How do I go about starting a blog?

Question

I am unsure what the best blog software is, or for that matter, what the purpose of this software is; I'd also like to know about increasing traffic to my blog once it is up.

Answer 1

Why don't you start at www.blogger.com, try it out online, first and see if you want to write a blog, and then go from there. Writing constant content gets tedious.

There are various sitemeters that you can track traffic with. www.statcounter.com is a good one for tracking.

good luck.

Answer 2

I quote below a website address with an excellent guide for creating a blog even when you are in danger of being found out. It is a roughly 100-page manual you can download from a California-based independent news media-monitoring source.

And, if you will look up Reporters Without Borders on the web (it is HQ'd in Paris) you will find another equal-sized manual for creating blogs, also anonymously.

Both were created for the benefit of Chinese intellectuals in mainland China to use to prevent the central government from finding them out and arresting them for speaking their minds freely. But you can use them for your own purposes. Both are excellent guides to use in creating blogs.

Not everyone in the world have America's Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press, you see--even endangered as it is by the Bush Administration at present--so feel safe when using these two for your guidance in your most worthy project.

And I remind you that Freedom of the Press under the US Constitution is NOT a right that belongs only to the news media. Freedom of the Press is a right guarnateed to YOU as a personal citizenship right. USSC Justice Brenner (Sp?) made this very point during a speech to the U of Vir law school about 25 years ago and his statement has never been challenged.

--Why? Because it is true.

Your blog provides you the same legal rights and entitlements as any belonging to the New York Times.

Fact!!!!!

Best of luck in your exercising a right of American citizenship!!

Just remember that if you set up advertising revenues and begin drawing a profit or declaring a loss on your income tax returns, you will need to have a general business license like any other business.

But there is NO SUCH THING anywhere in America as a news media permit and/or license as there are in some other nations.

Answer 3

1. Set up your blog. You can have the option of using their URL (e.g. http://widgetsblog.blogger.com) or use the blog software in your own domain name (http://www.widgetsblog.com). Some of these are free, while some has monthly/annual subscription

Here are some places that will allow you to create your own blog

Blogger http://www.blogger.com
Typepad http://www.typepad.com/
Moveable Type http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/
Wordpress http://www.wordpress.org/

2. Create great content. Everything starts with content. Give a reason why visitors will frequent your site. Why will they want to read your blog? Why will they want to spend their time in your blog? Provide value, useful information and other benefits to the readers.

3. Get traffic to your blog. You can't earn from your blog if the blog does not have traffic. Getting traffic is going to be your biggest challenge.

Here is a comprehensive list of places where you can list your blogs and syndicate its content - Resources for Marketing Your Blogs and RSS Feeds http://www.powerhomebiz.com/onlinemarketing/blogs.htm

Use carnivals, which are a technique for showcasing your blog. Carnivals occur once a week, and you need to submit your blog post to the carnival moderator. Here is a submission form: http://www.conservativecat.com/Ferdy/Carnivals.htm An example of a carnival in action is that of the Carnival of Entrepreneurship hosted by About.com http://entrepreneurs.about.com/od/entrepreneurblogs/a/entrecarnival.htm

4. Think of how to monetize your blog. One of the most common way of earning money from blogs is through advertising and donations. Here are some ways you can earn money from your blog:

Google Adsense http://www.google.com/adsense
Chitika eMinimalls http://www.chitika.com
Text link ads - you can sell for fixed price for a fixed period of time
Donation (yes, you can beg)
Affiliate programs such as Commission Junction http://www.cj.com and the Amazon Associates program

Answer 4

I'd start with a free site like Blogger (BlogSpot). If it goes over well, find a good web host that will install your blogware (Word Press, Movable Type, Etc,).

Blogs are basically published online journals. It can be an open diary or your own views of the world or most anything. Find similar blogs to link to and they will usually reciprocate.

Good blog info can be found at Technorati.com

Answer 5

Go to:

http://www.blogspot.com

and sign up for a free blog to check it out.

The best way to increase traffic is to provide fresh and interesting content. Nobody will read your blog if you only update every other week - you need to post something pretty much every day.

Answer 6

try this one, it is really nice
http://www.neigo.com
You can do both blog and upload your photo images for free here. They have very good security for images and blog post. If you set your album or post as private, other user can not see your album's images or post unless you allow them to see it. Best of all, the message and feedback feature allow you to contact your friend or other user directly easily. After you sign up, your URL address will be "username.neigo.com". Easy to remember and you can share it with your friends. Customise themes and title allow you to set up your personal style for the interface. Also they have very good interecting tools such like message and feedback that allow you contact to other user freely.

Answer 7

Create yahoo 360 page it's great.
to get started just follow the link:
http://360.yahoo.com

Good Luck.

Answer 8

you can blog on myspace if you're over 14 or yahoo 360 if you're over 18.

Answer 9

I dunno bout software but www.livejournal.com is free and all about blogging.