2.1 How and where to launch your first blog
This module will guide you through the steps you will need to take when setting up your first blog. We will begin by considering whether it is best to start with one of the most common blogging platforms, or to pay for your own domain name and web hosting. We will then look at the most popular options for building and maintaining blogs used in the blogging world today and take into account the pros and cons of each. You will then learn how to secure hosting and a domain name, two essential steps if you decide to set up a self-hosted blog.
These instructions may sound daunting at first, but once you understand the basic principles of setting up a blog, it will only take you a couple of hours before you can begin publishing content to your site. You will also learn where to find extra help and tuition, should you need further assistance in setting up a blog.
2.2 The two components necessary to set up a blog
To run a blog, you will require the following:
A means of creating and managing your content (sometimes referred to as a Content Management System, CMS, or blogging software). Popular options include WordPress.
A host - This term refers to the website or service that will store and display your content as a blog on the internet. Free hosting is available on platforms such as Tumblr and Blogger and paid hosting is available from a number of companies, such as Dreamhost and Hostgator.
Note that most of the blogging platforms also offer free and paid hosting options. We will look at these options in greater depth, later on in the module. If you decide to self-host your blog, you will also need to purchase a domain name. This means that your blog's address will be yourblogname.co.uk, .com or any other available ending you choose to buy. You can also buy a domain name from a hosting provider such as those mentioned above and then link your domain with a blog that is hosted by another service. We will look in detail at the most popular options for both content creation and hosting, later in the
module.
2.3 Using a popular blogging platform versus starting a self- hosted blog
It is possible to set up a blog at no cost whatsoever.
For example, you can open a free account at Tumblr (tumblr.com), log in and begin uploading content to your blog within minutes. As a free host, Tumblr will provide you with a means of creating content and publishing it to the internet. This kind of free service has various advantages - they are often geared toward people who have little or no experience in website design and they are very easy to use.
However, setting up a free blog (or even upgrading to a paid account with more features) in this way comes with several drawbacks. These are as follows:
You will not have complete control over your blog's web address
If you use a blogging service such as Tumblr or Blogger, your blog address will take the form of yourblogname.thefreeservicename.com, or yourblogname.thefreeservicename.co.uk, rather than simply yourblogname.com, or yourblogname.co.uk. This is an important consideration, because your audience will have more respect for your blog if it has its own domain name.
Almost every well respected blog has its own custom domain name. This means that you will either have to choose a blogging service that allows you to connect a domain name that you have purchased elsewhere, or upgrade your free account with a blogging service that allows you the opportunity to buy a domain name as part of the deal. The alternative is to avoid using blogging websites and self-host your blog instead, by buying web hosting and a domain name before uploading your blog, using blogging software such as WordPress.
You and your readers may see advertisements when they view your blog
Companies providing free blog hosting have to cover their costs and one way in which they do this is via advertising. This means that if you sign up for a free blog, the service provider may use your blog as an advertising platform, which allows them to make money. This will make your blog appear less professional to those who view it. The solution is either to host your blog yourself, or to upgrade your
hosting plan so that the advertisements are removed.
Most blogging platforms retain control over your content
When you post to a blog that a blogging service agrees to host for you (either for free or as part of a paid plan), you have far fewer rights and much less control over the content than if you choose to host it yourself. For example, Blogger and Tumblr can exercise the right to delete your blog and all of its content at any time, especially if someone complains that your content violates their terms of service. If you go down the self-hosted route, however, you can keep control over what is posted to your blog. This gives you a much greater degree of creative freedom.
Platforms that host free blogs may not allow you to monetize your work
When you pay for your hosting and domain name, you have much greater control over what advertisements (if any) you wish to accept onto your blog. Free hosting services may not allow you to take part in programmes that allow you to make money by hosting advertisements on your blog.
It is possible to transfer your content from a blogging service to a self-hosted setup at a later date, but this is not always simple
Some bloggers start their blogging careers by setting up an account with a popular blogging service and then move their blog content to a self-hosted site at a later date. In theory, this is a good idea, but in practice, it can be difficult to transfer all of your content and blog design to a new service.
2.4 Popular options for building blogs
There are now so many free and paid blogging options available that a comprehensive overview of even the ten most popular options is beyond the scope of this module. However, the following six platforms are widely used by the blogging community. A brief description of each, together with their pros and cons, is provided below.
Blogger (blogger.com)
Cost: Free, with the option to add a domain name for around £10 per year
Blogger is one of the oldest and best-known platforms.
It is now owned by Google, meaning that if you have a Google account, you can use it to register for a
Blogger blog. It is a free blogging option - Blogger lets you create content easily and will host it online for no charge. With this service, your blog address would be yourblogname.blogspot.com. If you buy a domain name from another provider, then you can use it with this service, but this may not be easy to do for beginners. Blogger is very simple to use, but also limited and basic in terms of design options.
This means that you will not be able to customise your blog to the extent possible with some of the other services reviewed in this module. However, it may be a viable option if you are tentatively looking to explore the world of blogging and wish to keep everything fairly simple.
There is no option to upgrade to a paid plan with extra features.
Medium (medium.com)
Cost: Membership scheme, starting appx £4.00 per month
Medium is a relatively young service, which allows you to open an account and start posting quickly and easily. It allows you to write and publish content, once part of their membership scheme (introduced in March 2017 - previously free). It is geared towards creatives, such as writers and artists and currently has over one million members. Your blog address would be medium.com/@yourblogname. As with Blogger, it is possible to use your own custom domain. The aesthetic is minimal - there is no way to customise your blog, meaning that although every blog owner can use text and images in any way they please within their posts, the overall look of each blog hosted by this site will be broadly the same. The interface is considered very simple to use, with the text editor having been designed to operate on a “what you see is what you get” basis.
Squarespace (squarespace.com)
Cost: After a free trial, prices start at £9 per month for a 20 page website
Squarespace is marketed as an all in one website solution for businesses, creatives and entrepreneurs. The service takes pride in the number of modern customisable designs it offers its users, although the sheer number available may be daunting for a beginner. It is also useful for those who want to run a blog with other people - the cheapest plan allows two people to log in and contribute to a blog separately, whereas the next upgrade (at approximately £14 per month) allows an unlimited number of writers to post blog content. This makes Squarespace a good choice for ambitious bloggers, who may want to create a magazine style blog sometime in the future. It also allows users to set up an online store, so if you plan to use your blog as a means of selling products or services, then Squarespace may be a good option for you.
Tumblr (tumblr.com)
Cost: Free, with the option of paying for customised themes that change your how your blog looks (costs vary)
Tumblr is both a blogging platform and a social media network. It is designed for bloggers who want to publish short pieces of content, such as short series of images, quotes and videos. When you sign up for free, you are assigned a blog address in this format: yourblogname.tumblr.com. It is possible to link your Tumblr blog to a domain name that you have purchased elsewhere. You can choose from many different designs, which means your blog can be customised, but the majority of designs are paid options that cost anywhere from approximately £5 to £40. Tumblr is considered one of the simplest blogging options available and many users enjoy the fact that there is a strong sense of community among Tumblr bloggers.
WordPress (wordpress.com/wordpress.org)
Cost: Free to set up a basic WordPress blog on wordpress.com.
You have the option to upgrade to paid plans that range in price from £2.50-£20.83 per month, which include custom domain names. You can also pay for customised blog themes, which vary in price. WordPress software (the program used to create blog content) is free to download from wordpress.org.
“WordPress” refers to both to a piece of software designed to produce blogs and the name of a blogging platform that will host your website on either a free or paid basis. If you sign up to wordpress.com, you can build a blog using WordPress software. Your blog's default URL would be yourblog.wordpress.com. There are free and paid options for hosting your blog. The paid plans permit you to make more design changes to your blog, offering it a more customised feel. If you upgrade to a paid plan, you can also have advertisements removed from your blog, enjoy better customer support and have more storage space.
You can also add your own domain name via WordPress for an annual fee, without upgrading to a paid plan, either when you sign up or later on in your blogging journey. If you elect to use any of the paid plans, a domain name is included. As WordPress is such a popular option, there is a strong sense of community and many tutorials available to help with common problems you may experience when building and maintaining a website.
However, the downside of using wordpress.com for building and hosting your website is that even if you use your own domain name and pay for increased customisation and storage space, WordPress still maintains ultimate control over your website and can take it down without warning if they believe your content to be objectionable.
In order to maintain total control over your blog and its content, you can instead pay for web hosting with a hosting provider that offers one-click WordPress software installation. This allows you to enjoy the capacities of this blogging system, without the restrictions you are subjected to when you sign up for hosting with wordpress.com. However, the downside is that this process is more complicated than
signing up for a hosted blog at wordpress.com.
Ultimately, you need to make a decision as to how important it is that you retain control over your content and how much time and effort you can afford to spend on learning how to use new software. The WordPress community have developed a number of add-ons or “plugins” that can be downloaded and used to enhance your blog's functionality.
For example, there are plugins that increase your blog's security, plugins that allow you to install an online store and plugins that allow readers to get in contact with you via forms and surveys embedded on your blog.
Wix (wix.com)
Cost: Free to set up a basic blog, then a range of premium plans are available from £5.16-£15.57 per month
Wix prides itself on offering anyone the chance to build an attractive website, with no technical background required. It offers a range of free and paid plans that vary with regards to how much content you can store on your website, whether your blog will contain advertisements and whether you have access to additional features such as the ability to build an online store and use forms on your website. It allows even those users with free plans the opportunity to customise their websites and their website builder is an easy to use drag and drop interface. However, although it is certainly possible to create a high quality blog using this platform, Wix was not designed specifically for bloggers.
Overall, it is simple to use, but it is not built with the assumption that the user will be posting content on a regular basis. To run a blog on the Wix platform, you will need to make use of the Blog Module within the Wix site builder. This is not complicated, but it may mean that setting up your blog takes a little longer than would be the case if you used the other options outlined above.
Activity : Which Platform Appeals To You?
Time: 10-15 Minutes
Having read an overview of the above services, which do you think is best suited to your blog? Make a list of your first, second and third choices. Why did you choose these three?
2.5 Which blogging platform should you choose?
The most popular service used by bloggers today to manage and publish their content is WordPress, either self-hosted or hosted via wordpress.com on a free or paid plan.
However, this does not mean that it is automatically the best choice for your blog. You need to take into consideration a number of factors when making your decision, such as how much money you are willing to spend, how important it is that you have total control over your content, whether you can tolerate advertisements on your blog and to what extent you wish to customise the look and feel of your blog. You might also consider whether you want to use a service that promotes the idea of a blogging community.
For example, if you like the idea of connecting to others with similar interests, Tumblr may be a good choice, as it is considered a social network as well as a blogging platform. The degree of technical support you require is another factor to take into account. Some services are better known for their knowledge base and customer service than others.
For example, WordPress has a large community of users and developers who are happy to answer questions from those new to blogging and managing websites in general. If you wish to retain complete control over your blog, take the self-hosting route
As a general rule, the more serious you are about blogging and the greater your intention to make money from your blog, the more thought you should give to the option of self-hosting your blog, rather than signing up with one of the services detailed above. The instructions below give you advice on how to do this. These instructions make reference to WordPress software, as it is the most commonly used blogging software for self-hosting bloggers and many web hosts offer one-click install, which makes setting it up relatively simple.
Setting up a self-hosted WordPress blog
Whichever hosting provider you choose, it is a good idea to pick a deal that includes specialist WordPress hosting. This may mean that you pay a little extra than you would for the most basic of hosting plans, but this option makes it much easier to set up your WordPress blog.
Each of the providers above allows you to install the software you will need to build your blog in just a few clicks, by following their on-screen instructions. Once you have chosen a provider, fill in the joining form as it appears on screen. You will be asked to indicate that you agree with various terms of use and the provider's privacy policy. If there is anything you do not understand, each provider has a dedicated customer support service (usually via email) to help answer your queries.
Once you have signed up for a hosting account, you will be able to download the WordPress software and install it to your blog. Once you have done this - and the entire process of signing up to a hosting provider, installing WordPress and writing your first blog need only take one to two hours of your time - then your blog will soon go “live”.
FACT
Over a quarter of all sites on the internet today are built with WordPress software.
Source: Wordpress.com
2.6 How to choose a suitable domain name for your blog
When you sign up to a hosting service, you will typically be asked whether you wish to buy one or more domain names for your website.
At this point, you will need to decide on an appropriate domain name for your blog. Here are a few factors to bear in mind:
The domain extension
You may be surprised at the range of extensions now available to those looking to buy a domain name. Along with .com, .co.uk and .net, there are now a multitude of more exotic extensions, such as .xyz, .photography and .pizza. Whilst these may look fun, a .com or .co.uk extension is more memorable and looks more professional. Unless you are certain that your blog will just be used as a creative outlet or as a hobby, choose a .com or .co.uk domain.
Length
Try to choose a relatively short domain name. This will make your blog's address more memorable and make it less likely that people will misspell the URL.
Memorability
Do not use hyphens, made up words or any other characters that make your domain name difficult to remember. Keep it concise. Acronyms, nicknames, jargon and foreign words are also best avoided.
Relevance
Your domain name should be relevant to the content of your blog. This will help potential readers remember your blog's name and it will also help to attract readers who first see your blog when they run a search for a related topic on Google. You should also think ahead if possible and consider whether your choice of domain name allows you to expand the number of topics you write about.
For example, if you are setting up a blog about motorcycles, you may consider naming it harleyblog.com. However, if you later wanted to write about a different make of motorcycle, this would result in an awkward mismatch between your blog content and domain name.
Motorcycleblog.co.uk would be a better choice, in this case.
Do not be surprised if your first, second or even third choice of domain name is unavailable. With the sheer number of websites created every day, you may have to apply some creativity in coming up with alternative domain names. When you sign up for web hosting and attempt to register a domain, most hosting providers will provide you with alternative suggestions if your initial choice is already in use.
Activity: Choosing A Domain Name
Time: 10-20 Minutes
Brainstorm at least five domain name ideas, using the guidelines above and then check to see whether any of them are available.
2.7 Where to get extra help in setting up your blog
For those new to blogging, especially those who do not consider themselves to be particularly competent with the internet or computers, the process of launching a blog can be difficult.
Fortunately, there are a number of options available to you, if you need further detailed guidance:
If you are using a blogging platform, look for “help pages”
Each of the blogging websites listed in this module contain step by step guidance on how to set up a blog. For example, if you have decided to use Squarespace.com, you can click the link titled “Help & Support” at the bottom of the webpage. If you have signed up for a paid plan, individual support via live chat or email will come as part of the package. Don't be afraid to take advantage of this service - these companies will be well used to answering questions from beginners.
Look for step by step tutorials on YouTube
Go to the YouTube homepage (youtube.com) and search “blogging platform/service name” + “tutorial”. This will bring up a list of videos that other users have put together, with the intention of helping those new to these sites. Try to use tutorials that have been posted within the past few weeks or months, as these are likely to be up to date. You can also locate tutorials by typing the same search terms into Google. If you are self-hosting your blog, search for tutorials using the terms “set up self-hosted WordPress blog” + “web hosting provider's name”. This will yield several video walk-throughs, which show you how to start a WordPress based website that works with your hosting provider.
If you are working with WordPress, invest in a good book that covers the technical side of running a blog
There are a number of good books available that take you through all the basic and more advanced functions of WordPress.
For example, WordPress For Dummies and WordPress Web Design For Dummies are two well respected texts, which will help you get the most from the software.
Consider hiring a freelance professional, if the process feels overwhelming
If you find the process of setting up a blog to be frustrating and you feel as though you are not making any progress, consider hiring someone to work with you. Look in your local Yellow Pages for a website designer. Call them and explain that you would like to set up a blog, but are not sure how or where to begin. You can also hire a freelancer via popular work for hire platforms, such as Upwork (upwork.com), Freelancer (freelancer.com) and People Per Hour (peopleperhour.com).
Whether you work with a designer or another freelancer, it is a good idea to get several quotes before deciding who will get the job, because prices can vary widely. If possible, ask a friend or relative who is more confident with the internet in general to oversee the process, in order to make sure that the person you are hiring does not take advantage of you.
Ask a more knowledgeable friend or relative for help
If you know someone who already has a blog or a website, ask them whether they would mind showing you how to set up a blog of your own. They may be pleased to pass on their experience to you. It is easier to learn via “showing” rather than “telling”, so consider asking them whether you could watch them add a new post to their blog and ask them to change various aspects, such as the colour scheme or background image, so that you can see how their blogging platform of choice works.
Module Summary
Once you have decided to begin blogging, your next task is to choose an appropriate blogging platform. There are a number of popular options, which are aimed at various audiences and come with their own strengths and weaknesses. At the start of your blogging journey, you will need to decide whether you will use a hosting service (e.g. Tumblr, Blogger or Wordpress.com) to host your blog, or whether you will sign up for web hosting with a provider, purchase your own domain name and then build your blog using blogging software. Your choice will depend on your technical ability, your budget and the features you want and need for your blog.
When you choose a name for your blog, remember that the domain you use ought to be memorable, relevant and allow for a time in the future in which you might want to expand the scope of your writing. Most blogging services come with help centres and customer service, but there are also a range of tutorials and books you can use to assist you in setting up your blog. You could also ask a more knowledgeable friend or relative to help you, or consider hiring a freelance professional to get your site up and running.
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