Blogging From A Newbies Point Of View – What Do I Do Now?

This is a guest post by Wannabe. He recently started his blog where he shares his journey of blogging and what he has learned from blogging. Check his blog at WannaBeMillionaire.

Setting up a blog is something anyone can do. Using the latest software like WordPress, Joomla or others will allow you to create a blog on the fly. I am the living proof that it is easy. But the trickiest part comes once you have created a blog, then what? I started my blog out of an impulse, when my blog was online I had no content and also no idea what to do next. Maybe my experience can be helpful for all the other newbie bloggers, so they can grasp the idea of what they have to think of and what they can expect.

There you are, admiring your newly created blog… Everything is set, you are ready to write your first article. But Hold On! Are you sure everything is in order? Have you considered your layout, are all the metatags in order, did you submitted your URL to search engines? Ever considered SEO (Search Engine Optimization)… and most importantly, do you have a play area?


Layout

But first things first, before the important SEO stuff there is something else which is equally important. Layout, I never thought of layout before I started blogging, it is something that never crossed my mind. And let’s face it, layout is important…

I often find myself clicking away from websites that just don’t look organized, I am sure you have done it too. Clicking a website away because at first glance it just didn’t look right to you it’s a very natural reaction, we are not the only one. It is important that your layout is very well designed, WordPress offers a very nice layout straight out of the box. It is not something I would use, because it is too regular and it doesn’t have my fingerprint on it. Remember this, your frontpage is your chance to impress … it is the first impression visitors will get from you. It is either worth gold or very little.

What are the basic guidelines for a layout?

  • Make sure you have a link back to your frontpage on all pages
  • Do not make very deep links, keep any page at a maximum of 3 links
  • Avoid having too many links in your page, make smart use of categories and sublevels
  • Try to use descriptive web page names, also good for Google
  • Make use of a sitemap, it will do good for indexing purposes and it can be used for navigation purposes as well
  • Make sure that your contact information is easy to find
  • Balance graphics and text equally, make use of photos or graphics to appeal or to clarify topics better, don’t overdo it

And remember, not everyone has broadband speed!

I am sure there is more to consider, but keeping the above list in mind should take you far.

Interaction

I love to have interaction on my blog, there isn’t too much going on at the moment. But I have the facility, people can make comments and I can reply to them. If your software choice for blogging is WordPress then you have little to worry about, however some other software packages do not offer the same user friendly functionality.

I tried Joomla before switching to WordPress, Joomla does not offer commenting functionality out of the box. In that case you should consider carefully before deciding, there are a lot of different choices, and all come with their own nifty thingies. Not all of the commenting  software is capable to import comments from the old software, so you could end up losing comments as it happened to me, and nothing is more shameful than losing your very first comment.

Good interactivity helps to engage the user’s interest in your website, and when the visitor is interested, he/she is more likely to return.

Play area

If you have your own domain and hosting, consider creating a sub-domain just for yourself. Create an exact copy of your blog on that sub-domain. In your play area you can freely play around to install addons, little bits of software that will add more functionality to your blogging software. It will also allow you to meddle around with your layout, and test it before you use it in your live blog. In the worst case scenario, if your blog software stops working … it will be constrained to the play area and not to your live blog. And at that moment you will be happy to do such a thing.

Content

Content will grow, but if you have the time and patience you could consider writing a few articles and have them ready before you put your blog online. Having a few articles online when you go live will allow your visitors to read more than your 1st blog entry, it will make your blog more interesting. Now, I did not do this but if I ever start a second blog I will do it. I learned from my mistake.

SEO, Meta keywords and so on

I will not write too much about SEO and keywords, for the simple reason: I do not fully understand it … yet. It will take some more reading, testing and playing before I start to understand it better. But don’t lose hope, there is so much information to be found that will explain to you step by step what you should do.

I Hope this helps! And if you are curious how I am doing, pay me a visit on my blog.

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25 thoughts on “Blogging From A Newbies Point Of View – What Do I Do Now?”

  3. I tried putting up my blog and somewhat it did not “sell” as i expected it to be. Nonetheless, a few views and a few comments pops up. Now that i have seen and reviewed your post, i will redo everything and i guess, this will do. Thank you very much for sharing this post to us, and especially to newbies.
    I just hope you can expound later on how to make effective blogs. But I think you have thought of that already. Thanks!
    .-= custom mat board ´s last blog ..Custom Size Picture Frames, Pre Cut (Precut) Mat Boards, Paper Mats, Photo Matting & Framing Supplies – Documounts =-.

  7. @ Dennis : maybe I was not clear enough when i typed, keep linking at a maximum of 3. What I meant is this; On your frontpage you can have a link to your dossiers page, and on that dossier page you can have another link to the a sub category and then finally a link to the article .. or .. Frontpage -> Dossiers -> newbie tips -> Categorie [Layout] -> Article … the last one has three links before you actually arrive at the material you are looking for. That is too deep, people want to have their information rapidly.

    @Jacob : I first used Joomla and as Ignandi rightfully said, Joomla is very scalable .. but .. not so easy to use as wordpress. And since i do not have real big ambitions, wordpress will do for now. i would advice wordpress, if you only want to publish articles and so on …
    .-= Wannabe´s last blog ..Higher page ranking and SEO tools YOU NEED =-.

    1. Ah OK, gotcha. you’re right in that. 1 is optimal, 2 is great, 3 is pushing it but acceptable.

      Please watch your phrasing, that’s what screwed me up and could really confuse newbies.

      In the world of blog SEO, and visitor stickiness “deep linking” is mainly known as the act of linking from newer articles, to articles further back in your blog (1 click) and this practice is STRONGLY advised.
      .-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..UPDATED – THREE Plugins Needed – What Do You Recommend? =-.

  8. Interesting point of view. Hardest thing on the list is for sure content. Where will you find people to write or if you do it alone, you will need lots of time.

    Layout is easy to get. There are tons of layouts.

  9. I have found that the two biggest hurdles for me are: 1) selecting a “perfect” domain name that isn’t already taken, and 2) coming up with content on a frequent basis. I like your idea of writing a few articles in advance – this is a good idea not only for the onset of a blog but for those times when you cannot come up with anything to write.

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