Chapter 3
Setting Up Your Blog
So far we have looked at what blogging is and what it means to be a professional blogger, and you have investigated what you might want to write about. We are off to a good start. Before you actually start blogging, though, you will need to set up your blog!
This chapter looks at your choices when deciding which blog package to go with, what you need to think about when choosing a blog package, and what the most popular combinations of choices are.
After you have decided on the approach you think might suit you best, you need to actually go ahead and set up your blog so it both works and looks great.
With these goals in mind, this chapter goes step-by-step through setting up a hosted blog and a self-hosted blog.
Choosing the Right Blog for You
“Which blog platform should I use?”
“Should I use a free hosted blog or get my own domain?”
“What are the pros and cons of going with one vendor over another?”
“Could I start out on a free blogging service and upgrade later?”
These are just some of the typical questions that we get asked each day from beginner bloggers trying to decide which blogging platform or tool they should choose.
I’m not going to tell you which blog platform you should use because, as you will see, there are good reasons for choosing most of the available platforms, depending on the goals of your blog and your own technical resources.
Over the years, the choices available to bloggers have grown, while the technicalities involved in blogging ...
