Blog How To: Getting Started Blogging

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I have found the most difficult part of blogging for people is simply getting started. So I’m going to be writing a series of Blog How To articles explaining how to get up and going, from the technical to the content and promotion.

Blog How To Tip: Hire a Professional

People always moan and groan when I say this. Are you a REALTOR®? Mind if I sell my house on my own? Maybe you own a restaurant. Could you run a bookstore, since it’s just another business? Or maybe you’re an acupuncturist. Do you give yourself chiropractic adjustments too, since its another form of alternative care (thanks to the idiocracy of our healthcare system). My point is that you are a professional at what you do. Your feelings are probably even hurt when someone you know goes to a competitor of yours because you have pride in your abilities. Most of you, however, ARE NOT Apache/SEO/PHP/MySQL/CSS/HTML experts.

It comes down to time value: I could sell my house on my own, but I know statistically it will sell faster with representation and I won’t have to hang out for showings and field phone calls. It’s worth my time to hire a professional.

If you want help with this, please let me know.

So You Want To Go It Alone

First you’ll need a domain name. I recently have been using Domize.com to search for domain names, then buy them through GoDaddy.com. Avoid all of their upselling, all you need is a domain name.

A Word On Domain Ownership: Never have (or expect) your web designer to get your domain name for you. Transferring ownership can be a nightmare, it’s best if you just own it throughout the process.

Next you need a web host. This is who stores all of your files for you and makes them available for the world to see.

A Word On Hosting: I am personally of the belief that if your designer provides it, host with them. This makes development much faster and easier. The software I suggest and will be covering in a moment also requires almost daily updates, either of the plugins or the core system, so this is where paying someone who will both host and maintain comes in handy.

If you want to go it alone, I personally recommend HostGator for hosting. Plans start as low as $4.95, but the nice part is it is very easy to upgrade as your needs require, all the way up to a dedicated server. They also provide CPanel and Fantastico which allow you to install your blog software in just a few clicks.

Finally, you need blogging software. Based on no research beyond what I see people talking about and my experience in setting up over 20 sites to date, Wordpress is the software platform you want to use to power your site. There is a large developer community, so getting help is relatively easy. There are also plugins to enable your site to do pretty much anything you can imagine.

So your homework from Blog How To: Getting Started Blogging is to get your domain name and a hosting account, or just contact me and I’ll get you up and going much more quickly.