Setting up a blog: Part 1 - The thinking before you start
Many blogger beginners jump into setting up a blog without thinking clearly, if they are ready to blog for profit, and if they have choose an appropriate blog topic that they can blog about passionately and monetise at the same time.
Don’t jump into that trap.
Even if setting up a blog is as easy as registering an account with any of the free blogging services out there, diving into it without having a solid foundation of your blogging strategy will often cause costly mistakes, not to mention lost of interest, down the road.
Okay, now let’s assume you have already done the necessary. If you know what you are going to blog about, and is ready to make some moolah online, let’s get your blog set up.
What options do you have?
Arguably the most popular blogging platforms out there are Blogger and Wordpress. CNET did a reasonable job in comparing various free blogging service (although Wordpress was somehow not part of the list).
But wait a minute. Is a free blogging service suitable for your blogging-for-profit project?
John Chow puts this issue into perspective:
“Having your own domain makes you look more professional. While it may not make you a pro-blogger, the ad networks will take you a lot more seriously. Some ad networks will not accept a site unless it has its own domain name. If you do it right, having your own domain and web hosting won’t cost you anything because the income the blog generates will more than offset the cost”
So therefore, stay away from free blogging service, if you can. While they are fine choices for a personal blog, but when it comes to blogging for money, you are better off having your own domain name, and have full control of your web hosting service. It also makes more sense from a branding point of view.
From here on I will be writing from my personal experience. As much as I am tempted to spend hours researching online on resources that will have you in setting up your blog for the first time, the only ones that I can comfortably recommend to you and am able to vouch for will be those that I have tried before.
(And so should you, when you start blogging. Speaking something from your experience and not simply rehash what other has said on the subject will go a long way in earning the respects from your readers)
My next post will be on how to choose a suitable domain name for your blog, and how you can register your domain name.
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