6 Things to Think About Before You Start Blogging

Posted by Tim Roenicke on August 08, 2010 in Blogging, Social Media

BloggingIt’s often quite easy to become excited about starting your online adventure! It really doesn’t matter if you’re blogging for business or pleasure there are some things you need to explore before hitting the “blog button”.

This is by no means a complete list or a fail-safe starter guide, but is meant to encourage and prepare you for things you may want to consider before you begin you’re claim to fame. The list is in no particular order but all are important to think about before you hit the web running. Have some idea’s I didn’t suggest be sure to drop them in the comments below!

  1. Branding – That’s right. Just because you may not be blogging for business doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be thinking long-term about establishing a brand. This not only makes you stand out and your blog more recognizable; it legitimizes you and your site to your readers. Take some time to think up: a color scheme, type of font to use, catch phrases, logo concepts, page layout, ect. You don’t need to come up with everything up front. Sometimes allowing your readers to help, literally, build the brand can be quite rewarding and will build a relationship between you and you’re readers. Don’t rely on them for everything though. Have a plan!
  2. Domain Name & Social Media Name Availability – This goes hand in hand with branding, but I wanted to devote a slot specifically for this. Domain names (www.example.com) can be very hard to come by. Although very inexpensive now a days, $10-$20 a year, if you’re looking for domains like www.myblog.com you’ll find you’ll be out of luck almost 99% of the time. So head over to a registrar like GoDaddy and start typing in ideas. Things you want to consider:
    • .com/.net/.info/.tv – I could do a whole blog post on what you should use and when you should use it. Rule of thumb? Try to get a .com. How many times have you gone to a website that was .net and accidentally, just out of habit, typed .com? It’s not unheard of, and you’re not alone. This is not to say that .net names don’t work, but you’ll traditionally find that .com names will stand out among other domain extensions. Just think outside the box a little bit and you’ll find you can come up with some pretty creative names.
    • Length of the name is something that is often overlooked. Look a trends like: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, ProBlogger, MySpace, WordPress, Yahoo, eTrade, eBay, Mashable, ect. I would try to stay under 14-16 characters. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a real word, look at Twitter for example, it just needs to be memorable. Also consider funny phrases like SpiltMilk or AlbinoBlacksheep. Don’t think you’re going to necessarily come up with a great name overnight.
    • Run the name by 2-3 close friends. I say close friends as you don’t want someone who’s going to run out and hijack you’re great name. Take their praise and criticism seriously, but keep in mind to many “chiefs” can prohibit productivity. Don’t linger to long on technicalities.
    • Once you find your domain name/blog name register it with ALL of the social network sites: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Flickr. This is important even if you don’t think you’ll use them. If you’re brand takes off, and you didn’t register those names, you’ll find that someone else will have poached on your idea. You’ll be battling, or compromising, for a spot in the social media name space. I can tell you from experience it’s not exciting.
  3. Layout/Theme – Again, this is something that many people get hung up on. Although your blog should look good, it shouldn’t be something you’re devoting huge chunks of time too. Take a look at it this way. Sometimes the most unsuspecting restaurants serve up some of the best tasting food. You’ll also come back just because the food was that good, and you’ll recommend it to your friends just because they’ll never believe it either. The same applies to your blog when you get started. Make sure it passes the “health inspection” but don’t worry about the velvet ropes and the fine china right off the bat.  Make sure its easy for readers to share the content they like, and interact with the site in some way. You can then work on the layout down the road as you get user feedback. For a quick start on WordPress themes you can get some great ideas, and even buy some quality themes very inexpensive, from WooThemes or ThemeForest
  4. Tracking – How do you know what’s popular? Did your “Top 10 ways to repel mosquitoes” rocket to the top of the charts? Did that navigation change you made yesterday really help your readers to find what they were looking for? All these questions are answered with a little help from Analytic software. The great news is there are some very powerful free ones out there. Google Analytics and Piwik are both great solutions. Google Analytics “GA” is a hosted solutions. You literally just drop a bit of code into your WordPress theme and away you go. Piwik is a great alternative for those who want to host their own and maintain their own data. It is an open source solution that lets you fully customize the software to fit your needs.
  5. Content – You didn’t think I forgot about the core foundation of a blog did you!? Give some good thought to what you are going to focus your blog around and decide what type of voice you’re going to take on. (Funny, serious, sarcastic, witty, professional, ect) Also, if you’re going to talk about multiple topics be sure to accurately categorize your articles using the category function built into your blog. This will help you’re readers find relative content and will make navigating your site easier. I will often write-up a post and let it sit for a few days while I write some other drafts. It gives me time to think thoroughly about the topic and allows me time to step away from the subject and possibly gain more insight when I come back at it the next day.
  6. Find a mentor – There are quite a few people who blog these days and you’ll probably flatter them if you ask them to help you out. After all who doesn’t love a good ego stroke every once in a while. Grabbing a blogging buddy can help keep you motivated and will help fill in the gaps that you’re not quite sure on. Find someone who will compliment the areas where you are the weakest. If you’re not savvy on HTML and CSS find someone with a little web site knowledge. Not the best at proof reading? Find someone who can help you scan through those 3 drafts you wrote last week. It’s only going to make you a better blogger.

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