How do I blog? (2 of 3)

As a follow up to my What Are Blogs post a couple of months ago, I’ll give you a quick tutorial about how to get started blogging and how to keep a blog going.

Getting a blog started is very easy. There are myriad free options available and if you’re interested in more robust options, you can also pay for some blogging services.

Free Options:

• Blogger/Blogspot:
  • Blogger is a free service (owned by Google) and is probably one of the quickest and easiest ways to get started blogging.
  • It contains an handful of themes and lets you customize your blog without needing to have a deep knowledge of HTML or webpage structure.
  • Blogger also allows you to make edits directly to your page via HTML coding, making it quite versatile.
• WordPress:
  • We currently use WordPress for our Tourism Blogs (College Towns, Outdoor Rec, Motorcycle Rides and the Visit Indiana blog)
  • WordPress offers more versatility and options than Blogger, but requires a bit more knowledge of HTML and webpage structure.
  • If your organization doesn’t have a website, you can fairly easily create one using WordPress. More than just a blog, WordPress allows you to create entire pages.
  • WordPress offers a great import option that allows you to very easily import blogs that are hosted elsewhere into your new WordPress blog.
• LiveJournal:
  • LiveJournal is another free blogging solution, but I don’t feel that they offer as much customization or ease of use as Blogger and WordPress offer.
  • LiveJournal also hosts their own ads on your site unless you upgrade to a paid option.

Paid Options:

• Typepad:
  
  • Typepad is a great option if you’re willing to pay a bit for your blogging platform.
  • Typepad offers great versatility and even has mobile options available so you can update your blog even if you’re not near your computer.
• WordPress.com:
  • WordPress is available as a free hosted blog (wordpress.com) but you can upgrade your account to allow you such features as more storage space, more users for a community blog and programming options that allow you to customize your blog.
• WordPress.org:
  • If you are interested in hosting a blog on your own website, rather than using a subdomain of Typepad or WordPress, you can download the free wordpress software and host in on your own servers.
  • This is by far the most versatile version of WordPress, as you can download or create your own custom plugins to create exactly the blog you want.
• Compendium Blogware:
  • One other great option for a paid blog is working with Indianapolis-based Compendium Blogware.
  • Compendium will work with you to create corporate blogging solution that allow your organization to begin blogging. They’ll also help you create a blogging plan that will meet the goals you set up.

There is no shortage of blogging platforms out there, and the most important thing is to find one that works for you. It might be worth trying out a few different platforms before you launch headlong into one. Blogging is an easy thing to begin, but the key lies in continuing to provide relevant content to your readers through frequency and quality of your posts.

Once you’ve started your blog, it’s a good idea to set up a blogging schedule. You don’t need to set aside a specific time to blog each day or each week, rather, commit to blogging once a week or 2-3 times a month instead. This will give you the flexibility to blog when a topic comes to mind, rather than blogging about something that is unrelated to the topic of your blog.

I’ll be back later with another post Why Should I Blog (3 of 3), and I’ll discuss what kinds of benefits blogging can bring to your organization. Until then, have fun looking through some blogging solutions and leave me a comment if you have any questions!