So you like the sound of blogging but aren’t exactly sure how to go about it? No problem – the term itself is only about a decade old, and has been used to describe different activities throughout that time. No wonder there’s some confusion around it. Let’s dig into what blogging is – and isn’t – and how to get started giving it a shot. Before you know it, you’re going to be an internet publishing mastermind!
Blogging For Dummies
The basic definition of blogging is to have a website or other format online where you can regularly write and post it for the whole world to see. Generally speaking, a blog is considered to be an open format, where anyone can type in the website and see it. There are certainly private blogs, but the world assumes blog to mean public. Most personal blogs are written like a diary – the writer talks about anything at all they want to discuss, with little attention to organizing the subject material. In other words, if you’re just starting out, then just set the blog up and start writing – there are no formats that you necessarily need to follow.
Blog Traffic
Most blog writers get their traffic solely from people they know, and they’re content with that. There’s nothing wrong with using your blog as another means of communication with a small group of people. I think that most people secretly want their blog to be discovered by others, however, and that means using the power of the search engines to get more people. There are words, known as keywords, that are searched many times a day in Google. By writing around these words, you will give Google incentive to rank your site well for those keywords. This will bring you search traffic, which is some of the most valuable traffic your websites can find.
As you progress on this site you will see that tools like the Google Adwords Keyword Tool make finding keywords easy, but for now keep this idea in mind and continue reading.
Blogging Tips Beginners
If you’re just starting out, then just start writing. Write about everything you like, and try writing in different methods. Try stream of conscious writing, then try to organize your thoughts a little more. Write lists like 30 Reasons Today is Great or 5 Ways to Make Pumpkin Pie that Taste Great and go. If you write in varied ways your readers, once they begin discovering you, will find more and more reason to keep coming back.
Make Money Blogging For Beginners
Once you have traffic coming on a regular basis to your site, you are in the position to think about monetizing it. The easiest way to monetize anything is through the Google Adsense program. This is where you tell Google you want ads on your site and they put them in the spots you specify – no worries about advertisers or topic or anything like that, they do it all. It’s as hands-off as monetization can possibly be, and while it’s not the best paying way to make money, it’s a great place to start.
From there, you can slowly consider other forms of monetizing as well. Do you have a side business of your own you would like to promote? Then this is a great place to do it! Or you could sign up with Amazon.com and become an affiliate, where any traffic you send them will net you a 4-8% return, depending on how many products you send each month. The possibilities are endless, but Adsense is always a good baseline to come back to.
WordPress Beginners
If you are new to blogging, in my opinion WordPress is the best place to go to start. From a technical standpoint, WordPress keeps the design of your site and the content of your site completely separate, so you can change one without affecting the other in any way. This was a remarkable breakthrough when WordPress was first created, and it remains one of its biggest selling points.
From a publishing standpoint, WordPress is the most popular blogging system available today, meaning you will likely need to learn it sooner or later, so why not just start with it? You can either get your own hosting and domain name and use the wordpress.org system to set up a blog, or you can sign up for a free blog at wordpress.com to get some practice. For a beginning blogger, wordpress.com is a free alternative that will allow you to get used to the blogging process, and teach you a simplified version of WordPress at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.
Podcasting Beginners
If you are feeling particularly creative you could even think about more technical aspects like podcasting. Podcasting is simply uploading a sound file to your blog and then sending a link out to it for anyone who wants to listen. Podcasts can be music, they can be amusing, or they can be informational. There is no ‘definitive’ method of podcasting today, so it can feel a bit like the Wild West in the podcast world right now. It’s an exciting time to be involved, and if it holds any appeal to you, the sooner you start the better.
Get Your Blog Going!
So have I convinced you that there’s no reason to wait? Get out there! Go to wordpress.com and sign up right now – it takes less than 5 minutes to get set up. Or read our pieces on domain name registration and web hosting, and start writing!
