Advertisement
Over the past few weeks, I have been getting questions about how I got started blogging and then becoming a news-oriented web site. I thought I’d write about a full how to so that the other readers have a good resource on what to do.
These are my experiences and I am not recommending a particular company.
In 2006, I was frequenting other Apple News web sites. After reading them for sometime, I decided to start my own news web site.
Blogging was new back then, and I really didn’t have a lot of money to start a full-fledged news organization. So I looked for a free blogging host – and I found a few, but went with a familiar company.
Google’s Blogger.com was a good starting point for me. It got me familiar with what a blog was (and wasn’t), how to write, and to look for information and news relating to my blog’s content.
After a year with that (and with information exploding about the new iPhone) I quickly outgrew that service and found another one called WordPress.com. That service offers free (limited) blogging and templates. Currently, WordPress is the #1 blogging platform in the world, and is the one that I am using for all of our news web sites.
WordPress.com also lets you create other blogs (for free or with a fee). As I started to read other news web sites that were not Apple related, I saw a need for content that was easy to read yet understandable. So I started two more news web sites and one programming web site.
Here is what you need to start a blogging (news) web site:
* CHOOSE A THEME:
What kind of blog is this going to be? Personal, news, how to, etc.
* COME UP WITH A GOOD NAME:
Make clear what the topic is going to be on the blog’s heading so a user knows what the topic is right away.
* TIME:
If you’re planning on running a blog yourself (like I am) you need to block out time to search for, and then post articles for your site. I spend on average three to four hours (sometimes more) each day looking for related content. I use resources major news organizations to other related news web sites.
* HAVE GOOD WRITING SKILLS:
No matter what language your blog is in, nobody likes to read gibberish or a long winded article. Get to the point, and use the K.I.S.S. method (Keep It Simple Stupid!)
* KNOW YOUR TOPIC:
When you write an article and post it you will get questions about it. On an average, I can get anywhere from 5 – 20 questions per day about an article.
* KNOW YOUR READERS:
Have a way for them to either interact with you, with other readers, or both.
* DON’T JUST COPY AND PASTE AN ARTICLE:
Due to Copyright laws, if you want to write something about another person’s article, do not just copy and paste it to your blog. Write an overview of it and then include a Hyperlink to the original article so the user can read all of it.
If you follow these simple steps, you can be well on your way to becoming a full-fledged blogger.
Thanks for reading.
About Post Author
Share this via:
Related Posts
4 thoughts on “How to Start Your Own Blog”
Comments are closed.
Thing you are talking about a lot of sense. Yet, consider this, let’s suppose you integrated a little more? I am talking about, I do not want to teach how to run your site, however if you added something which could grab people’s particular attention? Just as a video or simply a graphic or maybe few for getting people psyched concerning what you are talking about.
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your great post. Also, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks!