Where to start?

[LauraCee]

So I need to start blogging but I'm not really sure which host site to use. A friend suggested using 1&1 (http://website.1and1.co.uk) but does anyone have experience with them? Would you recommend them? Thanks for the help.

[Brian Altenhofel]

Stay away from 1&1.

[Wozcreative]

Stay away from 1&1.

I agree.

Try wordpress or tumblr if this is a new hobby. They have pre-existing templates that you can use and are free. I say "free" because most people don't end up blogging that much anyway. If you're really serious about it then have a custom blog theme designed for you and branded.

[billbenson]

Ya, 1 & 1 has a bad reputation both on pricing and service.

[Freelancier]

why do you "need to start blogging"?

[Harold Mansfield]

Stay away from 1&1.


I agree.

Try wordpress or tumblr if this is a new hobby. They have pre-existing templates that you can use and are free. I say "free" because most people don't end up blogging that much anyway. If you're really serious about it then have a custom blog theme designed for you and branded.


Ya, 1 & 1 has a bad reputation both on pricing and service.

I agree with all of this. Not to be discouraging, but most people get gung ho about blogging and race out of the gates thinking "This is going to be great! I shall blog EVERYDAY and people will come from all over the World Wide Web to read my cleaver witticisms, and drink of my knowledge!

Within weeks many give up once they start to understand how much work it is to write engaging content frequently, get frustrated with design issues, and start to understand how much there is to learn about marketing it, SEO, and Social Media.

I've started and quit many blogs over the years. The only subject matter that I've been able to keep going and want to blog for going on 5 years now is the music blog in my signature. This is my second incarnation of it. I mistakenly let the first one go because I got busy with other things. Starting all over again was a big pain as I had to reconnect with all of my old contacts, investigate new monetization options, not to mention the ongoing process of building traffic from absolute zero.

So unless you have a plan and are starting a blog as a business, I'd agree with starting slow and getting your feet wet utilizing a free blog site like WordPress.com, Tumblr ( which is more like microblogging), Blogger (which I don't really like that well), and see if you want to stick it out, learn and grow.

If so, then spend some money and build something nice that is self hosted.

If you are blogging to enhance an existing website with new content and information, then that's a different story and I'd probably suggest a different approach.

As for hosting recommendations, I recommend Bluehost. It's easy set up. WordPress One click install. It's cheap. It's been reliable for my clients, and they have 24/7 phone support. Phone support is huge for someone just starting out because you will have questions about everything.

[CallBettie]

I use wordpress and it's free and fairly easy to use.

[LauraCee]

Thanks for the replies guys. sounds like I need to do a lot more research than I thought!

[Blessed]

Thanks for the replies guys. sounds like I need to do a lot more research than I thought!

Don't feel bad! Most of us have figured out that more research is almost always in order!

[Wozcreative]

I'd be rich if I had a dollar for every person that comes tome with an idea and hadn't done their research ;)

[Harold Mansfield]

Thanks for the replies guys. sounds like I need to do a lot more research than I thought!

Took me 2 years to run a decent blog that actually made some money, and that people wanted to be mentioned in the first time around. It's kind of like like programming a TV or Radio station or any other medium where you are looking for what is basically ratings.

At first you start out with what you want to do, and then you have to figure out how to implement it in a way that attracts readers and/or makes money. All the while you're promoting the thing so that you can get enough traffic to even see if anyone is actually reading it and what adjustments need to be made.

Eventually what you end up with is light years away from what you started with, but in a good way. Better.

That is of course, if you're unknown and don't have 50k Twitter followers or another way to promote yourself and your blog to the masses.

That's not to say it will take you that long to figure it out and get a groove going. You may strike some luck right out of the box and get picked up by someone who promotes your articles, or hit a niche that people are attracted to right away.

When I was struggling back in the day I saw a bunch of "Mommy bloggers" seem to come from nowhere and rocket to instant success in a matter of months. But looking back, it was a marketing machine. They were on morning shows, writing books, doing recipes. It wasn't just happenstance. They had a marketing plan to tackle a niche and they did.

[irisyang]

FB & twitter

[MichaelBK]

Use wordpress, but get your domain name and hosting to have full control of the website. You can't make money on wordpress.com (they don't allow you to display ads). Analyze your market, follow influential people, comment on blogs in the same niche, guest post.

[Adel Landman Steyn]

Personally, I really like Wordpress.
Yes, I do agree with Wozcreative that eventually you need to make the decision to have a site designed and custom-branded for you.
But while you are still dabbling, this may not be worth the initial investment.
Personally, I always advocate that your first priority should be content, not appearance.
Some of my first articles were text walls of 2000 to 3000 words, with no images and people still read them and commented. I'm not talking thousands, but it got me started and it kept me going.
Then I started working on some various design elements, made some changes to my content, started to learn some more about the very basic html.
Saw what people like, what they don't like, what seems to be popular, things that seem to bring in more traffic, which search terms people use to find me and so forth and so forth...

I also ask the question: Why do you need to start blogging right now?
I am assuming, "Because X told me it is really good for SEO."
Which is true to a certain extent, but in order to receive any benefit from it, you need to dabble with posting schedules, learn to write great headlines and how to tag properly.
You also need to make some new blogging friends...

Blogging is something that takes a significant investment of time.
I personally vote to start to blog because it is a great new skill - and not expecting immediate results takes the pressure off and allows you to just play around a bit and learn.

[claritine]

I would also recommend WordPress :) Never failed to me

[SocioDNa41]

Wordpress is most used online blogging platform. It's easy to use because of plugins. You don't need coding skills.

[MosheC]

If you're just starting out, I would recommend you check out smart passive income. It is hosted by Pat Flynn and his site is dedicated to new bloggers or site owners. If you feel you need advice on business mindset you're welcome to visit my blog.