How To Set Up A Blog

If you're wondering how to set up a blog then you have arrived at the right article! Luckily you have a couple options and it’s not as hard as you may think. It really boils down to whether or not you want to use a free shared domain blog (like a blogger.com blog) or pay to host your blog on an outside web server. Both have their pros and cons so read on to learn more!

How To Set Up a Blog -- Option 1) Use a shared domain blog

A shared domain blog is a place you can blog for free and don’t have to pay any hosting fees each month. You can set these up at Blogger.com, Wordpress.com, or at one of the many other hosted blog sites. If you decide on this option you'll be setting up what is known as a "shared domain blog" because you'll share .blogspot or .wordpress at the end of your domain name like the rest of the blogs using Blogger or Wordpress (ex: example.blogspot.com or example.wordpress.com). Creating a blog using a hosted blog is extremely easy and costs you nothing. You can actually have a blog up and running within a couple minutes if you decide to create a blog with blogger.com or wordpress.com!

However, if you want to use your blog to make some decent money online don't use this option because you have many restrictions on how the blog looks, how you can use ads on the site, and what types of features you can use with the blog. On the other hand, if you are just looking to start a personal blog and are not looking to make much money off of it, this is a great option.

*note—one great way to use Blogger.com or Wordpress.com is to create a short blog in the same niche as your main site…and link your Wordpress or Blogger blog to your main site. This helps build quality links to your main site because Google loves links from Blogger and Wordpress (*especially blogger because Google owns it).

 Blogger vs. Wordpress 

Now if you do decide to use a hosted blog and are debating which to use to set up your blog-- I'll tell you that both are pretty simple to make. In my opinion, blogger is a little more user friendly while Wordpress is a little nicer looking. Also, Blogger.com has easy ways to use Google AdSense Ads within your blog so you can earn some money but Wordpress is the best option if you want to customize your blog.

How To Set Up a Blog -- Option 2) Use a Web Host to Host Your Blog

If you decide to use this option you would host your blog’s content on a host’s web servers. To do this you would basically set up a hosting account with a host and you would need to pay a monthly fee to host your site with them.

…But why would you spend money to host your site when you can use a shared host for free? Actually, there are several reasons:

1. You have complete design flexibility.
2. You can use whatever monetization options you want (more monetization options=more ways to make money with your blog)!
3. You don’t have a .blogspot or .wordpress in your domain name
4. Your blog will appear much more professional-making your blog seem more credible.

If you are thinking about setting up a blog using this method you'll be happy to know it is pretty simple to do. In fact, if you sign up with a good host they’ll have a one click installations for all the popular blog platforms out there (like Wordpress).

*If the host you choose doesn't let you use a one click installation option for the blog platform you want, follow these steps:

1. Download a blogging platform from their respective websites (like Wordpress.org).
2. Sign up with a Host.
3. Upload the blog platform to the host you signed up with.
4. Begin blogging!

Wordpress vs. Other popular blogging platforms:

Another common question people ask when they are learning how to set up a blog is what blogging platform they should use.

...Well over the years I have tried out quite a few blog platforms and Content Management Systems (CMS) and in my opinion the best blog platform is Wordpress. It is very user friendly, it has a huge network of people using it and updating it, there are many websites and forums to help you if are having problems, and there are many ways to easily customize your blog. Also, Wordpress is venturing out and implementing more complex components that other blog platforms don't have. So, in case you want to beef up your blog to have features more like a website (like forums, shopping carts, or other advanced features) then Wordpress is the the blog platform you should use. Also, Wordpress is one of the easier blog platforms to set up.

...So have you set up a blog before? How did you do it? Any recommendations for others? Feel free to comment below. 

Also, If you want to learn about search engine marketing, SEO, and link building for your website or blog...check out this free report I wrote.