How to Start A Blog: Blogging for Beginners
Want to start a blog but don't know how? Beginning a blog is easy, whether you're a budding writer, a websurfer or a chatterbox. Some blogs look quite professional, but don't be put off. Our bloggers all started from scratch. See the Wiki: How to Start a Blog for more info.
Here are our five simple steps:
1. Decide what you want to blog about.
Blogs first started out as online diaries - the word 'blog' comes from 'weblog', which was a record of the blogger's life. Plenty of people still use their blogs as online diaries. But blogs can be more focussed on a topic or broad area of interest, too, like politics or crafts. Before you get started, decide whether your blog will be a place for you to share your life, or a place for finding out about a particular topic.
2. Choose a title.
Keep your blog title fairly short (three to six words, we'd say) and memorable so that people can find it easily. Generic titles like 'Mummyblogger' might make your blog more likely to come up in search engines, but they won't make you distinctive. Remember, a blog title has to be catchy - it shouldn't just be a sentence describing your blog. You can add that in the 'About' section later.
3. Sign up to a blog platform.
4. Customise your blog.
If you don't want to get knee-deep in customisation, just choose one of the preset templates and away you go. We'd recommend you add an 'About Me', so readers know what you're all about.
In WordPress, go to Dashboard (choose from the menu on the top left). Click 'Pages' then 'About' then 'Edit'.
In Blogger, go to 'Layout' then find 'Profile' and click 'Edit'.
5. Write your first post.
Your first post should be a little bit of an introduction to yourself and the blog and give an indication as to what you're going to write about. Blogs are usually written in the first person ('I' not 'he' or 'she'). Remember, you don't have to tell all if you don't want to - the great thing about blogging is that you can give away as much or as little of yourself as you like.
In WordPress, go to 'Dashboard', then 'Posts', then click 'Add New.' Remember to click 'Publish' in the top right hand corner once you've finished typing.
In Blogspot, click 'Posts' then 'Add New', or else click the orange icon with a pencil to add a new post. Remember to hit 'Publish' at the top of the page once you've finished typing.
So now you're good to go. When you've got six posts up and running, you're eligible to apply for the Mumsnet Bloggers Network. Happy blogging!