Hey, this isn’t a cop out. It’s genuinely something new that
I spent all frickin’ day trying out.
As I stated in my previous blog post, I have created blogs before, but lack of
traffic and lack of motivation mean they were all short lived. So although I
wasn’t a complete blog virgin, I still needed to do my research as it had been
a couple of years since I jumped on the blogging bandwagon. Yes, that’s the
first, most important tip I can give to new bloggers. For God sake, DO YOUR
RESEARCH. There are tons of useful hints and tips online, it would be dumb to
dive into blogging head first (like I have mistakenly done so many times- and
only ended up hitting my head at the bottom of the pool.)
If you are thinking of starting a blog, I think the first
step is to establish what you are actually going to write about. This was a
major problem I had before- one week I was writing about sport and the next, I
was writing about fashion. Humans are creatures of habit, so it helps if you
are consistent in your blog posts. Do you specialise in art, fashion, sport,
gardening, bee keeping? Whatever it is, someone out there is guaranteed to want
to read about it, if you are that passionate about it. And that’s another
thing- whatever you choose to write about, make sure it is something you are
passionate about as no one is going to read what you write and even worse, you
aren’t going to want to write about it. I am passionate about learning and experiencing new things, hence the birth of this blog. If you are passionate about what
you are writing about, you’re on a sure fire path to a successful blog.
The next tip I would suggest for new bloggers is to explore
the different platforms available to support your blog. Like a man or a good
pair of shoes, there is a platform out there for everyone, so it’s best to
explore your options first. From my research, the most popular platforms for
blogging appeared to be Wordpress, Blogger and interestingly, Tumblr. Tumblr,
for me at least, was instantly out. I don’t know much about Tumblr, but it
makes me think of One Direction memes clogging up my timeline, which, whilst
appealing for some, was definitely not appealing to me (sorry 1D fans.)
The site that topped
most of the reviews I looked at was Wordpress.org, a site that I had not heard
of when I started blogging, which made me feel so not down with the kids.
Anyway, apparently it is like the Twitter of the blogging world, so simple that
even Snoop Dogg uses it, apparently. I gave it a trial run, but whilst I think
it’s great if you are serious about blogging, are trying to promote a business,
or perhaps even want to blog for a living, it seemed like a little too much
pressure to handle for a newbie blogger like myself who was trying to get back
in the game. Also, if you want a domain name, you’ll have to pay $3-$6 dollars
a month, which apparently, is the price of an average cup of coffee every
month. And I’m the type of girl to spend my money on coffee, every time. I’m
not sure how it works out in GBP however (I couldn’t find a UK version,
surprisingly.) The good news is that if
you’re still interested in WordPress.org and think it might be the site for you,
it’s sister site, Wordpress.com, is free if you don’t want a domain name, and
is also easier to maintain, so I hear.
Although there are tens of other sites to take into
consideration, I was left with Blogger, which I had used before. In my
experience, it’s relatively simple (and free!) to use, but according to the
reviews, it was now “outdated.” Left out in the cold like Facebook which,
according to my 14 year old brother “is for old people now.” I mainly decided
to go with Blogger because it was a site I was familiar with like an old friend,
thus I concluded I wouldn't have to spend too much time fussing around with the features and
so forth. I think I would recommend Blogger to the casual blogger, as there is
less pressure to establish yourself as "a blogger", yet still room to grow your blog if you
wish.
Remember how I said I chose Blogger because it would be
easier to deal with features? Nope, far from it. The site has obviously had a
shake up since I last logged on. It took me hours
to design my site before I had even posted anything, which meant my Tuesday
was spent drowning in cups of tea whilst glued to my laptop. I kept looking at
other sophisticated blogs and then looking back at mine, which resembled the
work of a 5 year old child in comparison. Patience has never been one of my
virtues but I persisted. Again, there are tons of tutorials and tips if you
want to know how to add certain features to your blog page if you’re unsure of
anything.
Last tip: I’m no expert blogger but I do know that if all
else fails, just have fun with your blog! Otherwise, what’s the point?
Happy Blogging!
Love, Georgia.
p.s. below are some useful hints and tips about making a
blog that I found on the web:
http://monetizepros.com/
video tutorials about Blogger features:
Remember to check out the blogs on my blog list to the right
hand side!
