Gabrielkun Blog

First things first let’s define what blogging is. Blogging is the act of producing a blog. What’s a blog? The term blog is short for web log, a “log” of diary-like entries published on a web site. This is how it started, people publishing their daily thoughts for all to read on their website. Often the blog entries occur as short, quick snippets – a link to something cool found on the web, an opinion, an idea, a rant. And sometimes they are longer, thoughtful essays. Sometimes new entries are produced every few minutes, and sometimes just once and a while. It all depends on the author and what she or he wants to express. I have been blogging for close to 3 years now just for the fun of it without realizing the amount of money we can make. One day while browsing the internet, I read about a certain blog about his accomplishments and suddenly realized the opportunity out there. So I started to blog. How do I even start a blog? What do I need to know? These are all questions that run through the mind of someone looking to create a blog for the first time. I hope to tackle these issues in this latest how to. If you are reading this and want to start a blog, you’re in for a treat. If you already have a blog, stick around and you might learn something new. Remember this, starting a new blog is difficult and this can put many people off. Some may get off to a good start only to become quickly discouraged. But I’m telling you not to be discourage attracting huge number of visitors will take some time. Blogging is growing and for very good reasons, now I’m explaining blogging and why it matters.

Why Blog?
There are many reasons why you might want to blog. Blogs have come a long way from their typical definition as online diaries. Blogs are now viable sources for tech news, informative articles and other captivating content. My blog started out as curiosity about blog technology, and has evolved into a way for me to share my knowledge while learning from the comments of my readers.

Now that you want to start a blog, you should start thinking about what you will be blogging about. You might already have a general notion of what you want to talk about, but try to get a better idea of what a typical post would be. Before you start blogging it is a good idea to find your subject or niche. If you blog about anything that strikes your fancy, whether it’s tech news or gardening tips, you are not as likely to gather as many dedicated readers as if you had just stuck to one topic.

How do you get started?
The first consideration when creating a blog is which tool to use. There are countless options with a variety of different features. Some tools are free, others are open source, some require no I.T help, while others require quite a bit of programming and configuration to get up and running. Which tool you pick to build your blog depends largely on your commitment to this blogging thing. Find a decent blogging provider that appeal to you. Some may include Livejournal.com, Blogger.com, TBlog, WordPress.com, I.PH, Blogmas, Blogsome, Blogxi, Mindsay.com, Blog.ir, Blogagotchi.com, Blogdrive.com, Xanga.com and many more. Most of these sites are pre-made with templates and push-button publishing that don’t require much technical know-how.

Decide what URL to use
The identity you create for your blog lies in the URL. Once you decide on a URL for your blog, do not ever change it. Every time you change it you need to popularize your blog all over again. Besides, the technical problem is that the search engines and articles that reference posts in your blog have links to the older URL and it can create a lot of confusion and hence lost readership. Choose your URL carefully and stick to it.

Choice of subject to blog
Choose the subject or niche of your blog. Your blog should mirror your passion and knowledge on the subject. Identify whether you will be able to consistently post on the subject. Some topics that are search engine friendly and that never really die out are technology blogs, product related blogs, city centric blogs and money making blogs. There is always news to give your readers and also there are a lot of points to discuss on. More challenging blogs to write are blogs on thoughts, ideas, short stories, poems. In these blogs you have to be able to provide self- driven original content whereas in the previous kind there are other websites from where you can draw inspiration and ideas.

High Quality Content

Posting quality content consistently keeps your readers engaged and makes them come back for more. In the initial days posting is easy since you will have a lot of ideas in your mind. However, delivering high quality content to your readers day after day gets tougher as time progresses and ideas dry up. You need to keep innovating and idealing constantly.

Marketing your blog is hard work
Once you have content in your blog, its time to tell the world. The challenge is how do you tell prospective readers that your blog has what they are looking for? Social networking sites like stumbleupon, orkut, twitter, digg, facebook and a million other websites are breeding grounds for finding prospective readers. Building your network can be a time consuming, never ending task, but it doesn’t end there, you need to make the effort to make your network aware of your blog.

Submit to Search Engines

You can do all the best blog in the world and still get no where because the Search Engines have not found you to start with. Each search engine has a way of letting it know about your site – submit your URL to be included in the index. Please note that this takes time and perhaps a quicker and more effective way is to get linked to by a site already indexed by the search engine. You might also like to tryout some of the services around that offer to submit your sites to search engines for you. I’d be wary of paying for this sort of service though. I never have and seem to do OK. see also Submit Your Blog to Search Engines

Submit your blog to different directories.
Submitting your blogs to directories is one of the most common techniques to gain backlinks. Submitting blogs to free directories can also help you acquire ample backlinks. There are people who mix up directories with link farms, and believe that they will be punished for posting blogs to directories. Mind that submitting blogs to directories is not subject to penalization if payment is made for link.

Visit other blogs to build a blogging circle

Don’t be afraid of links. Include link to other organizations, weblogs, news articles in your weblog posts. Sure, some people will click the first link and never come back to your site. For other readers, though, you are providing a valuable service by pointing them to important information in your area of expertise. They may leave your site, but they’ll come back. And they will come back because you will become a source of information. But linking isn’t just about providing a clipping service for your readers. It’s also about sharing your wealth, information and Web real estate with others. This sharing can increase readership and some of those folks will share right back.