A blog is a great way for a writer to introduce himself to
the public, it’s also a terrific way to build that ever elusive Writer’s
Platform, and a personal blog is a wonderful way to give yourself a voice on
all that matters to you. Creating a blog is easier than you think…
What do you want to
achieve with your blog? This includes the subject matter, the “audience” you want to speak to, the
frequency of your posts, and who you want hosting your blog (he domain).
Choosing a host:
There are many, MANY blog sites out there — Many sites offer FREE
do-it-yourself pages, others offer a low, LOW pricing options. One of the more
popular sites to host a blog is Wordpress.com, others include Blogspot and
Tumblr. One thing to keep in mind though, nearly every FREE blog offers a site
URL which keeps “their” site on top (like chellecordero/wordpress.com)
at no charge and a nominal fee for letting the site be YOURS (such as chellecordero.com). Both ways can
certainly do the job, but the latter does look more professional. Many sites
also feature very user friendly posting dashboards.
What is your theme? What are you passionate about and would like to share with the world?
Unless you are promoting a business or a trademark, there is a huge array of
opportunities. Look around you and ideas will appear right in front of you. If
you want to write about Hot Button and
trending topics look online for clues; Facebook and Twitter (just to name two)
have easily discovered “Trending topics” which will clue you in about popular
discussions to talk OR write about.
Naming the newborn blog: Choosing an appropriate name is more important than you
might realize. Choosing a name that will closely represent your theme or topics
will help folks to find you even if they don’t know they are looking. Naming a
blog “Baby Steps” would probably attract people looking for baby and young
children issues; naming a blog “Anchors Away” wouldn’t attract many searching
for cat toys. Think about the search terms and key words you would use to
search for your blog, using your own name as part of the blog name is perfectly
acceptable if that is what you want associated with it.
Tag, you’re it!
For those web designers who write in HTML (HyperText
Markup Language) metatags are used to trigger search engines and help
internet users find sites. Fortunately for the majority of us who have little
or no aptitude for the technical coding, sites like Wordpress and Blogspot
offer a chance to include Tags or Labels with each posts. These keywords will
help to trigger search engines and help readers find the topics they want to
read about. Use the tagging feature frequently but not deceptively, don’t
include keywords that have no relevance to your post or site just because they
are trending topics.
Keep it regular:
Ideally you should be blogging a minimum of two to three times a week
regularly. However often you do blog, try to be consistent with both frequency
and theme so that readers will return and look forward to what they want to
see. Keep consistency in mind regarding the length and format of each post as
well.
Remember that YOU ARE INTERESTING to
someone(s), so don’t just dream of blogging, do it.
Writing Exercise:
Write a sample blog post of 350 to 600 words on any topic you would like to
read about. Afterwards, using a different color pen, circle at least 10 to 15
keywords in your article that would be effective keywords/tags.
Writing Prompt: Spend
20 minutes online searching various terms (any topic of interest). Make a list
of the keyword searched and a few of the results. How on-point were these
keywords?
Challenge Assignment:
Create YOUR blog. Look at different blogs that you find when searching topics
relevant to your intended theme. Notice the design, the length, and the domain.
Pick out the domain you want to use and register for a site. Start posting!
