Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com
Have you ever thought about quitting social media but you were afraid that you would lose contact with your connections? Start your own blog.
This is a beginner’s guide to starting a very first blog.
A Guide to Starting a Very First Blog for Fun and Personal Connection
Step 1: Choose a name for your blog. Many blogging platforms allow you to change your name if you decide that you don’t like it, but you might have to stick with your name at least for a little while. Choose a name that fits what you hope to create content about.
Step 2: Choose a Blogging Platform. Writing about choosing a blogging platform is complicated. If you would like to read an article about the pros and cons of various blogging platforms, this article is very good and lays it out better than I could. Today, my post is about starting a first blog. I have been playing around with blogging since 2006 but I would not say that I am an expert by any mean in the field of blogging. The best way to learn about blogging is to start a blog.
If you have never blogged before and you are looking to try blogging, I would recommend beginning with a free product that is easy to use with minimal technical skills required.
Here are my two recommendations:
- Blogger: This is the blogging product that introduced me to the world of blogging. It is owned by Google and to use Blogger, all you need is a Google account. A person could start a blog on Blogger in less than an hour. I have worked on several library blogs that used Blogger. I also made at least two of my own blogs on Blogger when I was getting started with blogging.
- WordPress.com: If you are looking for a little bit more artistic control over your blog, but you are looking for something that is free to use and still low stress, I recommend WordPress.com. Before I migrated to WordPress.org in 2018 and started paying for my domain name and web hosting, I used WordPress.com. It provides a number of themes and backgrounds and this gave me greater control over the look of my blog. I was intimidated at first because it has more options than Blogger, but ultimately, I was very happy with WordPress.com
If you would like to read more about the differences between Blogger and WordPress.com, here is an article. They are to two most popular blogging formats on the internet.
Step 3: Fill in the necessary information to start your blog. It will ask you for your blog’s name, your name, your e-mail address, and your password. Write all this information down in a place where you will not lose it. The blogging services will assign you an URL address for your blog. Write this down too. Practice typing in the username and password so that you can access your blog.
Step 4: Choose a Theme for your blog. When I say Theme, I am speaking of the “Look” of your blog. Your blogging service will give you options about how you want your blog to look. You do not have to stick with it forever but play around and see what you like. I have found that in the beginning, I might change my theme several times when I am figuring out what I like, but then I tend to stick with a Theme for a while after that.
Step 5: Write Your First Post. Do not worry about perfection. Give it a try. You can always delete it later if you decide you don’t like it. I think you should jump in and give it a try anyway. Then push the publish button. Now your post is live! Isn’t it crazy? Your post is now out there on the internet. But nobody knows it yet. That is why you should proceed to step 6.
Step 6: Let your people know that you have a blog. Tell people on social media if you want. E-mail friends and family. Pass out business cards if you want. Let people know so that they can read your blog.
Step 7: Have fun with it. Once you get started, you can take your blog in all kinds of directions, you just have to get started and take a leap.
If you have started a blog, let me know in the comments section. I would love to read it and follow it. Please let me know.
Thank you,
Katie
Subscribe to this blog. Instructions are here.
