What should I write about on my blog ?

While blogging, there are many kinds of content you can put on your blog.

Stories.

You could use descriptions of things you've done, thought threads, streams of consciousness, idea feeds. Longer articles or short snippets. If you're using a long story, you could display a short summary on the homepage and link to the full post in an archive.

Pictures.

One of them is worth a thousand words. Good blogging software lets you store and display pictures and also combines them into sequences for display to readers in attractively packaged format.

Presentations.

You could have any type of data including media objects like MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, Macromedia or Apple movies, PDFs, Audio feeds, downloadable applications - whatever.

That depends on many factors that go to why you wish to create a blog in the first place. The good news is that no one's going to punish you if you post material infrequently!

So relax. Enjoy blogging.

Keeping your blog up to date

If you are into blogging, you are also going to need to understand the importance of keeping your blog up to date. People want to see updated content on a regular basis. If you continue to have updated content, people will return. To keep your blog properly updated, you also have to keep a close eye on it and how things are changing. Since things can change rather quickly, it’s a great idea to stay on top of it. The more often you respond and remain in contact with your blog and the members that are reading it, the better sense of community you will create and the more comfortable people will feel on your site.

Another good thing about blogs and a good reason to keep your content updated is because the search engines regularly update them. You can raise your search engine ranking and bring more traffic to your site which means more profit to you while blogging

What technical skills do I need to blog?

Most weblog tools provide an easy-to-use publishing interface as blogging software was designed to allow non-techies to publish professional quality weblogs.

With most blogging software available today, all the author has to do is create content. The mental barrier to webpage design that holds many back from building websites is almost completely destroyed when it comes to blogging.

It's "fall-off-a-log" easy!

Installing blogging software on your server requires some basic knowledge about scripts and CGI. But if you hate doing this stuff, there are several services that offer 'ready-to-go' blogs.

Just register - and start blogging!

Is it better to have blogging software run on your own server ?

Benefits:

More security. You don't have to give out your FTP details or password. Your blog's accessibility is dependent only on your server, not the remote hosting service's.

Disadvantages:

You need to have some basic knowledge about installing blogging software and scripts on your own server and troubleshooting problems. It requires some knowledge of changing directory access permissions, and other basic script installation techniques. Most of the blog software creators run helpful online forums and discussion groups to help out with problems.

Popular blogging programs / platforms

You may already know that within each type of blog hosting, there are several different popular blogging programs or platforms, you have probably heard of some of them already and may have even tried some of them already.

Blogger

Blogger is a free hosted blogging tool by Google that has been around for a long time and is very easy to use. Many people make personal blogs on this site and it only takes about 10 minutes to set up your first blog. They have a nice selection of templates but Blogger doesn’t allow for a lot of customization. - http://www.blogger.com/

LiveJournal

LiveJournal allows you to set up online journals quickly and easily. It is a collaboration and networking tool that is great for individuals but makes customization difficult. Again, it depends on what you are trying to do with your blog but if you hope to make money, this might not be your best option.

Textpattern

Textpattern is a free self-hosted tool which works best for those that are good with technology. It is much more customizable that the aforementioned options and it has wizard based interface to make this easier for you. It also uses custom formatting.

Typepad (hosted)/ Moveable Type (self-hosted)

Typepad was created by SixApart and is the hosted version of their popular MoveableType platform. These are both options for you to consider depending on your specific needs. Typepad is a paid blogging platform but it is still relatively affordable. There are different levels of access that will affect the price ranging from Basic to Pro.

Wordpress

Wordpress is both hosted and self hosted, depending on what your needs are. Wordpress is free and is easy to setup and use. There are hundreds of plugins to extend functionality in different areas. This is by far one of the most popular options around today. Here is a list of some popular blogging platforms which bloggers can install on their own servers:


Grey Matter (free + opensource)

http://www.noahgrey.com/greysoft/

Open Journal (free)

http://www.grohol.com/downloads/oj/


• b2evolution
• bBlog
• blosxom
• ExpressionEngine
• Drupal
• Movable Type
• Nucleus CMS
• Radio UserLand
• Roller Weblogger
• Serendipity
• Subtext
• Textpattern
• Windows Live Writer

Here is a list of some popular blogging services, which bloggers can use with no installation.

• Blog.com
• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• Open Diary
• TypePad
• Windows Live Spaces
• Wordpress.com
• Xanga

You have to decide for yourself which platform you think will meet all of your needs the best.

Choosing your blogging platform

When you are ready to begin choosing your blogging platform, there are some questions you can ask yourself to help you decide what you need from a blogging platform.

For example:

1. Do you need something that will be easy to set up and use?
2. Are you new to blogging and new to internet platforms?
3. What is your technical skill level?
4. Are you going to want to change the look of the templates and other customization?
5. Do you need to have little, moderate or a lot of control over the interface?
6. Will you require spam control features, such as captchas and comment moderation?
7. Does the platform you are considering offer support and assistance?
8. Do you need to be able to have more than one person able to post the blog?

These are just some of the questions you might ask. You have to consider your individual situation. Will you need pages on your site that are non-blog pages? What kind of features are important to you?

These are all questions to help you choose the right blogging platform for your needs.