Over the past few years, you may have noticed more and more businesses and company websites are adding a blog to their site.
If you visit any major website for a famous company, you’ll notice the “Blog” option on their menu. Gone are the days when blogging was solely for people to share their daily experiences, thoughts, and travel.
Now every business, big or small, has a blog of their own. You can start a blog too. You can update your personal experiences, informative articles, travel guides, coupons on shopping, or just about anything. In today’s post, we will discuss blogging, and how to start your first blog. Here’s an overview of the article.
Benefits of Running a Blog:
It is now a vital part of any business website and is a prime way of keeping in contact with your clients, both existing and potential, and sharing news and information about your business and industry. It’s also an excellent way to keep your website updated to show Google that your site is one that is being managed frequently.
Blog posts are also great for sharing among your social media accounts and can provide you with a great reach among existing customers, in addition to potential clients who might have come across your blog post while searching the internet or found it was liked or shared by a friend or acquaintance.
What do you need to start a blog?
You most likely already have an existing website, so to start running your blog, you simply need to include one with your website. There are lots of ways to get a blog set up, either directly on your website, or one hosted elsewhere which you can then link to.
If your website was built using the WordPress CMS (Content Management System), then you are in luck. Adding a blog to a WordPress website is a breeze, and can take just a few minutes to set up.
For WordPress sites, all you’ll need to do is to create a new “blog” category, and inside that, you will publish all of your blog posts. You’ll need to add a link to the blog section on your menu main, and footer menu if you use it, but this won’t take more than 30 seconds or so.
Most web hosts will allow you to use the WordPress CMS on their hosting packages, as it is the world’s most popular CMS and has millions of users the world over. If you need to find a new host for some reason, then have a look at the great advice and suggestions being shared over at the Fortune Lords website, which is a great source for helpful hosting information.
What if my site isn’t using WordPress?
If your website was built with another CMS such as Joomla or Drupal, then adding a blog to it will be pretty much similar to what has just been described for WordPress sites. If your site isn’t built with a CMS, and is a static website, meaning that you don’t actually have the ability to make any changes yourself, then you are going to need to speak with your web developer.
There are a few solutions that can be followed to set up your blog. The first, and probably the best option, would be to actually install WordPress on your site, either inside a “blog” folder or as a subdomain. You can then easily find a nice looking theme to install, and your blog can be up and running pretty quickly.
If you aren’t able to get your developer to do this for you, in which case you should seriously consider looking to have someone else manage your website, then the next option would be to go with a hosted WordPress solution.
Using WordPress.com for your blog:
There are actually two different versions of WordPress, though both are pretty much identical. The difference between them is one is a self-hosted option, while the other is hosted for you. If you want to have a blog being hosted for you then you’ll need to head over to WordPress.com and sign up for an account.
This is a very good option and a super quick way to get a blog up and running, especially for those who may not have any technical experience or knowledge about using a web server and installing a CMS.
WordPress hosted blogs take away all these issues, and everything technical is managed for you. You can run with a free account with a free subdomain or even your own domain name.
However, for more functionality, webspace, and power, it’s advisable to go with one of the paid options. Prices start at $4 a month (billed annually) for a personal user account, and then goes up to $8 a month for a premium account, $25 a month for a small business account, or $45 for an e-commerce website.
There are a couple of disadvantages with using WordPress.com for your blog or website, with the main downfall being that you don’t really have full control of your site. Everything is tied up to the terms and conditions set by WordPress and you’ll need to use only the themes and plugins that they allow, meaning that if you’ve purchased a premium theme, you might not be able to use it with your free account.
But, if you are looking for a simple blog solution, without all the bells and whistles, as well as wanting to avoid getting involved with downloading or installing anything, then this is probably your best option.
Alternatives to WordPress.com:
There are several other online platforms that you can use for your blog, and many companies around the world actually use them. Two of the most popular are Tumblr and Medium, both of which are free to use and very easy to set up.
Again, you won’t need to have any technical knowledge or coding experience, and both platforms are extremely easy to use. There are various themes available, so you can quickly have an impressive looking blog set up within just a few hours.
Final Thoughts:
Setting up a blog for your business is a very good idea. It’s an easy way to keep your site fresh with your latest news and share upcoming events, product launches, or new services with your clients.
Running a blog is extremely easy once you’ve understood the basic elements involved such as posting the content, uploading any images or other media, and then sharing your blog post with your followers on social media. You can even do your own SEO on your blog, by using keyword-rich titles, good informative content, and internal linking to other parts of your website.
Thank you for reading. I hope this article has helped you and motivated you towards starting your own blog. If you are still stuck somewhere, don’t worry. Just comment below, and I will be happy to assist you. If you are a tech lover, don’t forget to join our Telegram Channel for the latest tech updates.
I will be back soon with more interesting posts. Keep visiting HiTricks.
Nirmal Sarkar is a Biotechnologist from the city of Joy, Kolkata. He is the founder of this blog and covers a wide range of topics from Gadgets to Software to Latest Offers. You can get in touch with him via nirmal@hitricks.com
