it is everything you want it to be. Stay tuned.

Are you ready to start your blog? Leave me a note below in the comments section to let me know. Also, sign up for my newsletter / notification when the next blog is ready to publish. I promise I won’t fill your inbox with tons of email.