A brief history about Blogging
The first blog
The first blog, Links.net made by Justin Hall, went online in 1994. He was then a US college student and wished to start his own blog. Of course, back then, the word ‘blog’ was non-existent. Justin merely called it his ‘personal homepage’.
The craze for blogging earnestly began in 2004 when people found out they could start their own blogs and make their thoughts known to the world. Such a thought was exciting. For bloggers, it meant that their opinions had value enough to be featured on the World Wide Web, where it could be seen by millions.
It also meant that each blog, if properly kept, could serve as a ‘Time Capsule’ for generations to come. For instance, it has been almost 2 decades since Link.net first went up. In 2016, we can see it still!
How to start your own blog
As you can see, anyone can start their blog and make their mark. However, if you wish to do so for monetary gains, then it is quite another ball game. While there are some blogs which make millions a year, others don’t earn a penny. In this article, you’ll see how to start a blog and how to optimize its creation.
- Start with an idea People think that in order to make their blogs earn money, they need revolutionary ideas. This is wrong. You don’t need anything as big as that. One of the reasons some bloggers are so successful is that they write with passion backed by a treasure-trove of knowledge.Your experiences and opinions are unique, which negates the danger of your voice getting drowned in the online crowd. Before coming up with an idea, however, there are two things to remember.Firstly, is your topic of interest to you? Secondly, is your topic interesting to others? If you give value to others, others shall give value to you in the form of monetary gains ultimately.
- Name your blogYou can name your blog anything. Here is a step where you can get as creative as you want. In fact, if the name is not generic, it will be noticed and remembered easily. However, try not to over-think this step. They key is to start blogging and ride on the momentum.
- Register for WebhostingWhat you need first is a domain name. This is easy and does not cost much. Domain name registration fees ranges from $3 to beyond.
- Get a Domain nameNext, you need Web Hosting, which enables others to see your blog. Here there options are many. You can get a hosting service from $3 to $1000.
- Install WordPress
Next, you need to install WordPress. This is free and fantastic blogging software, unless you want to go with all the paid options. WordPress is very easy, even for someone who has not blogged before. The interface is user-friendly. There are numerous Themes to choose from to embellish your blog.