Setting Up

Question 1

When first starting out with blogging, what do you need to think about?

Answer 1

Your branding and how your site will look like

Question 2

What is the best way to decide how you want your blog to look like?

Answer 2

Do your research!!
Study other blogs and make note of what appeals to you and what doesn’t and what you might want to re-create with your own blog

Question 3

What is a blogging platform?

Answer 3

A platform is the software or service you use to publish your content on the internet; the system you use to run your blog.
There are lots of platforms availability and the type of platform you choose can depend on your skill level

Question 4

List some popular blogging platforms

Answer 4

Blogger

Wordpress.com

Tumbler

Question 5

Describe some pros & cons of the “blogger” platform

Answer 5

Pros:
free service
popular for new beginners
easy to use
to create a blog is simply a matter of creating username & password and clicking “create new blog”
your url will look like “your blog name” plus blogspot.com
Cons:
Changes you can make to your blog are very limited
DOES NOT LOOK PROFESSIONAL- in fact brands will stay away from you and will not take you seriously if your blog ends in blogspot.com

Question 6

Describe some pros & cons of the “Wordpress” platform

Answer 6

*note- there are two different types- .com version (similar to blogger) does most of the work for you and a .org version.

Pros: 
free
easy to use
lots of tutorials on YouTube
more freedom with design (can really customise features of your blog  using code or HTML)
Cons:
Your url will end in wordpress.com

Question 7

Describe some pros & cons of the “Tumbler” platform

Answer 7

not a typically blog choice
more of a stand alone social media platform
great if your looking to create more of a “visual blog”

Question 8

What are some of the things you want to think about when choosing a blog name?

Answer 8

1. Is it optimised for SEO?
   Search Engine Optimisation has to do with how your blog ranks on google.
   You want to use keywords (in your name) which people naturally search for, so that your blog can “rank well”) ie: appear on the first page (preferably within the first three websites
   Keyword research is important!!
   Chose a blog name related to your niche (as opposed to your actual name)
2. Does it represent your brand?
   you need to tell people in your url what your blog is about!! ie: blogging about books yet you don’t have words related to books in your blog name
3. Is it timeless?
   Your blog will evolve over time so it’s important to choose a name that will continually represent your brand

Question 9

Why is it important to be happy with your blog name?

Answer 9

While you can change your blog name at a later date, this would also mean changing all your social media accounts and potentially losing some readers in the process. So it’s best to choose a name you love