Blogging For Dummies

Some web hosts allow you to create multiple e-mail addresses under one domain, which is ideal if you would like to segregate contact inquiries from personal e-mails, for example.

Never put any personal identifying information online that exposes you to possible identity theft or physical confrontation. Don't post your Social Security number, home address, birthdate or place, mother's maiden name, passwords, bank account numbers, or any information that you use as password reminders or identifying information with financial institutions. Most bloggers prefer to keep phone numbers private, as well. Don't reveal this information about the people you blog about, either

Before you hit the Publish button, stop for a second and put yourself in the shoes of your reader: Are you writing for the reader, or are you writing for yourself? If your answer is the latter, you might be better off keeping a real diary in a format that the entire world can't publicly access.

Don't blog about others without their permission, even about topics that you consider inconsequential. Don't identify friends, family, and romantic interests by name without their permission

If you're making money from your blog posts, explain the arrangement and how you're allowing it to influence (or not influence) what you write

If your blog software pings blog search engines and services, those search engines and services receive a notice from your blog software that you've updated your blog and put that information into their catalogs. (A ping is simply an electronic notification.) Users of search engine websites can then get your blog post as a result of a search

Think about the needs of your audience members and how to appeal to them, even when you consider what software to use

The title should explain what your blog talks about or who you are as the main writer.

Whether you hire a designer for your blog, use a blog template, or try to make the design yourself, seek ways to make your blog stand out from the rest. If you're a business, make sure that your logo appears on your blog. If you're creating a personal blog, add your own photos. Even if you use a default template, you can often add an identifying graphic or element on the site that differentiates your blog from others.

Many bloggers use a little trick to account for periods of writer's block or for when they go on vacation: They write posts ahead of time and then save them for later. Using your blog software, you can schedule a date and time for a post to go live, making it possible for you keep your readers entertained, even while you're having an appendectomy or basking on a beach in Hawaii.