What Is Blogging ?
You’ve heard about this blogging thing and you’re not sure what you need or how to set one up. Here, I’ll give you the lowdown on ‘blogs’ and explain how you can publish your own one.
Blogs have been around for about 10 years. The word stands for ’web log’ and they’re effectively online diaries. Anyone can set one up, that’s the easy part. Thinking of something interesting to say each time you blog is the tricky bit.
Assuming you don’t understand or want to learn about writing websites in code, you’re probably best off looking at one of the sites that offers free blogging. A couple of the more popular are WordPress, LiveJournal and Blogger. Others are available.
Both of these will offer you a free blog site with its own address – so it becomes, for example, http://www.yourblog.blogsite.com. This is the address you give friends who might want to take a look.
How do I set up a blog?
Let’s assume you’re through these stages. Blogging is easy. You enter your details where it says “create account”. If you already have a Google account you can use it to log on to ‘Blogger’, as Google’s the owner.
Once you’ve done this, you’ll be taken to the page where you’ll enter your data, upload your pictures and videos, whatever you want to do. You’ll get the option of allowing people to comment or not (whichever is your preference). Then, all you have to do is write your entry, hit “publish” and it’s live. It’s really as simple as that.
Remember it has to be well written and people’s expectations will be of a good website rather than a good book. Short sentences are better than long ones. Mention your subject as often as possible without labouring it in your first paragraph, as this will help your blog get listed prominently on the search engines.
There will be a section for ‘tags’ – words you’d want to associate with your blog, which also help it come up in searches. You’ll also find buttons to help you upload pictures, videos, anything you’ve got that you want to put online.
