Starting a blog is an almost guaranteed way of getting into search results. You post about your topic, use relevant keywords, and you have a high chance of readers finding what you publish.
With over 200 million other blogs currently online you may need to start blogging just to keep up with your competitors at this point! There’s no question whether you should start a blog. The real question is how!
Why WordPress?
WordPress is free software made by thousands of dedicated volunteers from around the world. It’s the most flexible and expandable blog technology, and is still simple to use.
Building your site or blog with WordPress is far more efficient than using the old skills of purely manual HTML site-building. All you need to know is that WordPress makes adding posts and pages and links easy, so even a beginner can do it.
You could start a personal blog at WordPress.com, or use the WordPress software to create a blog about any topic (including your business opportunity) on your own web hosting. Starting a personal blog on WordPress.com puts you at the mercy of their staff who may or may not understand your business, but starting your WordPress blog on your own web hosting puts puts you in complete control, with no rules to abide by.
So I recommend starting a blog on your own web hosting account, NOT WordPress.com!
WEB HOSTING
Web Hosting is like having your own little corner of the web. You can run unlimited websites, about whatever you want, and nobody can give you a rulebook to abide by. Instead of posting all your content to sites like Squidoo or Hubpages, you can build your own website on your own web hosting.
One of the most highly recommended web hosting companies is HostGator.com. They even have a tool called ‘Fantastico’ that installs WordPress for you automatically. You will only need the cheaper package (of Linux Hosting) to get started, and you may never need to upgrade to the more expensive packages – unless your blog is MEGA successful!
CUSTOMIZING THE THEME
Once you’ve spent a few minutes creating your first post and page it’s time to customize the look and feel of your WordPress blog – and you don’t even need to know any new computer language or have any design skills. There are thousands of free “Themes” available, and you can install them to your blog in seconds.
To install a theme:
1. Login to the Admin area of your blog
2. Click Add New Theme in the menu under Appearance
3. Search for keywords, or browse popular themes
4. Install any you think will match your topic
5. Experiment by activating each theme in turn, to see what looks best
Using a free theme is quick and easy, but in the future of your blogging career you should consider buying a Premium Theme or hiring a freelance blog-builder to craft you a theme to match your topic or opportunity.
INSTALLING PLUGINS
WordPress is the most powerful blogging software available largely because of the Plugins. A plugin is an addon that someone talented and generous has built and released to the WordPress community for free.
WordPress plugins add extra features and capabilities to your blog, which can mean anything from higher search rankings to automatic blog posting to automated marketing.
Here are 13 useful top-rated WordPress plugins:
* All in One SEO Pack
* WPSmush.it
* Pretty Bar Lite
* Akismet
* Google XML Sitemaps
* Fluency Admin
* SEO Friendly Images
* SEO Post Link
* Smart YouTube
* Subscribe to Comments
* Thumbnail for Excerpts
* Exclude Pages From Navigation
* WP Security Scan
To add a plugin simply click the Add Plugins link in the Plugins menus. The procedure is then very similar to adding a theme. Type the name of the plugin, hit Search, Install, then Activate.
CONCLUSION
Running your own blog will let you control what people find when they search for your name, or for questions about your company. If you want to start generating your own leads don’t just pay for more adverts – build your own Virtual Real Estate!
Get Blogging! Install WordPress.
Source by Steven Schmeltzle
