To start with, a blog is a frequently updated online journal or diary. It is a place to express
yourself to the world; a place to share your thoughts and passions.
Some Reasons Why You Need a Blog
If you’re a business owner. It’s a great way to connect with your customers and find
new clients. Forget social media platforms. When we need a service we don’t know
where to get, one of the first things we do these days is ‘use the search engines’ and
what search engines do is to display to us relevant information. If you have some
relevant information on your blog, a link to it may be displayed in the results. That
makes you a few minutes to getting a new client. Blogging can also be a method of
keeping your customers informed of your latest products or services.
Expressing yourself. Are you the type that always got something twitching in your head
or running down your lips but do not always have someone to listen to you or have a
place to express yourself? You can always express yourself through your blog. It is
sometimes referred to as an ‘online diary or journal’. Your blog and your blogger
persona are your creations and are limited only by your choices.
It helps you learn new things. Blogging is about expressing yourself, sharing what you
love or what you want to be. It’s about teaching others what you know or what you, too,
are learning. When you start blogging you’ll find yourself learning new things in your
areas of interest so you can keep sharing and staying relevant.
It helps you improve your writing skills. One of the best ways to master a skill is to
practice more. Like they say ‘practice makes perfection’. If you want to write better, you
should write more. But, picking up a pen and a paper and start writing about any topic
can suck a lot; especially when the topic doesn’t interest you. However, blogging can
make you write easier and better since it’s just about writing.
Making a passive income. Blogging can earn you decent income once you create value
with, and grow an audience around, it. Many big blogs make thousands of dollars every
year.
Decide What to Write About on Your Blog
Ask yourself what you love, interests you or what you wish to share with others. Sport news,
Gaming, Entertainment gossips, Tech news, About Your product. Anything you wish to share, so
far it’s shareable!
If you’re going to write about something regularly, then you need to blog about something you
really love, something that stokes your passion.
Decide Where to Create Your Blog
Here’s where blogging platforms comes in. A blogging platform is the software or service that
turns a regular site into a functioning blog. It is a specific form of a content management system
(CMS). Blogger and WordPress are the two most popular blogging platforms on the web.
Blogger: Google owns blogger and has set it up for ease of use. Your blog will be extremely easy
to set up and maintain. Also, you’ll have Google’s traffic tools at your disposal
When you create a blog on blogger you get a free Blogspot domain. For
example: example.blogspot.com. However, you can purchase a custom domain name from
Google or map an existing domain you already own.
WordPress: Mostly said to be the most used blogging platform on the web.
32% of the web uses WordPress, from hobby blogs to the biggest news
sites online.
There are two versions of WordPress; WordPress.com where you have a free blog hosted with
WordPress and WordPress.org where you self-host your own WordPress blog. I will be talking
about the free version only in this article.
With WordPress.com, creating a blog may take a little more time. However, you’ll find that
WordPress has a wide variety of more sophisticated tools for enhancing and promoting your
blog.
You can register a custom domain on WordPress or map an existing domain name you already
own. You’ll need an upgraded WordPress.com plan to do either. You can also use a free
WordPress domain if you wish. For example: example.wordpress.com.
Starting a Blog with Blogger
Follow the below steps to start a blog with blogger.
1. Open ‘www.blogger.com’ in your web browser.
2. Click on the ‘CREATE YOUR BLOG’ link.
3. Log into your Google account if you’re not already logged in.
You may need to create a new account if you don’t already have one.
Here’s a guide to help you create a new Google account: Create a Google
Account
4. After logging into your Google account, you’d be taken back to Blogger and a form
would pop-up.
a. Title: This is the name of your blog. E.g. Shoutmeloud.
b. Address: This is your domain name. E.g. mynewblogaddress.blogspot.com. It is
the URL people can reach your blog through. If the domain name you entered is
picked, you’ll have to enter another. You can add a custom domain name later.
c. Theme: This is what your blog looks like. You need to select one to start your
blog. You can always switch to a different one later. If you do not like the already
available themes on Blogger, you can modify them to suit your needs or
purchase yourself one online then upload it to Blogger.
5. Click on the ‘Create blog!’ button when you’re through filling the form.
Voila! Your blog is up and running. You would be taken to your Blogger dashboard almost
immediately.
How to Create Your First Post on Blogger
To create your first post, hit the orange ‘New post’ button at the top of the page.
A page will come up looking like a text editor. Enter your post title into the small field at the top
and your post content in the larger field below it. Unless you’re familiar with HTML, you should
keep the text editor in the ‘Compose’ mode.
Hit the ‘Publish’ button when you’re through. You just created yourself your very first post!
View your blog to see it.
Launching a Blog on WordPress.com
Been through with Blogger, let’s get started with WordPress. Follow the below steps to create a
blog with WordPress.
1. Open ‘www.wordpress.com’ in your web browser.
2. Click on the ‘Get Started’ link.
3. Create an Account: A page will come up asking you to enter your details to create an
account for you. If you already have an account, click on the Log In link at the top corner
of the page instead. After filling the form, click on the blue Continue button.
4. Enter Basic Details About Your Blog: On the next screen, you’d be presented another
form to fill. This form defines what your blog is about; the name, description, and the
purpose of creating it. Fill in the necessary details and click on the Continue button.
5. Find A Domain: Next up is to find a domain name. Enter your preferred domain name in
the search field. WordPress will check its database to see if the domain name you
entered is available. If it is, a list showing your search results will appear just below the
search field. You can either select the free option or select a custom domain name and
upgrade your account.
6. Pick A Plan: On the next screen, you’d need to select a plan. WordPress has four
different plans to choose from.
Free ($0/for life): If all you want is to start publishing posts within few minutes,
nothing more; You can continue with this plan. You’ll get a free website and a
free WordPress domain. WordPress.com will also be able to show ads on your
site.
Blogger ($3/per month, billed annually or every two years): When you select
this plan, you get a free .blog domain for a year, including email support and all
free features included in the Free plan. WordPress says this plan is best for
bloggers.
Personal ($5/per month, billed annually or every two years): When you choose
this plan you’ll get a custom domain name, access to high quality emails, remove
all WordPress.com ads and live chat support. It’s best for Personal Use.
Premium ($8/per month, billed annually or every two years): This plan boasts a
lot more features to boost your website. To mention few, you’ll get: Advanced
design customization, Lot more space for audios and videos, VideoPress support
and you’ll also be able to monetize your site with ads. Best for entrepreneurs
and freelancers.
Since we’re creating a free blog, select the free plan and continue – you can always
upgrade your plan later if you wish to.
How to Create Your First Post on WordPress
After completing the whole process from above, you should now be within your dashboard.
To create your first post, click the ‘Write’ button at the top-right corner of the page, you’ll be
taken to the post editor. Enter your post title and post contents in the fields.
Click on the blue ‘Publish’ button on the top-right corner of the screen when you’re through.
Your post is now up and ready for everyone to see. View your blog to see it also.
Conclusion
Blogging, as already said, is an avenue to express yourself to the world. While you can start your
own free blog using whatever platform you so like, you should, however, choose the one which
is best for you.
Blogger is the platform to use if you want a simple product that will allow you start blogging
right away and also allow you make a bit of money later on. WordPress, on the other hand, is for
those who are in love with its excellent UI, huge repository of themes, and a nice post
composer, while also promising more advanced features than Blogger. Both platforms are
excellent in their own different ways, but you’re the one that should pick which is the right one
for you.
By WaleRazaq,
A typical Nigerian who derives so much passion in blogging. Usually writes about How To topics on Howabeg.com.ng
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