What’s a blog?

blog platforms (content management systems), but the end result is to create
and design a web page.  

A couple of the most common CMS are Drupal, Joombla, and WordPress.  
The decision on which type to use is determined by ease of use, security,
and a few other points that are becoming less and less an issue.
As developers continue to upgrade their platforms, the differences 
between the platforms are becoming less and less of an issue, as most
of the major platforms are more secure, have easier site building capabilities,
and have additional add-on software that makes these platforms perform
equally overall.

How do I get a blog?

You can get a blog for free if you do a search for “Free Blog”.  You will find
a number of alternatives from which to choose.  Wordpress, Blogger, Blog
and a number of other options will pop up.  Most of these sites you can
only customize to a point.  You do not have total control over the look and feel
of the blog.

If you want to have complete control over how you want your blog to look, then
you will want to get your own domain name and hosting.  Many hosting companies
also offer domain names for sale.  Just a heads up, do a little shopping here.
I am not going to go into finding hosting companies.

When you get your domain and hosting, you can usually easily set up a blog
using software provided by the hosting company, and there are usually several
CMS platforms from which to choose.  Or, you can actually set up the blog yourself,
or hire someone to set up the blog for you.  Some people feel that by setting things
up yourself your site is less vulnerable to hackers.    

        
Using the blog

Once you actually have your blog set up, there will be a page where you can
access everything on your site.  This page is called the “Dashboard” (usually).
From your dashboard you can add or delete pages.  You can add or delete posts.
You can add or change a Header graphic, or add things to a sidebar (if you have
chosen that design).  Yes, you can even choose the design, or template, that will
determine how your blog looks overall.

You can also choose to have a Header (a large image, banner type, across the top
of the page), or you can simply have text at the top of the page.  Websites will use
either or both of these for displaying logos, name, or an idea or concept.  It all 
depends upon what you are doing with your site, and how you want it to look.

Before you begin putting a lot of “Stuff” on your blog, or even get a domain name,
or name your subdomain (www.your name/host provider’s name.com – it will be one
or the other) you want to be sure that you have a good idea what you want to do
with your blog.  Do you want to sell something, say something, or provide something?
Each of these types of sites can require different strategies to get people to want 
to come to your web site.  


                                 


Options

In addition to all of the many controls that you have through your “Dashboard”,
you can accessorize your site with many software modules called “Plug-ins”.
These plug ins can help you keep your site more secure, increase your web
visibility and presence, and you can even get plug-ins that will set up an
entire store, or ecommerce platform for you.  

With self-hosting, you will have a very large selection of these plug-ins from
which to choose.  If you use a “Free” blogging platform such as WordPress.com,
or Blogger.com, then you arwill be limited to what they allow in their dashboard section.


Media

Blog applications are set up so that you can use various types of media to add
content, flavor, and interest to your posts and pages.

Most (if not all) blogging platforms give the user the ability to upload photos, clip 
art, animated gif’s, and video that can be added to any post or page.  This ability
adds yet another dimension of versatility to your web site.  

Who hasn’t heard of You Tube?  Well, by using the “Embed” code that is available
for all of the You Tube videos, you can simply cut and paste that code for whatever
video that you wish to display on your website into the page (or post) where you want
that video to appear.  Or, you can choose to upload your own video and show it.


Simplicity

Using a blog has become much simpler as improvements and upgrades have 
been added.  There still seems to be a lot of people who are afraid to jump into
the world of blogging because of fear of the unknown.  If you have been considering
setting up a blog for business or personal use, but are a little afraid of not being
able to use it, then you are in luck.  Simply click on the banner below and you can
get free information on blogging instantly downloaded.  Check it out below.