By now you must have heard about the reasons you should be blogging. Fair enough, but what about say, a small business owner who knows nothing about HTML and wants to have a blog?
This is for you.
We’ll try to break it down and make it as simple as possible for you.
Assuming that you already have a website, (or if you don’t, I highly suggest you read about why having a professional website is important for your online presence) the next step would be to make a blog. Here are some considerations that you must make before creating a blog.
- Know what to blog about: the very first thing you do when you want to make a blog is know what to write about. Now, normally, I’d skip this bit because I’m assuming you are going to write about your brand in attempts to increase its exposure online, right?Well, that is the whole point about blogging. Writing about your companies’ products, current new happenings or industry-related events are a good way to start. Remember, 92% of companies that blog several times a day claim to have acquired a customer through their blog.
- Choose the right blogging platform: the best way to start is by choosing an easy to use, user-friendly platform to make your blog, such as Blogger or WordPress. While signing up for both are free of cost, each one has it sets of advantages and disadvantages. Blogger is from Google while WordPress is independently owned (by the WordPress Foundation).
The good thing about these two, and what have made them flourish is that it allows users to have a blog without having to know a thing about coding, or the nitty-gritty of web design. It is important to note, however, that while the basic options are free, you can upgrade to a more comprehensive plan, with customized URLs or domains.
- Get your own domain: this point is really tied to the first one, but I wanted to make it a separate point to stress the importance of having your own domain. If you are serious about blogging and plan to do it regularly, I’d recommend registering your own domain. Not only will it look more professional, but put you on par with all the big boys i.e. big companies. Not only that, but having your own domain will make it easier for customers to find you and remember you.If you are planning to use WordPress, Bluehost is a good platform to begin with, that is supported by WordPress itself. GoDaddy is another one.
- Set up your hosting: once you have your domain name registered, you’ll need to get hosting setup for your blog. The best way to describe hosting, in the simplest of terms, is the space you rent out online to have your blog’s files in. This would be in the server of a hosting company. There are many companies that offer low-cost hosting solutions, but what I would recommend is sticking to the same one where you registered your domain in.
Hopefully these tips helped you clear any doubts about creating a blog. If there is something to take away from all of this, it is that one thing is certain: the more frequent you post content that is fresh and interesting, the better it is for your blog. And brand. And Google. If you don’t have time to post, consider hiring guest bloggers or a company to handle your blogging services.
