Free blog hosts: Wordpress. com Blogger Tumblr SimpleSite Wix. com Blog hosts with fees: GoDaddy Bluehost HostGator Hostmonster
Know the differences between free hosting services and paid hosting services. Mainly, paid hosting services offer much more control over the look of the website design, as well as offering more web tools with which to personalize blogs (plugins, widgets, buttons, etc. ). Although the amateur blogger probably won’t need a paid hosting service, it’s useful to know what you can and can’t do with a free platform: {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/d/d0/Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-3-Version-2. jpg/v4-460px-Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-3-Version-2. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/d/d0/Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-3-Version-2. jpg/aid302671-v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-3-Version-2. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
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<br />\n</p></div>"} Generally, free hosting services offer a few basic pre-made templates for bloggers to choose from when designing the blog. Paid hosting services generally offer a greater variety of templates to choose from, as well as giving the blogger the option of designing the look of the website from the bottom up. The biggest misconception with Wordpress. Wordpress. com and Wordpress. org are different platforms that both provide the same purpose. They are both powered with Wordpress but with Wordpress. com your site will be hosted by the company vs. with Wordpress. org which you are hosting your self. Certain plugins are available only to people who pay for hosting services. A plugin is a tool that bloggers use to customize their blog. (A rotating tab, for example, is a cool plugin that allows viewers to see more of your content on tabbed panels. )[3] X Research source Countless other plugins exist for paid hosting services. This seems to be the bottom line: If you’re just interested in creating a vehicle for your thoughts, these bells and whistles are probably superfluous. If, however, you take pride in the design of your website and like the idea of creating different tools for potential viewers to someday interact with, having more power to customize your weblog may be a good decision. Get familiar with the ins and outs of whatever hosting service you decide to use. How do you italicize a title? How will you create an outbound link to another website? These are questions that you’ll ask yourself as you start blogging. Although your familiarity with your blogging platform will increase the more you blog, it’s important to explore the different options you have with your blog. You often don’t know what is possible until you try it. {“smallUrl”:“https://www. wikihow. com/images/thumb/9/92/Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-4. jpg/v4-460px-Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-4. jpg”,“bigUrl”:"/images/thumb/9/92/Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-4. jpg/aid302671-v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Blog-Step-4. jpg",“smallWidth”:460,“smallHeight”:345,“bigWidth”:728,“bigHeight”:546,“licensing”:"<div class="mw-parser-output">
License: <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.
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<br />\n</p></div>"} Some blogs offer an interactive video or slideshow to new users. If such a video or slideshow exists on your new blogging platform, be sure to watch it. These tutorials are packed with useful tips and hints, and will get you blogging faster and better.
Choose a simple background over a loud and in-your-face one, although do what pleases you most. Here are some ideas for simple backgrounds you can mull over: A photograph of you and your family on vacation A simple, unobtrusive pattern that provides texture but doesn’t take away from the words A map of picture of a map A writing object, such as a fountain pen, typewriter, or ream of paper A simple background in your favorite color
Reduce the clutter. Just because you have the option of creating dozens of plugins and widgets doesn’t mean you need to use them. If this blog is indeed about you and your thoughts, make them stand out instead of extraneous stuff.
Write about what motivated you to start a blog. It may help to put things into writing. This is often a cathartic act, too, releasing certain tensions and stress. Try it on for size and see how it feels. Write about what you intended to write about. Jump right in. Your blog can turn into a diary of sorts, or it can be a place where you gather interesting articles from around the web and comment on them. Of course, it can be anything in between. Write or post about what makes you happy.
Think about special themed days when posting. If you wanted, for example, you could have “Maniac Mondays,” where each Monday, you blog about one person whose crazy ideas changed the world. This lends your blog some structure and helps keep you writing, even when you’re not exactly sure what to write about.
A blog can be a place for reading. Jot things down quickly rather than write extended essays on them. A “Hey, look at this!” seems to be a lot more effective in blog form than a “And these are all the reasons why I’m better than you. " Use links. Link out to other interesting pieces of content out on the web. For one, it will help you remember interesting sites that you stumble across. Second, it will save you the time to paraphrase what’s going on — unless that’s what you’re trying to do! Revisit old themes. Just because you’ve already written a blog doesn’t mean you need to file it away in a musty place. Revisit your feelings about that article in a new article, for example.
Often, you’ll find that writing about something helps you understand it. So even if you don’t quite understand it yet, being truthful about it can help you figure it out. Writing is an act of self-discovery. If you’re truthful when you write, you’re sure to discover things about yourself that you didn’t know about.
Respond to most, not all, comments. Often, a reader will leave a comment urging you to keep on writing. A simple “Thank you, appreciated,” might be a good way to respond. Other times, people will ramble off-topic or express very controversial opinions. It is not necessary to respond to each and every one of your commenters if you don’t wish to. [7] X Research source Include a call to action at the end of a post (optional). Obviously, if you don’t intend to show your blog to other people, a call to action is unnecessary. But if you enjoy the thought of soliciting the opinion of your readers, include something like “What was your favorite Christmas present?” or “What do you think about the Federal stimulus?” in an appropriately themed post.
For example, maybe you’ve just been given a diagnosis of cancer and decided to start a blog to document your journey. You only intended for it to be seen by you. But what you grew to understand as you started writing was that sharing your deepest fears and desires actually brought you closer to the people around you; it made you more human. Sharing this realization with your close friends and family can be incredibly freeing.
