One would think that everyone knows all about blogging these days. After all, it seems that everyone and their mom has his own blog! Even grandparents are occupying the blogosphere. You might be surprised, though, that there are still people who are new to blogging and can use a quick and easy guide to starting a blog.
If you can relate, or you know someone who might need the right push, then you’re in the right place. There are many factors that come into play, of course, but if all you need is a barebones guide just to get started, here are the only 3 things you need to know.
Your Blog Name
What’s in a name? Nothing and everything.
It’s your blog, so you can choose whatever name you want. I won’t go as far as to tell you “This is how you choose a blog name”. Instead, I suggest that you think about what you want to do with your blog. What is it’s focus? What is your goal? What is the essence of the blog?
Take time to mull on those questions, and you’ll get to the perfect name for your blog.
Theme/Design
Once you have pinpointed the essence of your blog, you have to turn you attention to how you want it to look. This is the fun part, actually, as there are countless looks you can go for. So as not to become overwhelmed, I suggest visiting sites such as WPThemes.org, which highlight and offer WordPress themes. (I am assuming that you’ll go for WordPress here.)
Choosing a theme is similar to determining your blog name, although you are at an easier stage right now, as you already have an idea of what you want your blog to convey. Bearing your blog goals/message in mind, you have some guide as to what theme or design to go for.
Content
Content. Content. Content.
It may not be the end-all-be-all of your blog – design plays a huge role, too – but without content, you are not going to attract and keep readers. My suggestion is to keep jotting down ideas of what you want to write about. Even while you’re still deciding on the theme, you can already map out posts that you would like to publish in the future. And, when you find the time to actually write, go ahead even if your blog isn’t ready. This way, when you do launch, you will have content up and running.
As I said earlier, there are many more factors that come into play, but if you get these three things down pat from the get go, it will be smoother sailing for you.
