Some Very Basic Tips for Starting a Blog
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So, after reading John Cow for a while, you’ve decided to start a blog of your own. I’m flattered. Really, it’s wonderful that I serve as such an inspiration…just kidding. But, to be serious about it, there are things you need to consider before you get up and running with your blog.
Whether you want to use your blog to make money (and I heartily approve of that) or you just want to voices in your head to get their own platform, you need to get some things straight before you ever compose your first post. Which you’ve probably already done in your head, haven’t you?
Anyways, here are the big decisions you need to make before you set up your blog:
Your blog name and tagline. This is perhaps the most important step. Not only will your bog name and tagline be indexed by Google and the other search engines, but it is also the single most important branding tool you have. And you can’t change it easily once you’re established. Sure, I could start a new blog, but I would lose everything I’ve built into the John Cow brand. Even if I attempted to publicize the change and move my audience over, there will still be a loss, both in audience and perceived authority.
Where your blog is going to be. Typepad, WordPress (I like WordPress the best and is what I use), and Blogger (Google) all offer easy-to-use blogging software. All have free versions available, as well as fancier paid options as well. If you’re just starting out, go with a free service until you know you’re going to stick with it. If you do, and you decide later that you need some of the options the paid version offers, then you can upgrade.
Choose your URL. All of the blogging services offer customizable URLs, but if you can, you’ll want to also buy your own domain name to redirect to your blog. In fact, you shouldn’t choose a blog name unless you can buy the domain name as well. It doesn’t cost much to register a domain name, and you’ll be glad you did it if your blog takes off.
How you want your blog to look. There are a lot great, customizable blog schemes out there for low-to-no cost. If you don’t have a talent for graphic design, keep the header text-based. Later, when you’ve made some money, you can pay someone to design a proper logo/header for you. Trust me, a text header looks way better than a poorly designed graphic one.
Above all, when you start your blog, make sure you post. A lot. Even if you think no one is reading it (and your stats counter sadly confirms this) it will create a great archive for readers to peruse when they finally do find you, and the practice will help you refine your style and voice before you hit the big time. I personally have sucked recently with being good at continual postings… and the traffic difference is substantial!
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on how to attract guest posters for your blog. My Best Advice About Blogging – Resources on blogging from Chris Brogan. Read SEO Blogs and Participate in Forums – To really get involved in SEO it’s important to participate.Some Very Basic Tips for Starting a Blog– Some blog starter tips from John Cow. 5 Reasons Why I Comment on 36 Different Blogs – Franklin Bishop shares with us how commenting can become a powerful aspect of traffic generation. What tips would you add to the list?
Great tips for someone just starting out. Just wanted to expand a bit on choosing the correct URL. Sometimes the domain name you want is simply not available. Everyone wants one-word names, and for good reason. But if that one-word is already taken, you can still work it in by choosing a name made of a short phrase, especially if it’s a cliche or otherwise easily remembered.
Johncow.com is a prime example of a 2-word name. How about these, all great blogs with massive readership: CalculatedRisk, TheMarketTicker, BoingBoing, ReadWriteWeb… the list is endless.
Boiling it down: While a 1-word name is simply great, an easily remembered phrase works just as well and maybe, even better.
(disclaimer: When I first took Wordout public (it was originally private for my existing customers locally) and switched to a Wordpress platform, I didn’t get a new domain name. I left it where it was, in a ‘wordout’ subdomain. Getting to Google’s page 1 results for that keyword (Wordout, the name of the blog) was incredibly hard. It can be done (just Google it) but seriously, if you can avoid that battle you’ll be better off.
Thanks John, and good luck to new bloggers! Have some fun today, ok?
Great Post, John.
One more thing I would like to add is
it is important to pick your affiliate
products you are going to promote with
that blog.
I see many people choose to advertise
information that is not related to the
content.
Igor
True that!
I have been slowly building my blog (around my full time job, wife and kid) for quite some time. It was intended to target a general area (online business). I had populated the site with a number of recurring themes (web design and tools). Over time I noticed my ranking climb, ever so slightly. My topics began to vary more through out the overall theme of my site and in a matter of days, my ranking dropped right off. I have managed to build it back up to where it was, which is still not anything to write home about, but its still a ranking and one can build on that. So the point of this is to add to your thought, be conscious of the context of your affiliate offer, and the quality. Be sure that it fits with the overall context of your blog. The big kicker for ranking, I think, is to keep the theme/context of your site very specific and consistent (as well as all the stuff Jason has above).
Cheers!
Jeromy
http://twitter.com/JeromyS
i will take into account all that you shared here as i am also planning to take my blog into another level, that is, having my own self hosted blog…on which i will move all my blog contents from blogger to WP.
you’re one of the reasons why i’ve started a blog as well to document my own achievenemtns and experience with the IM world, but then i tend to find myself loosely blogging about other topics as well,
but since i’ve started blogging, i’ve found out that you cant really make the money(at least the amount of money) through just blogging alone, joining affiliate programs and what not is the key, but you cant just promote the products on your site..
i see a blog as a way to build an email list and follower that you can try to convince to join your email list or join an affiliate program under your referrel link or what not and try to leverage that.
this post is a good basics for startup though – the one thing i hate about myself is the fact that i cant stick to one blog “look” i always want to change it up now and then. it hurts me in branding lol
i’ve always liked reading john cow you provide a lot of good and useful content.
Great post you got in there. I will give it a try starting a new blog. I kinda have a little hard time with wordpress so I guess I’ll just stick to blogger. Its the content that matters somehow. Keep posting some good post John.
Great!
I used my name as my domain. it is great to brand myself.
Hi Jason,
I actually used your logo as an example of one that really sets a particular tone that works for your blog but wouldn’t work for mine.
I’m trying to remember if I’ve downloaded your Building a Business Not a Blog. I did request it again to find out but so far it hasn’t shown up.
Have you seen my post on How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business? I searched for a commenting policy to find out how you feel about links either in the body of a comment or to a post instead of the main URL in the website field. I believe this post would be valuable to anyone seeking more detailed information on starting a blog. That post is currently found in my Recently Popular section.
Another post new bloggers could really benefit from is Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find. Doing that makes your blog search engine friendly and also keeps your posts on topic.
I’ve got to make more time to read your posts, especially those about affiliate marketing.
Using our name as domain is great to brand ourself as expert in the niche you blogging about.
To your success,
Bryan Hee