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Here it is finally: The details on how to get a blog.

Blogs, the abbreviation of Web Logs (online journals), are becoming more and more popular all

the time. People are starting new blogs at an astounding rate so it’s safe to assume that

there are constantly people out there who want to know how to get a blog going. Despite

personal feelings about the actual quality of the majority of blogs out there on the Internet,

that’s what I hope to be able to help you do with this article.

First things first, you need somewhere to deposit your thoughts. You need to decide how you

want to attack this. Your choices are:
- To use a blog hosting service such as eBloggy (http://www.ebloggy.com) or BlogEasy

(http://www.blogeasy.com).
- To host a blog yourself on a server of your own choice.

Both options have their free or paid subsections. The blog hosting services mentioned here are

free but there are paid services out there. MSN now offer ‘Spaces’, which are essentially

blogs attached to your MSN account and may be of interest to some. Web hosting can also be

free or paid but you’ll find it difficult to find a free service that will offer you the

features you’ll need to run a blog backend. One place to look is your Internet Service

Provider (ISP) that may offer some free web space. This web space often contains as many

features as many professional web hosting packages although it offers less space. Blogs tend

not to take up a whole lot of room so this shouldn’t be a problem. The advantage of hosting

your own blog over using a service is that you have greater control over how it works, how it

looks etc. You also don’t have to put up with there being ads on your page (unless you find

some free hosting which usually has advertising put at the top of your site). The downside is

that it can be a bit more complicated to function.

If you’re going to host your own blog you’ll need to find yourself a blog backend. This is the

program that runs on the server and allows you to upload new journal entries while allowing

other people to view them. You’ll have to either choose a backend that fits within your web

hosting package’s limits or a hosting package that meets the backend’s requirements. The

general requirements are PHP and MySQL but you can get some backends that work solely with PHP

or even Java. It’s important to make sure that you can change the read/write permissions of

the PHP files on your server (using CHMOD or an equivalent, talk to your host—they’ll know

what you’re talking about). There’s a nice breakdown of many different beckends and their

features and requirements that can be found at, http://www.asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm.

I personally use Pivot because it doesn’t require MySQL and it has RSS distribution, which is

nice.

Once you’ve got yourself a hosting package and a backend you need to install the backend. This

can get tricky but most of them come with an install program and you should be able to work

through it if you follow the instructions that will undoubtedly come with the package. If you

run into difficulties your hosting provider’s support team should be happy enough to help you

along.

So now you have yourself a blog up and running; it’s time to fill it with content. What you

write is up to you. Generally people write about their lives, how they feel, what they think,

and similar topics. You can be much more diverse and creative than this though. You could for

example post creative writings on your blog, as well as discuss news and current affairs, or

anything else that you can imagine. It’s your personal space to write what you like and get it

out there for others to read and give their opinions on.

Making people come and read your blog could take some effort. You need to make them aware that

it exists and keep it interesting so that they continue coming back. Nothing kills off a

readership base like a lack of updates. At first you can start small with your ‘publicity’ by

telling friends and family about it. Put a link to your site in your MSN or other messenger

program nickname. Put a link in your email signature so that everyone you email sees it. Get

your friends interested and they’ll tell others and you’ll probably be able to build up a

small community with relative ease. For attracting the broader public you need ways to let the

wider community know you are out there. Spend time at other people’s blogs, make it a habit to

head over there and read their posts. If it’s appropriate put a link to your site in a comment

box or guest book on their site. Visit forums related to blogs (or just forums in general) and

become an active member there. As long as you have a link to your site in your signature,

people will probably head on over for a look.

You can also submit your blog to lists such as Blogrank.net (http://www.blogrank.net). These

are sites dedicated solely to getting people into blog sites, and while it may be hard to

climb into the higher ranks, simply having your site listed will probably improve your hit

rate. You could also submit your site to as many search engines as possible. Perhaps you could

even write yourself an article like this one with your link in the bio field. Beyond this

you’re going to have to work out your own methods for publicizing your site. Just think

creatively about how and where you can get a link put in and you’ll be fine.

Getting your blog set up and running can be an involving task but the results will be worth

it. A final word of warning: Don’t get too engrossed in your blog. You need a life in order to

be able to write about your life! As I wrote in a previous article it has been found that

blogging can sometimes have a detrimental effect on a person instead of the positive effect

that it was designed for. Try not to write only for yourself; it’s a public forum for others

to read so try and write entries that will be of some benefit to the wider community as well

as to you. Blog safe and have fun!