How to Start a Blog - A Guide To Blogging [Intro]
Posted on December 4, 2008, under Blogging.
It was back in March when I first started blogging. Running a blog for the first time can be very intimidating for a number of reasons, like that you don’t know what to write about or if your writings will be ever read by someone. You’re facing a new, unknown world - and it’s a scary one!
I made a lot of mistakes back then. I was new and had little knowledge about how to start a blog and what I had to do next. I learned a lot of things the hard way - things that are now part of my experiences which I intend to share with you all today.
I’ll be publishing a series of articles on how to start a blog in the upcoming days. This series will be entirely based on what I’ve learn while building my blog. These are the main topics being covered in it:
- Picking the best topic (a.k.a. niche) to blog about.
- Step by step guide to set up your blog.
- Customization - Change your blog’s look and feel!
- Things you should know before writing your first post.
- First post is live! What’s next?
So stay tuned and join me in this series!
P.S.: Is there any other topic you would like me to include in my series? If so, let me know!
How To Make your Blog more less Appealing to your Readers, Part II: Usability
How To Make your Blog more less Appealing to your Readers is a 3-part series on making your blog more appealing to your readers. Part I details how to reinforce trust with your readers. Part II covers usability principles for your blog and why you should worry about them. Part III is a summary of the series with final thoughts and responses to your comments and questions.
Previously, we discussed on breaking your readership’s trust. Maintaining a trust relationship with your readers should be your primary goal as a blogger. There are, however, others factors that also play a major role in establishing a solid relationship between you and your readers.
Sometimes, writers -bloggers- tend to focus on creating quality contents for their readers -which is not a bad thing to do at all- and forget about presentation and usability.
Providing useful, relevant information is vital to keep your readers coming back for more. It is also true that providing your visitors with a fullfilling, satisfying experience is required to achieve that.
Dear blogger, I don’t get your blog
Are you familiar with the term User Experience (UE)? UE refers to the experiences a person has -in this case, our readers- while interacting with a system -our site-. Its about the degree to which your site is easy to browse and understand for the people who uses it.
So, why is UE so important? If your readers can’t understand your blog, they leave. It’s that simple. It’s part of our nature - we don’t like complicated things. Take Apple’s iPod, for example. What makes it so popular? Its simplicity - all you need to do is (literally) push Play and music will start playing. People like things that are easy to use. Why would blogs be any different from iPods? (more…)
How To Make your Blog more less Appealing to your Readers, Part I: Breaking Trust
How To Make your Blog more less Appealing to your Readers is a 3-part series on making your blog more appealing to your readers. Part I details how to reinforce trust with your readers. Part II covers usability principles for your blog and why you should worry about them. Part III is a summary of the series with final thoughts and responses to your comments and questions.
I believe that sometimes it’s good to go against the flow and do everything backwards. You know, like a rebellious kid breaking parents’ rules. It’s not only fun but also can give you a wider range of vision of things since you would be able to see new, hidden angles you’d miss otherwise.
Now, I could write a new blog post titled “How To Make your Blog more Appealing to your Readers” -which is a great headline, don’t you dare to steal it from me!- Instead, I’m writing this entry. Why? I think it’s best to know what can harm your blog badly so you can keep yourself from doing anything that could drive your readers away from you. Hence, this post.
Break Your Readers’ Trust
Trust is, in my opinion, the hardest single thing to earn. Yet, it is very easy to lose. It’s like a house of cards - break it, and it’ll take you ages to rebuild it. (more…)
Yet Another Brick in The Wall
Can’t help this feeling. I bet you have felt it, too. Whenever I visit any blog -be it new or known to me- I feel that creativity and genuine blogging are losing grounds to procrastination and dishonesty. All I see are rehashed blog posts everywhere - there are barely any new topics to discuss over with other fellow bloggers and readers out there. Originality is losing ground to laziness.
There are literally millions of blogs in the blogosphere but only a small portion of them can deliver quality, valuable contents to their readership while the rest remain to be just empty shells that look good on the outside but on the inside contain nothing but emptiness. No real discussions going on - just some passive interactions between readers and bloggers. That’s not what blogosphere is meant to be.
I know only a few bloggers who I can really click with. Reading their blogs makes me feel inspired and motivates me to continue writing and sharing everything I know - you guys know who you are 
Because of this, I’ve got a question for all of you: are you another brick in the wall?
Clicking With People
What makes a blog unique? Is it its layout? It helps but it’s not an important factor here. Is it its contents? Definitely important, but that’s just half of the story. What really spices your blog and makes it stand out from the crowd is not your theme, or what widgets are displayed on your sidebar. It’s you. You are the secret ingredient that makes the meal exquisite. (more…)
Why You Should Write Your Headings First
Picture this: Inspiration strikes you like a tsunami, turning you into a beacon of light and wisdom. Then, you sit down and write all these great ideas you’re so eagerly wanting to see published on your site. You just can’t wait to see your readers’ reaction. By the time you’re done with the writing, you realize that you can’t find an engaging headline for your blog post. Now you have this feeling that your creative juices have dried up.
Ever since I’ve been blogging -about a year now-, I have faced this issue several times. And I’m not the only one, I know I’m not.
Why start by writing your headline first
I’ve been analyzing this problem for some time now and I’ve come to think that when it comes to writing, headlines should be dealt with first. (more…)
Loading ...