How to Create Your
First Blog
I've been blogging now for about 2 years, and I'm amazed at
the amount of traffic that I get from my blog and the number
of people who tell me that they first heard about me from my
blog instead of my website. The word blog is derived from
the term "web log", or an online diary or journal. If the
HBO series Sex and
the City were being filmed today, Carrie
Bradshaw would be a blogger as well as a columnist, I
think. Why? As she experiences her revelations about life,
love, and relationships, she could post them to her blog for
the world to see and comment upon.
Blogging has opened website creation to almost everyone, as
it takes very little know-how to get a blog up and running.
In fact, many service business owners are using a blog
platform as their primary website, with some of them
creating static pages as you would find on a traditional
website, while others are using the platform as a blog and
are posting updates regularly.
There are several advantages to using blogs instead of
ezines or traditional websites:
1. Search engines love blogs. The strategy that
seems to be attractive to search engines today is regularly
updated content. I can log-in to my blog at the beginning
of a day and submit a post. Within 24 hours I'll get a
notification from my Google alerts account that Google has
indexed that post.
2. Content can be distributed quickly. If you
instruct your visitors to subscribe to your blog via updating services like
Bloglines or
Feedblitz, they'll be
notified within hours of any new posts on your blog.
3. Little web programming knowledge is required.
Once your blog is set up, it's simply a matter of logging
into your account, typing the info for you post, adding
graphics or photos as needed, and publishing your post to
your blog.
4. Reader feedback. Your readers can give you
comments and feedback about your posts almost immediately
after you log an entry. Blogs are a great way to engage
your audience.
Are ezines and traditional websites dead? No, because
people consume information differently. Some are auditory
learners and prefer to hear the info (great audience for
podcasting, an audio form of blogging), some prefer to
receive updates as they are published (blog readers), while
others like a stable, stationary medium to which they can
refer when they're ready (readers who archive ezines or
bookmark web pages).
How do you begin to blog? Here are 10 simple steps you can
follow:
1. Blogging platform. The easiest way to get started
is to use the free service found at
Blogger.com or
Wordpress.com. The ability to customize your blog is
limited with the free services, so I urge my clients to
subscribe to Typepad.com, which will host your blog for you
on their servers, or purchase a hosting account where
WordPress can be installed. The downloadable version of
WordPress is located at Wordpress.org and is free of charge
if you need to install Wordpress yourself on your hosting
account. I use Typepad for my blog, so many of my examples
will relate exclusively to blogs hosted on that platform.
2. Name. What do you want to call your blog? Blog
names tend to be attention-getting and off-beat. However,
for service businesses, I encourage my clients to use
keywords important to their business when naming their
blog. You will also want to acquire the .com version of
your blog's name or your blog's name with the word "blog"
attach as your blog URL. After you have set up your blog,
your blog provider can give you more info about how to map
your domain to your blog. (Note: You don't want to simply
forward your blog to your domain name, as that impacts the
URLs of your individual blog pages).
3. Look and Layout. How many columns do you want to
display? Do you want links to static pages? What colors do
you want to use? How about a signup box for a free
giveaway? Should you use one of the templates provided or
have something custom designed? Do you want your blog
archives displayed? Do you want to be the only author or do
you want to permit others to make posts, as well? There are
many questions you'll be asked in the startup phase about
the look of your blog. A Typepad blog permits you to change
your mind about your layout at a later date. The best way to determine the
look of your blog is to look at the layout of other blogs
and determine what appeals to you.
4. Widgets. There are a number of widgets, or add-on
programs, that you can incorporate into your blog. Check
your blog software's site for more info about what features
you'd like add to your blog. At a minimum you'll want to
give visitors a couple of ways in which they can receive
blog updates through various updaters, or feeder services,
as mentioned earlier.
5. Comments. The newest sp*am making its rounds
online is comment sp*am. Don't these guys have anything
better to do? Set your comments to moderated, which means
that you have to approve any comments to your blog before
the post goes live. You'll save yourself a great many
headaches and time by choosing to moderate the comments.
Once you've gotten this far, you should have a basic blog
established and are ready to begin to blog.
6. Blog content. The time has arrived -- your blog
is ready to accept posts. What do you write about? You can
post content rich articles of interest to your target
market, comment on a current event, answer questions from
your visitors, present a before and after case study
outlining how your business helped someone, etc. Keep your
eyes and ears open for information relevant to your
audience. I use my blog to bring forth info that doesn't
fit well into my newsletter format or something that arises
between newsletter issues. I post my ezine content to my
blog, as well.
7. Posting frequency. Blogs are just like gardens
-- they need watering regularly and require some care and
attention. For maximum effectiveness, you need to post
several times a week to your blog. I try and post 4 times
per week in my blog -- 2 posts are items I run across or
comment upon as noteworthy in the moment, and the latter 2
are the contents of my ezine posted over 2 days. And,
respond to reader's comments when they arrive -- blogs
provide a great forum for ongoing discussions.
8. Blog traffic. In the same way that you publicize
your website URL on everything that you do, you can
similarly publicize your blog. Submitting your blogs to
blog directories is another way to get traffic. A very
comprehensive list of blog directories,
RSS Top
55, has been compiled by Robin Good. Searching out
blogs that appeal to your target market and making comments
to those posts will also drive traffic to your blog.
Another trick is to post your blog on social bookmarking
sites like Reddit,
Digg,
StumbleUpon, and
del.icio.us.
9. Measure the results. Some blog programs, like
Typepad, have built-in statistics so you can view details of
your blog traffic. Some of the feed/updater programs have
built-in statistics as well, or you can install a metrics
program as an add-on to your blog. Review your statistics
regularly to determine how much traffic your blog generates.
10. Rinse and Repeat. Don't let the novelty of
blogging wear off. Blogging is effective only if you
continue your blogging efforts regularly over a long period
of time. I know of several individuals who have gotten book
deals from their blog and radio and TV interviews as well.
Just think -- your blog might be your ticket to fame!
Every service business can benefit from blog technology.
Few other marketing strategies provide the quick immediacy
that blogging provides.
(c) 2009 Donna Gunter
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Internet Marketing Automation
Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous
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Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get
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