By Lisa-Anne Sanderson
The beauty of blogging is that a blog can be anything that you want it to be. Basically a blog is an updated web log with its entries categorized by the date of each post, but its content can be almost anything.Blogs do not consist entirely of online diaries. These websites include posts on news, online commentaries and book and movie reviews. There are even blogs that consist entirely of photos and comments on them, such as the gorgeous savvylife.blogspot.com. Increasingly, blogs are being used to promote businesses and to market products. It is also possible to make money by writing a blog - probably the easiest way to do this is by using Google Adsense, which places advertisements on your blog - but some lucky people are actually paid to blog.
Blogs are very easy to create and update. The first consideration is choosing which software to use. Some blogging sites are free while others charge a monthly or yearly fee.
Free Blogging Hosts
These may be the best choice for beginners because they usually require few technical skills and enable a blog to be created quickly. These include blogger.com, Livejournal, and Xanga.
Blogger.com is probably the easiest host to use. All it requires is registration, and following the simple instructions in each step. Posting is extremely easy on the self-explanatory set up and there is an excellent Help section.
Blogger.com also allows users to store their blogs on their own web host. Unfortunately some features included on other free web hosts, such as creating RSS feeds which enable viewers to subscribe and be told of updates, and posting via e-mail, are not available.
Livejournal is more community-oriented than Blogger.com and it advertises itself as an "interactive community." The free version doesn't include nearly as many features, but an unusual one is that it provides users with lots of mood themes and icons to choose from, and they can also tell viewers what music they're listening to. There are lots of discussions and forums here.
Xanga.com is also community-oriented and has many features, such as a guest book, subscription, comments, and personal member profiles.
Paid hosts include Typepad, Movable Type and Wordpress. These are a better option for those who are technologically proficient.
How to Get More Viewers
Setting up your blog to receive and show comments and responding to comments posted by viewers is always a good idea. This can get a discussion going about particular subjects that may keep viewers coming back. It's also a good idea to comment on blogs that you read and include a link to your blog.
Including links on the subject of your blog and other websites that you like and offering to exchange links with owners of other blogs is also a good tip.
There are also lots of other ways to attract viewers, such as a subscription service, finding out how to set up an RSS feed, a guestbook, an e-mail list, or sending out a newsletter related to your blog. The list is endless.
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