I often get asked this question: How do I start a blog? How can I start blogging?
It is so simple and really something that one shouldn’t hesitate doing. Setting up your own blog is no longer something that can only be done by technical people, everyone can do it with a little time, love and passion!
If you are serious about blogging, forget blogger, go straight to wordpress.
Note that there is a difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. WordPress.org is best because this would be self hosted and you can have your own personal domain… ie yourname.com with wordpress.com it would be wordpress.yourname.com for example. WordPress.com would cost you absolutely nothing to set up, with the org set up you would need to buy your domain and hosting. Most large hosting companies offer
special packs for ‘wordpress’ sites. I have bought most my domains and hosting I’m now using arvixe. Their wizard for wordpress hosting is pretty good and if you get stuck their online chat support is really effective. I used it several times when I get stuck with something.
WordPress is great because there are so many people out there using it and the volume of free templates, free widgets and plugin are fantastic for both beginner and pro bloggers. I use tones of free widgets on some of my most professional blogs.
If you are looking for a more professional theme to dress your site up, then you should check out themeforest, you can pick up a really nice designed theme for as cheap as $35. Personally I use DIYtheme’s Thesis, which gives me a little more flexibilty in designing my own themes but doesnt make me have to touch much code. Once you get used to using thesis you just wont want to use anything else ever again.
Some people ask me if I would use WordPress CMS for a actual website. My answer is 100% yes. These is a lot of contradiction in the industry about this but, WordPress’s general set up allows you to choose static pages along side dynamic pages, which to me is the perfect blend for anyone who is looking to create an online presence nowadays.
