The Simple Guide to Setting Up a Blog

Blogging is a great way to make friends and share your life with them. And it doesn't just mean friends you already know; you can have online friends, too. In fact, a recent study done by researchers from the University of California reveals that the youth is developing important interpersonal tech skills by their involvement in the dynamic world of online communities. And this is true. And hey, a blog can be in any or all kinds of media. You can have a typed out blog for excellent writers and voracious readers, a video blog (vlog) for film and filming enthusiasts and for those who are more responsive to video clips, audio blogs for great vocal talents and, or a photo blog works for graphic artists and digital photographers and hobbyists. As a simple guide to setting up a blog and connecting with people worldwide via the internet, here are a few tips:

1. Select your host. There are plenty of dotcoms offering free space for bloggers. Practically all online communities and dating sites include a blogging service. MySpace, Facebook, Tagged, Friendster - they all allow you to blog. Other hosts are blog-specific services and are pretty flexible with respect to the media you choose for you blog. Blogger, Vox, WordPress, TypePad, and Live Journal all allow different types of content from pure text, graphics, audio, video, and photo blogs. YouTube is specifically for video sharing. Flickr, Photobucket are great for photo sharing. Browse through and select your blog host.

2. Draw up a list of your blogging ideas. A lot of people never go beyond one blog entry. That is such a waste. Blogging is meant for sharing and connecting with people. That means, you need to stay on it and post regularly and respond to comments. It would be a shame to have made the effort to set up a blog and abandon the project after a post. So, before you go ahead and open a blog account, be sure you've got more than one blogging idea.

3. Include online bookmarking tools in your blog. Digg, Stumble Upon, and Reddit are just some of the article or blog indexing service you can submit your blog entries to. These facilities help drive traffic to your blog and give you more exposure. Of course, if you only want to make your blog available to a closed group, then you can just email your URL to your friends.

4. Choose a simple, visitor-friendly design or template. Many bloggers choose flashy backgrounds or font and color combinations that are difficult to read. Remember there are visually-impaired people on the Internet. You don't want to dissuade them from reading you, so it's important to consider accessibility when you pick your design template.

5. Participate in forums and discussions. To gain readership or viewership, it's important for your followers to be able to connect with you. Read other blogs and share your thoughts. Aside from your posts, it's important for you to respond to comments and to comment on other bloggers' websites as well. Being responsive is actually half the fun.

It's quite an unconventional guide. But the simple guide to setting up a blog is to think about what you can share. After all, blogging is merely a vehicle for sharing and building friendships.