Over the past several years, blogging has evolved into one of the most popular forms of social media. With the ability to express thoughts freely about a variety of different topics, blogging has become more and more appealing to people looking for a way to experience social media. With WordPress, blogging is made simple for even the most novice Internet and social media users.
Since being released in 2003, WordPress has become one of the top blogging sites in the world. WordPress is an open source program, which means a fee is not required to use it, and is constantly being improved by different developers. WordPress is also easy to use, has a variety of plug ins, and is simple for those looking on how to start a blog.
For those looking on how to start a blog without having to find a web-hosting provider or web-site developer, WordPress.com is the way to go. With WordPress.com, users do not need to download any components to use the program to put content on their blog. Wordpress.com allows users can simply sign up for an account, use premade templates and create the blog without having to find a web-hosting provider. This allows for users without an HTML background or web-site design experience to create a blog on the Internet. Users can simply log on whenever they want to create new posts within their blogging site without having to learn HTML or web-site design.
With WordPress.org, software downloads and finding a web-site hosting provider are both required. The software from WordPress.org is open source, meaning there is no fee to download and use the software, but a subscription to a web-hosting service is needed. Most web-site hosting providers charge users a monthly subscription to lease space on their servers so that web-site developers and designers can create content to be displayed over the Internet. There are some web-page hosting providers that do not charge to host a site while others charge a small amount per month for the space. By creating a web-site with WordPress.org, a web-site hosting provider is required but users can be more creative in developing how the site will look to visitors. Those with HTML and web-site designing experience can use the WordPress.org downloads to create their own custom backgrounds, colors, and other features to the web-site. In other words, WordPress.org allows more advanced web-site developers to create a custom made site instead of having to use a standard or pre-made template.
Whether you use WordPress.org or WordPress.com, to get traffic to your blog, users have to know it’s out there. In other words, no one will know to go to your blog if they don’t know it’s there. Several ways to increase blog traffic include the following:
- Posting information on other forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.
- Posting up information about new posts on other forms of social media
- Reading and commenting on other people’s blogs
- Informing friends and family of the blog and providing them the URL address
- Participating in blog forums or discussions
- Creating a blog with a consistent topic such as sports, fashion, music, etc. and finding ways to reach that audience
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Over time, blogging has developed into one of the most popular Internet activities for users all around the world. Blogging has served as a way for a variety of Internet users to express their thoughts freely about different subjects and topics. Starting a blog is fairly simple and with online blogging tools such as Blogger and WordPress.org available, it just got easier.
Since being launched in 1999, Blogger (which is one of the most popular blogging sites) has grown in popularity due to its easy-to-use features. The original Blogger design is considered to be the trend setter for many of the blogging tools out there and the format quickly grew into popularity. In 2003, Blogger was purchased by Google and new features have been added to make the service more reliable and dependable. Many who spend time developing their blog with Blogger believe the sites index quicker in search engines and make it easier for Internet users to find.
In addition to being simple to use, Blogger can be used in two different ways. Blogger does allow users to host the web-site themselves meaning a domain name and space on a web-site hosting provider has to be purchased. This method does cost a little more money and time, however, it allows for the user to be a bit more creative in designing how the blog will look. Those with HTML or web-site design experience have the capability of designing their own templates, colors and other features. Those without HTML or web-site design experience can simply create an account for Blogger to host the site at no charge. In other words, Blogger will host your blog for free and the users can simply log in with the account names they made up or with their Google e-mail address. This method also allows for users to create their own URL address, use templates to give the blog a particular look, and can be updated without having to hire an independent designer. Once the design, URL and user name are all put in, users can simply log in to update the blog with posts, pictures or other features.
Blogger is a favorite among online bloggers but WordPress.org is also one of the most popular blog tools available. WordPress.org is an open source blog tool that is free, has downloadable software and requires HTML or web-site designing experience. Users do have to purchase space on a web-site hosting site in order to use WordPress.org and have to understand HTML and web-design to constantly make updates. Purchasing web-site hosting space along with a domain name does take time and money but the WordPress.org allows users to custom make the templates and features on their blogs. Web-site design does take a little more time, however, users can design their sites so that it optimizes well with search engines and is easily found by those looking for certain information.
Different and easy-to-use tools are available to blog but people who are unsure about starting up one often wonder what the benefits to starting a blog are. The first place to look when trying to understand the benefits is to know what types of blogs are out there.
To start off, people can have a personal blog in which the user can write about personal events and make it an online diary for people to read. People who work within the media industries for newspapers, television and radio stations will use a personal blog to engage readers, viewers and listeners. This is a unique strategy for these media outlets because it allows readers, viewers and listeners to understand the personal lives of their favorite writers, TV and radio hosts and creates a more personal. People going on mission trips or taking unique experience will sometimes create a personal blog so that friends and family can read about their daily experiences. This method can also be used to help the user write a book or document about the experience later on.
With a personal blog, the user also has the ability to create a theme, topic or subject. Bloggers can write about sports, education, fashion, or anything that suits their interests and their passions. Having a particular theme to a blog creates consistency to it and can help the blogger market and reach out to people with similar interests. With time, hard work and promotion, these blogs can create a following and sometimes an income for the blogger. Not all blogs turn into money making machines for people and trying to do that takes lots of time and effort but there are instances in which a big enough following creates an opportunity for the blogger.
A popular example of this is the story of Julie Powell, the inspiration behind the film Julie & Julia. Powell started a personal blog in her spare time in which she decided to write about trying to cook 524 recipes out of a book written by the late television host and cooking legend Julia Child. The theme around Powell’s personal blog was the trials and tribulations of an ordinary person trying to cook recipes out of Child’s cookbook. With consistency and clever writing, Powell gained a following with people who liked to cook, enjoyed eating food, and were fans of Julia Child’s television show. As a result, Powell ended up with a book deal out of it in which she talked about writing her blog and cooking the recipes.
In addition to personal blogs, a business blog has been proven to be an excellent way to communicate with customers, prospects and even employees. Businesses will create blogs as a way to brand certain products, create brand awareness and market the product to current customers or potential clients. Having a business blog often creates hype for a certain product and anticipation for it to be released. Business blogs can also be used to communicate with employees internally and spread communication in that method.
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