Hey everyone I have finally gotten around to starting my financial and economic blog. Heres the link http://afterhourstrader.blogspot.com/ . What do you think my next steps are? Im a complete newbie to the blogging world so I have no idea what im doing. I would like a more professional looking blogger theme, do you think I should get my own domain and point to this site? Is my adsence set up in optimal positioning? Im going to do at least 1 post for the next month, so content will not be an issue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks alot!
It's a good start - work on building a user base. As for the domain, best get one while you're small (blog popularity wise) as if you choose to buy your own later, you'll have problems transferring PR and various traffic ratings. If you need more step-by-step help, feel free to register on the forum (in my signature - Blogger To Blogger) as I hang out there a lot I'll be able to help you out.
The first step I would suggest is getting rid of that blog and starting your own with your own domain!
I would hightly recommend..if you are truly in it for the long haul,a nd are trying to build something, to get your own domain, and use Wordpress. I made the mistake last year of "messing around", just to see what would happen...and got a PR 4 on the first update, and decent traffic. I had to start all over on my own domain. Still worth the experience, but I wish I had started from the beginning, with a self hosted blog. You will be very happy in the long run, and learn a lot in the process, that will help you go to the next level. JMO
Take it from a veteran, this guy knows what he is talking about and you dont want it to happen again!
Ok thanks alot guys. So I guess I need to come up with a domain name. Here are my two choices... theafterhourstrader or afterhourstraderblog anyone have a preference or other idea?
Always be careful not to post domain ideas on an open forum....it's like throwing a Ritz Cracker in a shoe box full of hungry mice...it is very possible that it will get snatched up...sometimes just to be a prick and try and sell it back to you.
I did the same with with blogger but after advice got a domain and switched to wordpress, and it works a lot better for me. After that start using digg, stumble, sphinn, del.icio.us, and build a social network of friends.
i would advice you to get a domain name and shift to wordpress..get a reliable host..and don't post your domain ideas in a forum like this..it can be snatched anytime..and name your blog in such a way that it can be remembered easily..keep it short and sweet as far as possible..
Great advice here. I'm am still nursing my blogspot blogs and recently launched a new one because I simply don't have the cash to spring for a host. All the ads say $6.95 a month, but most of them charge you for 2 years at once. I had a free host for a short period before the site changed hands and they put ads up. I installed WordPress, but I had a really rough time with the technical side of it. With WordPress, you lose the point and click ease of making changes to things that should be simple like your Adsense placement, etc. However, ALL the big boys and girls use WordPress and swear by it. If you can afford a decent host, it's the way to go. There is so much online support too, so you'll be able to get it set up just the way you want. Go for it. I wish you the best of luck.
I agree, switch to wordpress than dwelling on blogspot, it's more professional looking and establish your social network, you can also use social bookmarks like digg, stumble, delicious etc... For a start, you might want to try creating lenses/web pages in squidoo.com
I think for a free service blogger is better you can look at my site and i think its pretty adsense optimized now www.afterhourstrader.blogspot.com . If your in it for the long run and complete professionalism wordpress proly is your best bet.