How to Create a Blog With WordPress Or Blogger

Lisa from 2CreateAWebsite.com has this to say about starting a blog or website.
Either one works so why not start both.
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Blogs (short for web logs) are not only free and easy to create, but they can help you generate traffic to your existing website.

If you haven't learned by now, the key to building free search engine traffic is to get as many related, high-quality sites to point back to yours. Search engines like Google take this into great consideration when ranking your website.

You can create your own blog that acts as a "related website" to point to your own, and in the long run your blog may attract its own traffic.

Or you can build a stand-alone blog and use that as your main website. The choice is up to you and really depends on your long-term goals.

Blogs can be somewhat limiting comapared to a website, but if you use WordPress, you'll have the flexibility to do so much with your blog's content and layout.

And of course you can always create both a blog AND a website and get the best of both worlds.
Blog or Website? Can't Decide?

My Blog Example

I used to have a blog at Blogger.com, but moved to WordPress (see my WordPress blog here).

And instead of hosting my blog on a 3rd party server (like I did with Blogger), it now sits on my own domain at blog.2createawebsite.com.

Blogger and WordPress are free, but WordPress is much more robust and has a ton of plugins to enhance and help promote your blog.

And even though you don't have to install WordPress on your own domain (you can host it on their servers), I would highly recommend you host it yourself.

There's nothing like the peace of mind and professionalism of hosting your blog (blog.yoursite.com instead of blog.thirdpartysite.com)

Setting up WordPress on your own domain is a snap. All you need is a Web host that offers cPanel/Fantastico and you can install WordPress in 2 seconds.

I use HostGator. Not only are their prices amazingly low, but you can host an unlimited amount of domains under one account.

Installing WordPress was as simple as logging into my control panel, and selecting to install the WordPress script. Within seconds my blog was ready to use.

Now of course I spent a great deal of time customizing it (colors, header, etc.). After all, who wants the out-of-the-box blog that looks like everyone else's. ;) But it was refreshing to discover how simple it was to setup.

Blogger is Still a Good Option, But...

In order to host a blog on your domain like I did with blog.2createawebsite.com, you need to own
your own domain and have a Web host. So if paying for those items is not in your budget right now then Blogger may be a good choice for you.

However, be sure you think long term. If you know this blog is something you plan to expand over time or use for a business purposes, you may want to consider WordPress.

It looks much more professional to have your blog address at yourdomain.blog.com than yoursite.blogger.com. Plus, you'll have the freedom to do so much more with a self-hosted WordPress blog.

People Can Subscribe to Your Blog
Another benefit of creating a blog is that people can actually subscribe to it. You may have heard of RSS feeds (RSS stands for really simple syndication).

It's a growing Internet functionality where people can receive updates/feeds from their favorite sites all at once by using an aggregator or feed reader.

Feed readers are all over the place. You can get them at Google, Yahoo and even Firefox has a built-in aggregator tied in with the Bookmarks feature.

So every time you make a new post to your blog, everyone who has subscribed to your feed will see your new content when they open or login to their reader.

Both Blogger and WordPress automatically create your feed URL so you can begin advertising it to your audience and all over the Web.

Then you can use a free tracking system like feedburner.com to promote and track the success of your blog feed.

Add Adsense Ads
Once your blog starts bringing in traffic, you'll want to maximize the revenue potential by adding Adsense ads. If you aren't familiar with Google's Adsense program, go here to learn about it.
WordPress has a variety of different plug-ins to make adding the ads to your blog easy as pie. Blogger makes it simple too.

In Conclusion...
Whether you plan to create a stand-alone blog or use it to compliment your existing Web site, they can be a great asset to your online business.

Some of the keys to success include...
Blog with a purpose
Just like a website, a blog should have a focus and target audience. Don't just blog to sell products. Give your audience useful information that will entice them to subscribe. Blogs with too many sales pitches are a turn-off.

Keep it relevant
Remember, people want to know what's in it for them, so your blog's info should be relevant to your audience's needs and desires. Be careful of going off topic.

Blog often when you have good info to share
More is not better when you are putting out junk or recycled material. One of the top reasons people unsubscribe to blogs is lack of originality or the "heard it all before" syndrome.

Add personality
Display a photo. Crack a joke once and while. Let your audience know there's a human behind the words. Don't take yourself too seriously. Have fun and develop your unique blog voice.

Read More About Blogging
Wanna read more about starting a blog and chat with other new or soon-to-be bloggers?
Head on over to WebsiteBabble.com.