WordPress Blogging For Beginners
Why You Should Use WordPress As Your Choice Blogging Platform
There is no doubt that the blogging has changed the internet as we know it today. The days of boring, stale, static content websites are over. Bloggers have become a source of fresh and interesting content for internet users across the world.
The Internet is constantly evolving and changing thanks to this seemingly unending stream of interesting information published by regular people like you.
This article will offer some useful information for bloggers who are considering starting a WordPress website, tips on starting a blog and information about the support offered by WordPress.
Based on this information as well as their own research bloggers can decide whether WordPress is right for them or whether they should seek out a different blog network.
There are many options available to bloggers and other blogging programs may be better known and offer slightly different features but many bloggers are quite pleased with WordPress.
You can start blogging and get your word out there today with a great open source blogging platform known as WordPress.
Install this software on your website and you can have a blog up and running in no time.
Never heard of WordPress?
Well these top companies and publications have:
- The New York Times
- Yahoo’s Corporate Blog
- CNN’s Political Ticker
- Sony Playstation Blog
- Southwest Airlines
The list goes on and on…
You’re probably thinking: if all these huge companies use this software called WordPress, it’s probably too complicated for a beginning blogger like me.
That is just absolutely wrong. WordPress is very simple to use and anyone can start blogging with it.
The reason why such large companies and small-time bloggers alike use WordPress is the simplicity, flexibility, and easy of use.
Let’s not forget that the WordPress content management system software is absolutely free and open source.
Reasons To Choose WordPress
There are many great reasons to choose WordPress to start a blog. Some of these reasons include a great variety of templates, the ability to categorize and tag posts easily, features such as spell check, previews and autosave, the ability to post text, audio files and video files, a variety of privacy options and the ability to track statistical data related to the blog in addition to other great features.
Some of these features may be more important to some bloggers than others so deciding whether or not WordPress is right for you will largely be a matter of personal preference.
For example bloggers with little or no programming experience may enjoy the myriad of templates available on WordPress while bloggers who are concerned about privacy issues may be more interested in the privacy options available through WordPress.
Carefully investigating these features will help bloggers determine if they should start a blog with WordPress.
Starting a Free Blog with WordPress
Bloggers who choose to start a website with WordPress will certainly not be disappointed by the amount of time it takes to start a blogging, literally within minutes.
The only requirements for starting a free blog are a valid email address and a username. The blogger enters this information into the signup page and receives a password almost instantly. Next the blogger simply has to check his email, follow the activation link provided and use the password provided and the process is complete. The blogger can start blogging immediately.
Support Offered by WordPress
For many first time bloggers the type of support offered is very important. This is because first time bloggers may have quite a few questions about the process of starting a basic blog and once they establish a basic blog they may have additional questions about using advanced features and customizing the blog. WordPress offers a great deal of support for bloggers of all skill levels.
The support offered by WordPress includes the ability to contact the support staff as well as the ability to receive support from other members through online forums. Although the support staff is incredibly responsive some bloggers enjoy the ability to communicate with other bloggers in forums. This is because the forums are active 24 hours a day and bloggers can find support from peers at any time.
However there are some important implications for the serious business owner and webmaster to consider before investing your time creating a Free WordPress website/blog.
Reasons Why You Do NOT Want to Go the FREE Way
Some people simply register a WordPress blog on WordPress.com but the problem with that is that you’re then at the mercy of other people.
You don’t want to wake up one day and see that your hard work has been deleted by an overzealous moderator of some sort.
So host your WordPress blog on your own domain where you have total control.
How To Install A WordPress Website
In order to start your new blog, you’ll need to first have a domain name and a hosting account.
There are two very different ways you can install WordPress. One requires a lot more technical effort on your part, but is more secure. The other is quick and easy, but some say has vulnerabilities attached to it.
Fantastico and Softaculous are an automated WordPress installation feature usually included in your hosting account if you have cpanel. HostGator is one such company that offers it. It will install the blog for you once you enter a few details to register it.
But while it’s an easy install option, some people warn of its ability to be hacked by unethical spammers. Still, for newbies it’s a wonderful way to get started so we’ll cover that first. (Hint: here’s where we can help big time making sure your site is secure).
Intalling WordPress Automatically
- Log into your cpanel and click on Fantastico De Luxe under the Software and Services section – it will look like a smiley face icon. Under Blogs, click the WordPress option and choose “New Installation.”
- Choose the domain you wish to install WordPress on from the drop down menu and if it asks you for the directory, leave it blank if you wish it to be on the root of the domain or put “blog” without quotes if you want it located at domain.com/blog.
- Grant yourself admin access with a username and password and Click Install WordPress and Finish Installation. Make sure you bookmark the login page so that you’ll know where to go whenever you want to manage or post to your blog!
Intalling WordPress Manually
The install steps for WordPress are a bit trickier.
- go to WordPress.org and download the software yourself.
- Unzip the file and follow the install instructions on their site verbatim.
- You’ll be renaming files, integrating it into your domain, and running the install scripts.
- It’s best if you have an FTP client available for this so that the process goes smoother for you.
In Closing
Let me recap some of the benefits of using WordPress as your blogging platform of choice:
- An easy to use blogging platform. Write in a WYSIWYG editor, save drafts, and publish when you’re ready.
- A huge community full of support, free templates, plugins, and additional addons and modifications for your blog
- A dynamic theming system, change the look of your entire blog with one click.
- Generate “SEO-friendly” permalinks with the click of a button.
- Built-in RSS feed functionality.
- Categorize and tag your blog posts.
- Create static pages.
- Integrated search box.
- Automatic pinging to the top blog ping services.
The possibilities are literally endless…
With the thousands upon thousands of sites running WordPress, it’s popularity is undeniable. Take advantage of the variety of free tools and resources associated with this popular open source blogging software. Happy blogging!
