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| The basics of running a site | Blogging Quick Start Guide >
Want to start blogging but can't figure out the jargon? You've come to the right place. Before we start, there are a few things you need to consider.
Don't start until you know why you want to do it and what you're hoping to get out of it. You could get lucky if you jump right in, but you might end up regretting it. Don't take that risk.
Skelliewag.org has an excellent post on finding your target audience. Decide who you want to write for - it's a lot easier to write if you know who you're writing for.
Once a week? Twice a week? Every day? Don't get over-ambitious - be realistic. Also, think about how long your blog entries should be.
By "new content", I mean stuff you write yourself - not just a link to another site with a comment to "check it out". Those blogs are very common - do you want to have a blog that's the same as thousands of others? (if you do, that's up to you.)
If you want more than the people you already know to read your blog, you'll have to make the effort to reach out to other bloggers. This means joining websites that connect you with other bloggers, finding blogs that you like and that are relevant to your own, and commenting on them.
You may find that it becomes rather time consuming. You'll need to make time to network with others if you want to get a name for yourself. I've only just started doing this and although it does take time, it is definitely worth the effort. Sometimes it's just nice to know that I am not alone in my thoughts and ideas, and that people do read my blog!
I see a lot of blogs that are just blogs at the start. This is fine until you decide to add a photo gallery, a forum, or a store. Suddenly you're faced with reorganising things so that you can get to all of these places, but you don't want to detract attention from the blog.
Perhaps you'd rather wait and see how things go and not do everything at once. But some careful planning at the start can make life a lot easier down the road. If you have photos that you know you're going to put online, you don't have to tell people that they're "coming soon"... but make a mental note of how you'd like to link them into your blog.
Above all, remember that you're actually building a website... even if it is just a blog.
Hopefully I've given you a few things to think about before you jump into the authoring side of the web. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or comments on this blog entry. Tomorrow, I'll start explaining what some of your options are when it comes to setting up a new blog. See you then!