Category — Blogging

Choosing the right blogging platform is a very important first step. You can liken it to needing to find the perfect car. Sure, they will all get you from point A to point B, but some do it better than others. There are some that are faster, more effective, and more reliable.

The first kinds of blogging platforms are the free versions of popular software. Blogger.com is the one that is owned by Google and it’s very easy to use and completely free. The only issue is that you don’t really own your blog as it is hosted by Blogger. While the software is great, you’re pretty much out of luck if they decide to pull the plug on you.

The other major, free blogging software is Wordpress.com (not to be confused with Wordpress.org, which is self-hosted). This is also very easy to use, and it is hosted by Wordpress. Be extremely careful if you’re going to do a lot of affiliate marketing on your blog. Wordpress.com has been known to shut sites down without warning!

As you can probably tell, it is generally a better idea to self-host your blog so you have total control over it. As you start getting good traffic you’ll definitely want to ensure that there is nothing anyone can do to take your blog away. Setting up a free hosted blog is like putting all your eggs in one basket, and that’s never a smart idea. Of course that doesn’t mean you can’t set one up that is secondary and meant to help you get backlinks.

There are many companies out there that are using blogs as a way to attract new customers. If you haven’t started a blog yet, you’re definitely missing out! People love the constantly updated content and the feeling like they are getting to know the people behind the company. Static websites where you sell things are great, but blogs are really the heart behind the operation.

If you have an e-commerce site or a site that is advertising your business, when was the last time you updated it? If you’re like many companies then it’s around once or twice per year! That’s simply not enough when it comes to ranking in the search engines and giving people a reason to come back to your site.

When you have a blog, you’re definitely giving people a reason to stick around. They like knowing what’s on the horizon for companies. They like knowing that there are people behind the corporate door. An added perk to blogging is that you’ll tend to rank more highly in the search engines. Since your content is always updating, the spiders will come by more often. The faster you are able to get indexed, the faster people find the new, relevant posts you are making.

When you hear the term "blogger" do you think of yourself? If you’re like many people then you might find the idea intimidating! While most people enjoy reading blogs, there are few people who think they can become bloggers themselves. It’s time to put that thinking aside because anyone can run a successful blog!

One of the major hang-ups is that some people don’t like to write. If you find this is a problem for you, it can feel like getting your blog started is hopeless. The good news is that you don’t have to be Mark Twain to write good content. People care less about how you say it and more about what you’re actually saying.

It also helps that content is generally expected to be short and to the point on the web. People are so busy these days that breaking your text into small paragraphs and bullet points is ideal. That makes your life easier as well!

Another hang-up you might have is that you don’t consider yourself to be an expert on any one topic. Once again, you can easily overcome this. The way that people go from being in the dark to being an expert is by researching! Research your topic and start writing about it and you’ll be an expert soon enough.