Write your own blog: getting started
As spending time online continues to grow in popularity, more and more people are creating their own personal websites – called blogs – to meet others and share their thoughts on the subjects that interest them most.
Starting a blog is a great way to share your interests and show off a bit of your personality online, and is a hobby you can take up easily from the comfort of your own home. You can share stories, preserve memories, improve your writing abilities and extend your knowledge of photography and web design.
Choosing a theme
The first thing you’ll want to decide on is what subject or theme you’d like to blog about; start by thinking about your hobbies and passions or coming up with a list of things you’d like to write about. Choosing a subject matter – like cooking, gardening, or travel – doesn’t necessarily mean those are the only things you can write about, but it will help people who share your interests find your blog and understand what it’s all about.
Your blog is your own personal website, and you have the freedom to write about or share whatever you like from your favourite recipes to anecdotes about the things that are happening in your day to day life. You also have the option to share photos and videos, and by doing so you can add even more personal touches to your writing.
Some of the more popular subjects to blog about include:
- Cooking or baking
- Gardening
- Family history
- Travel
- Fashion and design
- Book and film reviews
- Bird watching
- Health and fitness
- Business
There’s no right or wrong way to start a blog; you’re free to write about whatever interests you and make it as personal or informational as you choose, so have fun getting creative and build a website that’s unique to you. Once you have a rough idea of what you’d like to blog about, it’s time to choose a name for your website. Look for names that are catchy and easy to spell – it will help your friends and family members keep up with new posts and find your blog if they search for it on Google.
It’s also worth considering how often you plan to blog. Setting a rough schedule will make it easy for your online audience to keep up with your posts and look forward to what you’ll do next.
Building your blogging website
If you’re interested in building a blog the good news is you don’t have to be an expert at web design to get started. Blogging platforms like WordPress and Blogger will all provide you with the tools you need to get started for free and offer tutorials and easy-to-use templates so that you can focus on writing for your blog without getting bogged down with the more technical aspects.
Once you’ve signed up and have created your blog’s web domain, you can choose a blog theme – what your website will look like – and start adding information. In addition to your most recent posts and photographs, you may want to consider adding an ‘About Me’ page so your readers can learn a little more about you.
Find and follow other blogs
Once your blog is set up the next thing to do is connect with your online audience – for most people when they are starting out, this is mainly friends and family. Through WordPress you also have the option to browse through posts from other bloggers who write about different subjects – you will be able to follow their blogs to keep up on regular posts, and if you choose, you can comment on posts they are writing and start to interact with the community of people who read blogs and are also interested in the same thing.
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