The REAL Basics about starting a blog.

[inf4m0us]

Hi fellas! I just registered to this forum because I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now and I think I'm finally going to take the plunge.


I just registered a domain with GoDaddy but a bit perplexed about what to do now lol. I know that I plan to use Wordpress to make my blog, which brings me to me next question, are there any hosting services that you would recommend? Or do I have to use GoDaddy as a host? I have intermediate experience with web development because I know how to use dreamweaver and photoshop fairly well but how to I get from one step to the other? How do I get from registering a domain name to actually being able to put content on the internet?

A few questions that have just popped into my head.

How do people find out about the atricle they write about?

Can you use other sites' images? (I know you can't in most instances, but really, does every site out there actually take their own pictures?)

As for articles, they obviously come from somewhere, therefore there are duplicate stories floating around the web correct? Is it still fair game to write about an article that you found on CNN or something?

How can I monitor traffic?




Sorry for the bombardment of questions. Any comments are appreciated, thanks!

[cjharley]

Welcome to the forums infamous. You can use Google Analytics to monitor traffic. It's free and fairly simple to use.

I'm going to let the other bloggers out here answer your other questions as I am not as savvy as some.

Glad to have you here and look forward to seeing your blog!

[Nathan]

Basically you need to get the Wordpress code and upload it to your domain. Once its installed there you won't need Dreamweaver to add content, you simply post just like you would with any other blog software. The part running on the server automatically builds all your webpage content for you.

How do people find out about the atricle they write about?

Do you mean how do you do research to write an article for your blog?

Can you use other sites' images? (I know you can't in most instances, but really, does every site out there actually take their own pictures?)

I take some of my own pictures, but not all. I simply look for free pictures, such as Wikimedia or other non copyright content.

As for articles, they obviously come from somewhere, therefore there are duplicate stories floating around the web correct? Is it still fair game to write about an article that you found on CNN or something?

You can always write about something that you find anywhere, but its not a good idea to copy stuff from article sites and post it on your own blog. Not only can that be copyright infringement, but it also causes the "multiple articles floating around" issue. Its generally better to write your own original articles.

How can I monitor traffic?

I would suggest that you monitor your traffic with two services

Google Analytics - For seeing long term trends and keeping track of statistics etc.
Site Meter - Counter and Statistics Tracker - For seeing traffic in real time and displaying a visitor counter on your blog.

Hopefully this answers your questions to some extent.

[inf4m0us]

Thanks for the informative replies fellas. What I meant when I said

'How do people find out about the atricle they write about?'

I was referring to, for example, a blog article that said how a bird flew for over 7000miles non stop, this gave new information about how birds' metabolisms worked because 7000miles with no rest at all is really incredible. That article, did they just surf the internet and science news sites and just find that article? Seems a bit minute to actually make headlines unless that person spent a while digging on a media site.

But yes, I understand how you can write about something someone already wrote about but of course, copy and pasting is just tasteless. But if one wants to write about a news story it's obviously going to have to come from somewhere else.


Thanks for the replies so far, what about where I can host a website, I have the domain down, now I need a place to store it!

[sadiessay-so]

I use GoDaddy for everything - domain, hosting, and my blog platform. I love it. If you can afford it, I recommend it.

I also am familiar with Photoshop and Dreamweaver. If you need any questions answered, please feel free to PM me. I built my entire website in Dreamweaver. Since I use GoDaddy, I can probably answer your questions about hosting. Send me a PM anytime and I'll be glad to help.

[Randy Cornhole]

I take all my own pictures. Its generally what gives me the subject matter on what to write about...

[blog9697]

This is very useful for the beginner like me. Thank you all.
Blog 9697

[inf4m0us]

I see. My main reason for asking the pictures question was because lets say I wanted to talk about a game but didn't actually own it, I would just use an image I found on google or something.

But Sadie, I will be getting to you about starting up!

[Educator]

As far as pictures, we take our own .... for one reason we write mainly about our own home renovation and home energy conservation experiences so pictures help tell the story about what we are doing.

As far as what to write about, again the focus on our blog is about our own experiences. However, I will say that once we got our site on a roll as I was doing these various home reno / repair / conservation activities my mind would gravitate over to "I could write about this from this perspective ...", or "this would be a good short series topic".

I do from time to time write about non-profit energy conservation sites I come across. I think simply placing a link a our blog roll doesn't really do much these days, so to make folks aware of a neat site I found I write about it (but I always ask permission of the site owner first.....it might sound wierd but I have had one or two who replied that they do not want us to write about them).

I hope that helps,

[Nathan]

But yes, I understand how you can write about something someone already wrote about but of course, copy and pasting is just tasteless. But if one wants to write about a news story it's obviously going to have to come from somewhere else.

I would say as a rule of thumb, if you find it on the internet via a media site then its already all over the internet. Better to stick with news from a printed source, or perhaps directly from other popular news sites, as the post comes out. Its a race to get your post put up before you are already bumped to the bottom by other bloggers who want "the scoop."

That's why I don't do news.