How Do I Blog?

According to Technorati, there are more than 100 million blogs online.  Have you joined the growing group of online users who are reading and creating blogs yet?  If you have not, now is as good a time as any to start setting up your own blog.

What Blogs are All About

It’s probably those who have been living under a rock who have not seen or heard about blogs… but still, what exactly are they?  Basically, blogs are similar to an ‘online journal’ wherein the user or blogger posts diary-like entries. These entries are arranged in such a way that the latest blog post or entry is placed on top of the web page. Now, depending on your blogging platform, anybody who has access to the internet and who knows your blog address or URL can view your blog entries.

How to Set Up Your Very Own Blog

So how exactly can you set up your own blog? Here are is a quick how-to guide:

1. Determine the purpose of your blog.

Are you creating a blog so that your friends and family can have a way to keep up with what is happening with your life? Or do you plan to monetize your site later on?

2. Choose the subject for your blog.

Depending on the purpose of your blog, you need to decide what subject it is that you want your blog to focus on.  The more specific the topic, the better…  but it should also be expandable enough in the future if you plan to blog for quite a long time.

3. Choose a name for your blog.

If you are using a free blogging platform, you cannot select a personalized domain name like myname.com.  Instead, the domain name of your blog will be preset by the free blogging platform provider, such as Blogger, WordPress or TypePad. If you plan to use your blog as a way to earn money, then you should definitely think of a unique domain name and register it.

3. Choose a host for your blog.

For this, you have two options: go for the free services offered by free blogging service providers, or use an inexpensive, hosted blogging platform.

4. Select a template for your blog, and start posting!

After choosing which blog hosting service it is that you will use, the next step is for you to choose a template. Most blog platforms are quite easy to use, so all you need to do is write the title and body of the post, edit it and publish!

With the numerous tools available for bloggers today, you can literally setup your very own blog in as little as five minutes. Just remember that if you want to monetize on your blog later on, you need to choose a blogging platform that will allow you to add applications with the least amount of hassle.