Blogging
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Ok, so you are interested in blogging. Unfortunately I am not too experienced in the blogging field. However I can answer a few simple questions to help you out.
What can I blog about?
The topics can vary from anything to everything. Many people blog about their daily activities and day to day life, though I imagine this would only encourage traffic if you had an interesting life 
At this point in time, people using their blog as an online diary account for roughly 30% of the blogs out there. Coming in second is entertainment (tv/movies) with only a small 5%. Third is sports and politics with around 4%.
This should give you a small idea of what all the blogs out there are currently doing.
Many other people write reviews on their blogs. Another good topic would be something you are quite knowledgeable about, perhaps a hobby.
How do I get started?
The very easiest way is to go to a site like blogger.com or wordpress.com and register an account there. That type of site will cover your hosting, and will set up the entire thing for you for free. The interaction with this type of setup is pretty minimal on your part – you will be up and running in no time. If you want a hassle free setup, go for this.
The other way is to set up your own website, and install a custom content publication software suite. Wordpress do a brilliant free one. Bear in mind though you do need a fair amount of technical knowledge to get it up and running though.
Ok, so i’ve written several articles, and would like to start making money off my site. How can I do this?
You need to apply for a type of online advertising, something like google adsense at this point. With adsense for example, they will look at your site, and determine if it is good enough for their advertisements to be displayed. So with this in mind, you need content that is unique, and more importantly it must not be copied off someone elses site, as this will decrease your chances of being accepted dramatically.
What is the best way to keep the traffic coming to my site?
Create backlinks to your site, these are links on other websites that point to your blog.
Imagine you are the reader on your blog, what would you think, and what would you want from the site? Put yourself in the readers shoes, and add other relevant content they may be interested in.
Promote your site however and wherever you can. Look at other blogsites with similiar topics to yours. What do they offer that you don’t?
be friendly, try to encourage replies in the comments as this will encourage people to return to your site again and again. Build a steady userbase, and keep them entertained.
And most importantly add fresh content whenever you can. The more content you have, the more likely your site will be found.