Blogging and how to set up a blog.

For intending bloggers out here,.. this is for you.

This is quite a big topic but I will try and be as brief as possible. I hope everyone will get the idea.

Now, what is a blog and what is blogging all about?

A Blog is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in chronological order (the most recent post appears first). Its usually owned by an individual or group of people who act as the administrator/s of the blog.

Blogging on the other hand is the act of recording your thoughts, opinions, or experiences on the internet for other people to read.

So, why do People really go into blogging???

People go into blogging in order to;

1. To Express Thoughts and Opinions:

 You have something to say, and blogs provide a place to say it and be heard.

2. To Market or Promote Something:

Blogging is a great way to help market or promote yourself or your business, product or service.

3. To Help People:

Many blogs are written to help people who may be going through similar situations that the blogger has experienced. Many parenting and health-related blogs are written for this purpose.

4. To Establish Yourself as an Expert:

Blogs are wonderful tools to help bloggers establish themselves as experts in a field or topic. For example, if you're trying to get a job in a specific field or hoping to publish a book on a specific topic.

5. To Stay Active or Knowledgeable in a Field or Topic:

Blogging helps one to be knowledgeable in a particular niche or field he/she has great interest in.

6. To Make Money:

It's important to point out that most bloggers don't make a lot of money blogging, but the potential does exist to generate revenue from your blog with hard work and commitment. There are many bloggers who bring in big bucks. With patience and practice, you can make money through advertising and other income-generating activities on your blog. This stands out to be the main reason why most people go into blogging.. AdSense alone pays off few penny if you have a high traffic and outstanding content.

7. To Have Fun and Be Creative:

Many people start a blog simply for fun. Perhaps a blogger is a fan of a particular actor or loves knitting and wants to share that passion through a blog. One of the most important keys to successful blogging is having a passion about your blog's topic, so you can write prolifically about it. Some of the best and most interesting blogs started out as blogs that were written just for fun. With great passion, it will certainly pay off on a long run.

Well the list goes on and on... but I will stop right there.

Now in order not to bore u with long talks.. let's go direct to how to setup a blog.

--To kick off, there re lots of platforms where you can set up Ur blog. And did I also mention. These platforms re totally free. So, you don't really need much capital to own a blog. Just Ur modem and Ur laptop can do. The 2 most popular platforms are:

1. www.blogger.com

2. www.WordPress.com

We will pay attention to blogger blogs.

So, you want to own a blogger blog.. but you need a blog address. A blogger blog address ends with ".blogspot.com" *nothing is free after all*.. in choosing a blog address.. you need to make it precise and short. so that Ur visitors can easily remember it. eg; www.yourname.blogspot.com

I won't go deep into setting up a blog. Its quite easy but might take a lot of time if I start dissecting everything u need to know ranging from setup and design proper.

Let me just give a little intro.

blogger.com is owned by Google. so once you have a gmail account then you re gud to go. Just go to blogger.com and log in with Ur gmail log in details. and automatically u will be taken to the dashboard (the background of the blog you are about to create)

STEPS

1. Click the "New Blog" button to Create Your Blog Now.

2. Type in the name of your blog in the Blog Title field.

3. Enter your Blogger URL into the Blog Address (URL) field and click the Check Availability link.

This is a mandatory step. Try to choose a short URL that is close to your blog name. (Remember, later you should set up your own domain name, if you wish to. You can set up custom domain. With that you can have something like eg; yourname.com instead of yourname.blogspot.com)

If the URL is already taken, Google will suggest alternate URLs that are available.

4. If the Blogger URL (yourname .blogspot.com) is available, click the Continue button.

5. Choose a starter template.

Choose a template that is closest to what you want your blog to look like.

6. You can start posting by clicking the Start Blogging button, or continue working on your template by clicking the Customize How Your Blog Looks link.

It doesn’t matter which one you do first — just explore and play around with it. With more visits and consistency and researching more on how to improve, your blog will make it to limelight.

I wish you all success in your endeavours. That's the much I can take right now.

We learn everyday ! ! !