A beginners Guide to Blogging!

What is Blogging?

A blog is a online personal journal or diary. A place where you can express yourself to the world through sharing your thoughts and passions. It is a space for individuals to write whatever they choose, with the option for readers to comment on what they have read.

(Blog Basic, 2014) &  (Eastment, 2005)

Chaffey & Chadwick (2012) claim that blogs are an easy way to frequently publish web pages as online journals or diaries, providing commentary or news on a particular subject. A typical blogs combines text, images and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic.

In December 2010 reports showed that teen blogging was down and, to a lesser degree, blogging among those aged 18-33 has dropped as well. Simultaneously, blogging among older adults increased from 2008 to 2010. The decline in teen blogging can be linked to the growing popularity of social network sites and alternative tools for engaging in 'blog-like' substitute activities.

(Mancuso & Stuth, 2011)

Advantages and Disadvantages of Blogging

LinkedIn (2014) justify that one of the advantages of blogging, is that it is made of only a few templates. Unlike other websites, it is easy to create a blog page as it already has the fixed settings needed to create a title, body and insert images.

For first time bloggers, this is extremely useful as they can choose from a number of templates that blogging sites provide. Blogging isn't just for personal use, for example talking about sports, politics or shopping; users are even using their blogs as a means to advertise. A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, with millions of people logging onto the internet every day.

Along with advantages however, there are disadvantages to take into consideration. Most people don't have much to say that's interesting or are unable to blog their ideas in a compelling manner. It could be seen as those who have time to blog have the least to say, whereas those whose opinions are valued, don't have the time to blog it. Blogs are an easy thing to start up but a hard thing to maintain, writing coherently is difficult and time-consuming.

(Webpro News, 2004)

Beginners Guide to Blogging

Writing.ie (2014) has a step by step guide on how to blog. You need to decide what you are going to write about, therefore research other blogs and then identify your target audience. You need to think about how often you are going to blog and whether you will incorporate pictures, videos or podcasts. You need a unique selling point and find what makes your blog different from the rest.

 (Blogger logo)

To set up your blog you need an email address and then register with a major blogging site E.g. Blogger.com. These sites will give you an easy guide on how to create your blog. When deciding on the layout for your blog, it is important to get it right as you should keep it consistent. Your blog needs to stand out from the rest. Use contrasting text and background colour, with a font that is clear and easy to read. Make sure you introduce yourself and allow your readers to be able to contact you E.g. Private inbox or an area to comment on your blogs. You need to find a way to promote your blog, this can be done through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, simply by posting the link to your blog.

Tumblr

(Tumblr logo)

Tumblr is a relatively new blogging site founded in 2007 by David Karp. With 189.1 million blogs, and  83.1 billion posts it is a popular site to blog on. (Tumblr, 2014)

Techland (2013) describes Tumblr as a microblog. It allows you to effortlessly share anything from text, photos, quotes links and videos. There is a social networking aspect to Tumblr which allows those who are interested in what you post follow your blog.

Below is an example of a tumblr account. This belongs to Kylie Jenner. As a celebrity Kylie Jenner has many followers. This is an example of an individual expressing themselves through images. The blog can be found at http://kalifornia-klasss.tumblr.com/.

(Kylie Jenner Tumblr account - http://kalifornia-klasss.tumblr.com/)

Having personally read many fashion blogs, I continually look at them to get ideas. They influence my decision and style weekly. With a wide variety of blogs to read however,  I do not look at the same ones repeatedly, therefore competition is high. It is important to make your blog stand out from the rest, making sure the content is interesting and compelling.

References

Blog Basics (2014) 'What is a blog?' [Online] <http://blogbasics.com/what-is-a-blog/> [Accessed 28th May 2014]

Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2012) ‘Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practise’ 5^th Edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Eastment, D. (2005) 'Blogging' [Online] Vol. 59 Issue 4, <http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/content/59/4/358>

LinkedIn (2014) 'Beginners guide to blogging' [Online] <https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140403203823-78055448-beginners-guide-to-blogging?trk=vsrp_influencer_content_res_name&trkInfo=VSRPsearchId%3A1679540431401829266425%2CVSRPtargetId%3A5857585348720619520%2CVSRPcmpt%3Aprimary> [Accessed 28th May 2014]

Mancuso, J. & Stuth, K. (2011) 'Is blogging really dead and do we even care?' [Online] Vol. 23 Issue 1, <http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.brighton.ac.uk/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e3a10a23-d190-4667-9786-c1ca35202e74%40sessionmgr4001&vid=5&hid=4214>

Techland (2013) 'What is Tumblr?' [Online] <http://techland.time.com/2013/05/19/what-is-tumblr/> [Accessed 28th May 2014]

Tumblr (2014) 'About' [Online] < http://www.tumblr.com/about> [Accessed 28th May 2014]

Webpro News (2004) 'Blogs and Blogging: Advantages and Disadvantages' [Online] <> [Accessed 28th May 2014]

Writing.ie (2014) 'A Beginners Guide to Blogging - Setting up your blog' [Online] <http://www.writing.ie/resources/a-beginners-guide-to-blogging-setting-up-your-blog/> [Accessed 28th May 2014]