Thinking about starting a blog...

So I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, but I want to make sure I do it the right way. What would be your top 3 suggestions for starting a blog from scratch?
I'm thinking it will be a blog about family life with maybe some entertainment posts as well.

 

Here my top 3 suggestions:

1. Get a domain from a domain registrar. Name a domain that easy to be remembered by people.
2. Get a hosting from reliable and good support. Since you are the beginner, my suggestion is to get a shared hosting would do.
3. Setup a WordPress.org blog - self hosted WordPress. Currently, WP has a new free theme installed. i.e. twenty-forty. It is like the magazine themes. The good thing is, it is a high SEO optimized theme. However, of you are not sure of how to install a WordPress blog into your hosting, you can watch the following video and begin to blog.

 

Those suggestions are excellent, thank you!
Would you suggest Wordpress over other blog sites? What are the advantages?

 

I suggest WordPress.org(Not Wordpress.com) because it has many awesome plugins to SEO your blog. Most importantly, you can have full control. WordPress has uncounted plugins developers

1) Get a domain
FYI, you are at the right forum. Do a small search (keywords -Godaddy domain) on the forum, you should know when is the best time to get a domain promo. Especially before the new year 2014.

2) Get a cheap hosting or free hosting.

3) 2 ways to install a WordPress
Auto Installing:
After you have both, login to c-Panel, click on "auto-click installer" to install your website. During installing, choose WordPress, follow the simple instructions and you are good to go.

Manually: ( This is useful when you have blog niches to install )
You can also use File Manager to install WordPress.

• Firstly, download the new version of WordPress.
• Click File Manager from your c-Panel,
• select domain at public_html,
• upload WordPress new version to the main root,
• Click on the WordPress.zip for extracting. Make sure it extracted to the rood domain aka public_html. No worry, since it is a new, you can just start again.
• create a a Database, write down your username and password.
• Login to your WordPress blog, yourdomaindotcom/wp-admin
• Fill-in your site title, Database and PW.

That's it.

Lastly, but not the least, my recommendation hosting from experienced: -
Free hosting - Sample website to host. Let's go!
Paid hosting - Learn more!

Hope you like it.
Have a great day!

 

Comparing to other sites you don't have to be skilled in HTML or PHP to be able to use WordPress, and this is probably the main advantage.

 

1. Get good hosting, an easy-to-remember domain name, a wordpress blog/theme that suits your needs.
2. Post regularly, but try to keep what you write about relevant. Revise, edit, and try to engage your audience.
3. Don't focus on numbers too much. Content should always come first, because people will be attracted to good content, and you will see the numbers rise gradually, but steadily.

Also, all the advice given above is great. Wordpress is definitely the way to go!

 

1. Make sure that you go with your own domain starting out. Sure free domains like blogger can be cost effective but in the end if you decide to keep up with your blog for some time it is going to be a pain making the switch to your own domain name especially if you have already ranked the free domain.

2. Write content for your users and not for Google. It is going to benefit you more in the end.

3. Make sure you create branded social media channels for your blog. I would suggest starting with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

 

I'd avoid the whole family life area unless (a) you're VERY dedicated to posting long-term, (b) you're famous or bizarre or (c) you have a very unusual angle to use. There are a million personal blogs online and no one reads any of them, except the authors and the twenty people who visit every week.

Lesson 1 of blogging (or any online endeavour): nobody gives a crap about anyone but themselves. They don't care about your family, your life, your house, your job, your religion, your politics or anything else UNLESS they get something out of it.

Top three suggestions will always be the big-money niches - technology, weight loss, money, that sort of thing. Assuming you're blogging for the extra money, of course.

Personally, I'd avoid all of them and blog about something you do, that you love doing and that isn't too general. If you really want to do the family thing, pick an aspect of it - parenting, schooling, housekeeping, decorating, DIY, planning occasions or something. Don't write about yourself, but write about something you love and want to share.

Lesson 3 of blogging: focus matters more than almost anything else. And occasional post about funny stuff, your life or the neighbour's hamster is fine, but 90% of the site should be on the main subject.

Bear in mind that you're looking at a good 3-6 months before you get any sort of decent traffic, unless you buy advertising (and even then...).

Good luck!

 

Here is the solution. I use this software.
Basically you Target specific leads, you get to keep this real leads and you drive massive traffic. It Saves you time and money. Get penny clicks and start making sells through the people that actually want and need your product or service.
This is what the big internet marketers are using but most people don't know about.
Just check it out, you don't have anything to lose. It's a simple software that will blow your mind!
Click here to target specific leads.

Also contact me if you have any questions or you need help with something else. There's a society that we are creating that requires an invitation.

 

Is there a way to redirect your blogger blog in the future to the new domain with wordpress already installed.
If you got no money to buy the domain or hosting ,you're stuck with blogger..

 

Own Domain Hosting vs Free Domain Hosting
Having your own domain is great! Why? This is because you can clearly see as described below.

For Blogspot or WordPressdotcom, your domain pointing looks like yourniche.blogspot.com or yourproduct.wordpress.com.

For your own domain, your domain pointing is yournichedomain.com. Now, see here. You can create a subdomain like these:
1.Blog.yourdomain.com such as forums.digitalpoint.com
2.Yourdomain.com/blog, yourdomain.com/articles and so forth.

So, here is my question. And that of my question is, how are you going to create a subdomain in Web2.0 hosting? Go figure...

Tip: If you really took a bit of your valuable time to read through all my postings and do a small research into it, you might be able to get a free domain and a free hosting.

 

I believe there is, in much the same way as WordPress.com allows redirection. You just have to pay for the privilege, so in the end it costs you more.

A domain is cheap (a couple of dollars). Hosting is generally the show-stopper, since it's a few dollars a month - still not much, but it adds up quickly. There are alternatives, though: Tumblr is free, Weebly is free, WP.com is free and so are tons of others. There are even some folks who'll let you squat on their VPS in exchange for a spot on an ad rotator and a footer link (http://www.halfhog.com/forums/index.php?topic=216 for example), presumably provided you don't post rubbish or use up tons of space.

Personally, I'd spend a couple of dollars on a domain. GoDaddy and Namecheap almost always have an offer running to pick one up for under $5 and it's a worthwhile investment. Then just find some free hosting until you've got some cash.

 

don't buy a new domain because you will wait forever to appear in google search!! go to opensitexplorer and look for a domain at least 5 years old and related to your business.

 

My Best 3 Suggestions you need to build a successful Blog Online....

1 - Build a Fast Loading Blog Site
2 - Create VALUABLE Content
3 - Spend MORE Time Driving TRAFFIC to your Content and Build an Email List

There are more things you need to learn of course but these 3 are the most crucial steps you need understand and go from there.

I have actually been working on a Video Tutorial Series showing people exactly how to build a WordPress Blog Online and make money with it.

Feel free to learn as much as you can... http://internet-marketing-blog101.com/build-a-blog/

This is a new Video Tutorial Series - so there is still more content to be published.

I really hope this information helps you!

I wish you the best success!!

 

-- Give Point to point information in your Blog regarding topic.
-- Also use Diagrams, flowcharts, images, process for better explanation of your topic.
-- Also Put Links for depth information for any word. you can use "(Read More)" text regarding important words.
-- Use small Video Clip for easy to understanding for readers.
-- Do Social Media Marketing for your blog.
-- Create a poll questions in Social media Marketing regarding your blog, blog post & topic.
-- choose attractive blog theme.
--etc...

 

Thanks, everyone! I'm writing down notes like crazy over here. Lots of wisdom being shared here...
My follow up question is that if the general "family life" space is pretty full, what niches aren't well populated? Are there still topics that people want to read more about but don't have thousands of blogs already covering them?

My main interests and experiences are:
Family
Music (song writing, composing, indie artists)
Video Games (old and new)
Movies/TV

 

No.

The same as everyone else's.

Unfortunately, the web has a population of billions. Consequently, just about everything has already been done, redone, marketed, sold, bought, buried in soft peat, dug up and recycled as firelighters (spot the reference).

Of course, the flip-side to this is that the web has a population of billions... so it doesn't matter that everything has already been done. You WILL get traffic to any site that you produce and promote a bit. The big question is whether you want a lot of traffic and, if you do, then you need one of the two things I mentioned before - either a niche that is low-population (none of your interests cover that because they're too normal) or a really good voice or angle.

Or luck. Luck beats everything else.

A great example of the latter is Dooce (.com). I stumbled across her blog back at the end of the 1990s when I was working in France. She blogged about impending motherhood, then about motherhood and so on. She went pro a few years later and now (I believe) works her blog full-time. She's successful because she's REALLY funny and sarcastic and witty and so on. She also writes books and such... basically her blog grew out of all proportion and she's made a business of it.

But at the core of it all, there are two basic things: her writing voice (or outlook on life, whichever expression fits you better) and luck (at the start, then business savvy to keep going).

If you're absolutely determined to blog in the family life niche, the only thing you have is you - your voice, your humour, your loves, your hates. You could find an innovative way to present it (like the stay at home dad with his post-it notes), but in the end it's the content that will draw traffic and bring people back.

Don't expect to make a lot of money very quickly (or maybe at all) and aim for a small core following at first. Don't try to please everyone or it'll become yet another vague family blog.

My 2c.

 

1. Choose a specific topic. Do Not Be Too Broad.
2. Create content that is VALUABLE to others. Readers want something.
3. Capture Readers. Mailpoet is a great free plugin for wordpress.

Domain names and hosting is all very important. But the blog itself requires specific things. I like my three.

 

Narrow your blog niche to something more managable than just family life, unless this blog is about your own personal family and sharing family related experiences.

Next, you will want to identify your target audience. Who will be reading your posts? Are you targeting single moms or moms and dads who want to learn more about parenting? Are you trying to share your personal point of view on family life or just want to give some advice to other families? Think about these things, before you start a blog. Make sure you have a clear picture of who your blog reader will be, before you write the first post. This vision of your ideal blog reader, will help you keep your target in mind and even influence what you write about.

All this can be done before you even start the blog.

Once you have identified your target audience, or the person you want to speak with, come up with a list of potential blog posts or things you think your reader will want to know. For instance, for a family related blog, you might have a blog post about the importance of family dinners and how it can increase good communication and social bonds within the family.

Consider also, whether or not your blog will be informational, such as third person articles or first person related experiences about your own life and family.

Some of the more popular blogs choose the first person point of view in writing and that seems to help the reader connect on an emotional level.

If you choose third person point of view, be sure to provide in depth, wiki style information (such as step by step tutorials, advice, how to) articles.

Otherwise, just have fun with your blog and focus on the reader and how you can speak directly to them.

Once you have all this taken care of, you can install your Wordpress blog onto your own hosting or sign up for a Blogger style blog and begin your blog journey.

 

Enough information for anyone starting a blog.. This is called DigitalPoint !!!
Kudos guys...