Setting up a blog

I WROTE a piece recently about setting up a blog that I posted to a freelance journalists' email list and thought it might be worth putting it on the site.

Remember it was written with writers in mind, but if you have a passion about a subject then there is no reason why you can't do the same and enjoy creating a great website. Here's what I wrote:

The first thing to consider when setting up a blog is to think of a tightly focussed subject that you will be happy writing about.

This shouldn’t be too difficult for freelance writers as you are most probably already specialising in a particular subject.

But if you can narrow it down and still have plenty to write about that is the best way.

A good example of this is the blog run by Graham Holliday at http://www.noodlepie.com/ he covers food in Saigon.

Another food example is http://www.chocolateandzucchini.com/ that is written by a computer programmer, but the author loves French food and writing and has been commissioned to produce pieces thanks to her site.

So when it comes to a subject think narrow, as this will establish you as a specialist within your field and also impact on other elements of your site, more on that later.

Setting up a blog can be done very quickly and easily, personally I use Typepad, which costs around £50 a year – this covers hosting and the software behind the blog.

There is a steep learning curve but once you have hit the plateau you will have had no problems with Typepad.

Blogging software is just a way of dragging articles out of a database and presenting them on a website, content management for the techies amongst you.

I also plug in a couple of other elements into my sites, the first of which is a newsletter subscription form, which costs £30 a year from auto-resonder.co.uk

This is a great way of keeping in touch with people but also ensuring they come back to your site to see what you’ve been writing.

I provide a free guide on my ThisFrenchLife site about buying property in France, it is just a collection of articles and in return I get their email address.

To raise some money on my sites you will see Google Adsense advertising which is a real set it up and forget service.

You register with Google, design your advert, place it on your page and it reads your site content and displays related ads.

This is one of the important elements when focussing on narrow, niche content. Visitors to your site are more likely to click on ads related to the content that brought them there in the first place.

A few emails I’ve received in the past day have spoken about marketing the site.

One of the great things about blogs is that they are search engine magnets. Think about it, Google is in the business of providing information to people searching the web.

A well-written blog, with useful up to date information does exactly that, so Google will come round often and index your site.

To borrow a phrase; if you write it, Google will come.

Other ways of promoting your site are to visit other blogs related to your field and leave useful comments on them, again building up your reputation as a specialist.

A quick aside here, comments are a major feature of blogs allowing site visitors to do just that, leave a note related to the article that others can read and get involved with.

Another method of promoting your site is to visit related messageboards, again leave useful messages answering people’s questions but ensuring your signature contains a link to your site.

Really though I am a great fan of a regular weekly newsletter, just outlining what you’ve written in the past seven days and getting people back to your site, which is where you want them.

But really what you should be looking to establish with your blog is credibility within your field so over time your site becomes a useful resource for people and a great advert for your skills as a writer, which you can promote to potential editors.

Most importantly you are getting your writing out to a wider audience so editors will start coming to you, and instead of begging for crumbs off one or two, you can take your pick and decide who you want to work for.

So here’s an example of how I’d set up a blog about orchids (I know nothing about orchids!!!).

First thing to do is to decide that I will only write articles about all things orchids, no slipping in pieces about roses, Pop Idol or Manchester City – unless there is a strong orchid connection.

Register an orchid website name, at godaddy.com you can pick up a name for around $9 a year. Lets say it’s called The Orchid Blog http://www.theorchidblog.com/

I decide to use the services of Typepad and put together a three-column site with a short piece about myself and experience of the orchid world, an About Me page.

Then I start writing articles about orchids and link across to news articles I’ve seen, again adding my own thoughts and ideas, with Typepad you can even categorise pages so that everything about Japanese Orchids has its own section.

I sign up to Google Adsense and notice that the adverts I’m running are all focussed on orchids and gardens, perfect eye-candy for potential readers of my site.

I let Google run around my site indexing my pages and displaying me on the first page of search results for the phrase ‘Tips on displaying orchids’ or ‘How to buy bargain orchids’.

Once or twice a week I drop in on orchid related messageboards and leave useful ideas and tips in answer to people’s questions, ensuring my signature links back to my site.

I offer a free ebook on Caring for Orchids to subscribers of my newsletter and issue it once a week, making sure people are aware they can forward it to a friend.

And just keep writing content, if you can do two/three pieces a day that’s great.

And when you start spinning off other sites covering other areas you may soon be producing 15/20 articles a day that are earning income from related advertising, meaning you are not hanging on for an editor’s telephone call.

If people have questions, I’m sure you do, then pop a comment below and join in the conversation.

Comments

[Robin Mayfield]

Fantastic consise summary of how to set up a specialist blog. Brilliant!

[Marley]

Just testing. I've just set up a blog page and wondered how other people post their blogs on the site or is it only for one user? Oooh I dunno

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Marley

Many thanks for your message.

In answer to your question, an individual sets up a blog and writes away as you are doing with your officeconfessions site.

Then as you read other sites you can leave a comment like you have done on mine.

Or you can write something on your own site, maybe highlighting a site you've visited in your piece, then link across to it.

It is the words you write that are important and then linking across allows your website visitors to explore more and more.

Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any other questions.

Regards

Craig

[Kitty]

Thanks Craig, this is a very useful post. Can you tell me how to sogn up toGoogle Adsense?

[Craig McGinty]

Hi
You can go directly to the Adsense page at:

https://www.google.com/adsense/home

Google say they take a look at your site to see if it's suitable but you should be up and running very soon.

[Leonard Jacobson]

Hi, I'm a new blogger,
thanks for your advice,
L

[Sonam Ongmo]

Hi

Your website is very informational and helpful. I am not very pro with the use of the computer and going online but I am interested in setting up a blog site of my own. How do I start? Who do I contact?

[Anthony]

Another excellent article Craig with something for everyone inside.

Your advice about selecting a narrow field or niche area is certainly the best advice I ever received.

[tamar]

hi craig--
to add on to marley's question, i am looking to set up something that is for a group of friends who are now scattered around the globe to all be able to post on the same blog. does everyone have to set up their own blog and link to each other or can something be designed so that everyone can add? Almost like a living album of sorts. Thanks.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Tamar

You can set up a blog so that individual people can write to it.

One person would be the editor, you might say, who would then send an invitation to the writers and they would be able to log in and start posting to the site.

If I remember Blogger allows you to do this, but so does WordPress and if you are looking for a paid service TypePad enables this as well.

Hope this helps.

[Mary Kierse Dallas]

Thanks for the advice- very pertinent!

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Mary, glad you found the piece useful. Regards, Craig

[Lee White]

I acknowledge with thanks the presence of your article on blogging.

While I am no neophyte in journalistic writing, I found your instuctions quite helpful.

The flavor of my writing is basically the misrable justice system in the United States, and getting the message over to others.

I do not believe there is a more corrupted system in the world. I bear witness to that fact, but really appreciate those who are willing to share the liberties available through the press and an avenue in which the word can get out.

As to my organization SALT, society against lawyers and treason, I do not know how far I will get on that note, but I am a vehement supporter of the Common Law and social justice.

I cannot immagine the horrors that you must face reporting on the Gaza. I pray for blessings from both sides of the coin in this "your God is better than my God war."

[DD]

Thanks for very much for a helpful site. I am also not terribly up there with the technical side of computers and would like to start a blog.

I am a lady balloon pilot (I used to fly passenger balloons in Africa) aspiring author (based on my ballooning escapades) mother of two/ who wants to write a blog about becoming a writer. My journey to becoming hopefully a published author, with bits of the novel and every day distractions of real life thrown in. Amusing and light hearted. Do you think this might work? Can I safely use a free blog site? Is it better to pay for a site?

Thanks
DD

[Craig McGinty]

Hi DD

It sounds as though you have got a great story to tell and seeing that you are starting out I would use a free site, for example, Blogger to see if you enjoy the process of writing.

If you take to it then you can have your own domain name with Blogger, as well as Wordpress and TypePad.

And the stories you've already put together can be imported into a new site if required.

Hope this helps

Craig

[Mike]

All sounds good but do I really have to download another write program. I have from MS word, works, wordpad, notepad, ascII editor. Also have Open office, Google docs, Starwrite, Thinking of getting that new IBM office suite. Various writing programs that came with other software.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Mike
Although some of the tools you mention can be used to posts articles to a blog, word processing software is different to blogging software.

A blog is a publishing tool that lets you place your writing in front of others, not something you can do with a Word document sat on your hard drive.

But copy and paste that article into a blog and you begin to connect with readers.

Hope that helps
Craig

[VictoriaS]

You have completely converted me to the idea of blogs as a way of promoting myself and my work as an artist (I attended your 'To blog or not to blog' course a few weeks ago). The trouble is, I can't seem to get started. Does it matter, do you think, what the blog is called? I don't mean is it snappy and cool, but in terms of making it attractive to search engines. Should it contain my name, or my medium, or can it be completely way out? Or if it's all about links, perhaps it doesn't matter so much? Please help cure my blog-paralysis! Thanks

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Victoria

Great to hear my talk has inspired you to launch a blog.

I think as an artist you are likely to have your name as your "brand" so depending on the blog service you are using you could set up a sub-domain such as:

http://news.victoriascholes.com/

Or register a new domain such as:

http://www.victoriascholesonline.com/

But there is nothing stopping you being a little more creative, especially with your background.

A good test is how easy is it to tell someone your website address over the phone, it's difficult to explain when a dash is a hash!

Your article titles and the fact that your name will be on the blog will play just as important a role in being found by search engines.

But there are plenty of others things you can do yourself, such as a regular newsletter, to ensure you stay in touch with readers so you not over reliant on search engine results.

If you are still struggling dive into technorati.com and perform a search or two on design related phrases to see if other sites spark an idea.

Hope this helps and feel free to drop me a line direct.
Craig

[VictoriaS]

Thanks Craig, that may be all I need to get going. I'll see how I go and may be in touch again. Thanks very much!

[Vee]

Hi Craig,

Thanks so much for the article. It's really useful. I'm a student (just about to graduate..hopefully) and I am really interested in trying to become a freelance journalist. I wondered if running a couple of blogs might help with goal? I was thinking that I could use the blogs as part of my portfolio. Also, I wondered if a blog could potentially bring in a regular income (even a small one)?

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Vee, doing any type of regular, news driven style of writing is going to help you with your career.

Hook that in to learning the ins and outs of the online publishing world, be that blogs, YouTube or Facebook, and you should develop a desirable set of skills.

Earning an income can be a challenge as it takes time, but takes things step by step and there is plenty of interesting information online to help you with this side of publishing.

All the best, Craig

[ted]

"Write it, and Google will come." Tell me more, in early-boomer speak, please?

First, please accept thanks for your comment on focus.

[Craig McGinty]

Hi Ted
Using a blog-driven website you have an RSS feed built in which passes on a message to search engines that there is a new article on your site that needs to be referenced.

So the more quality articles you write the more chance you've got of search engines coming round regularly.

But more importantly, these articles will also appeal to readers who will link to them from their own blogs/MySpace/Facebook pages, as well as email a link to friends or post it to a forum.
Hope this helps, Craig

[Terry]

Craig, This is a great article which saved my sanity and helped a first time blogger setting up his site. I have learnt that the big software companies need a lesson in how to explain actions and terminology in simple english. I have used Typepad as you recommended but did find their help ticket responses less than helpful, a forum is needed.Still have some minor bugs but I think that is par for the course. I acknowledge that you article is now getting on but don,t delete it as I am sure there are many more out there who need this simple guide to getting started