Before You Start Your Blog - 5 Things To Consider

If you are going to start a blog there are some things that you need to consider before you take the plunge.

1.) Make sure your blog is set up on the right hosting service. - By this I mean, should you be using a free blogging services like WordPress.com and Blogger.com or should you be setting up a blog on your own domain.

If you are planning on using your blog to promote an existing business or if you are planning to use it in any way to make money I recommend that you set up your blog on your own site. If you are just using a blog to tell your friends what is going on or to let out your personal rants with no plans to make money with it you should be fine on the free services.

Having your own domain name and your own site makes it so that you can add features like plugins that will optimize your site for better performance in the search engines which should bring more targeted prospects to your site.

2.) Choose the right blogging software - There are a number of different software programs you can use to create a blog such as Joomla, TypePad, Concrete and WordPress. I recommend WordPress because it is the most highly supported when it comes to plugins, themes and even support. There are a number of sites that will help you with your WordPress blog besides the support that you will find at WordPress.org.

3.) Only blog about one topic - stay on target with your blog. Yes, you can have all kinds of sub-topics but they should all be related to your main niche.

If you keep your blog in one niche the likelihood of getting readers to come back time and time again is greatly improved. This brands you as an expert in your niche and builds loyalty with your prospective customers.

Speaking of niches, your niche should be something that you have an affinity for. You don't have to be the expert but you need to like the niche enough that you are willing to put in the work and it helps if you do know enough to know if the post you are entering is good information or bad information.

4.) Use keywords that get searched - a lot of the traffic you get to your blog comes from keywords that are searched in the search engines. Do a little research and see if the keywords you are targeting actually get searched.

Google's keyword tool is a free service where you can see exactly how many people are searching for your keywords on Google every month. This is a great place to start your keyword research.

5.) Make your blog personal - most people don't like to listen to the anonymous stranger that is trying to give them advice. The much prefer to be able to build a relationship with the person (even if only in their own minds) and feel that they know the person giving the advice. You can do this by writing the articles in your own voice or even just putting a picture of yourself on your blog.

These steps will get you started with blogging, review them before you start your blog or if you already have a blog going see if they apply to your blog. They are the backbone of almost all successful blogs.

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