B is For Blogging

So, You want to create a blog? Well you've come to the right place! Today we will show you how to make a blog and what you can do with it!

But first, What is a uh Blog?

What is a Blog?

A blog is a website, to narrow it down a website where you share your thoughts, There is no rule about what you have to make your blog about. Just because its a blog: You don't have to pour out your feelings and write about your life. No. Your blog will be whatever you want it to be. Blogs can usually be made free.

Making a Blog?

Before you make your blog, you'll need to come up with three things:
1. What your Blog will be about
2. Your title and URL
3. What blogging platform you will use.

There are many "Professional services," out there, but you will have to pay for them. In this case we will look at the popular "Free" services out there, these platforms are easy to use and you don't need to know HTML code to write a post. Its as simple as "Type, Click, View."


The top 3 platforms are: (easy to use.)
1. Blogger.com
2. Wordpress.com
3. Windows Live Spaces (MSN)

I would recommend either Word press or Blogger, they are flexible, easy to use, and fun!
IF you want other options: go to http://mashable.com/2007/08/06/free-blog-hosts/
For a list of 40 blog hosts!

How do I get Visitors? How Can I keep Track?

OK now you have your blog, How do you get visitors? Even more important How can you tell how much visitors you have had?

Be sure to make your blog colorful and welcoming! This can help to grab visitors attention, You can find "Hit Counters." or Visitor trackers in lots of places.

Here are some links to some hit counters

http://www.website-hit-counters.com/
http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/neocounter2
http://www.easycounter.com/FreeCounter3.html

Here we use "Neo Counter." Which shows UNIQUE visitors meaning all different, so it doesn't just show how many hits but how many computers have visited and what country they are from. This can help you gather information to find out what country has the majority of visitors and you can modify your posts to connect to them.

Getting Visitors, Here are three simple tips;
1. Write often
2. Have a lot of content
3. Tag your posts and add features to your blog to make it interesting

Making Your Blog Pretty?

Each web service will have templates you could use, you can also (I know you can do this with Blogger) design you can actually use a template designer: (Learn more about it at
http://draft.blogger.com)

You can also get free templates from other sites such as:

http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/
http://www.bloggertemplatesfree.com/
http://freetemplates.blogspot.com/
You can also find other Templates by typing in "Free Blog Templates on google"

Do you have a blog? Leave a comment and we'll visit it! Any questions? Leave a comment and we will answer them!

Other sites that can help you:
http://www.problogger.net/
http://www.bloggingtips.com/


Blogging is a fun easy way to share your thoughts with the world. Even I can say: