HOW HARD IS IT TO START A BLOG?

One month in.

It’s been one whole month since i decided to pick up the courage and create this blog – thehomeslogg. Now that i have done it, I’m not entirely sure why its taken me so long to start. Like many new bloggers i was faced with my own self doubting concerns. How hard is it really to start a blog and was there enough space on the big World Wide Web to host me?

I wondered was my grammar and spelling good enough to write something which would actually interest anyone. Did what I have to say be compelling enough for people to stay and read? After all if no one is reading your blog respectably you’ve just created an online journal. – awks.

How hard is blogging? 

Now I’m by far no expert – I’m a little baby here in the blogosphere, each day I’m learning a new skill. I recently received a notification congratulating me for my first month blog birthday.

Quick side note I’d like to take the opportunity to thank you so much for your support and encouragement. Your kind words and constructive criticism has been incredible. Big love and hugs.

As its been one whole month I thought I’d share how I’m finding my first 6weeks and what i have learnt so far. Perhaps you too are thinking of starting a blog, or maybe you are also a newbie writer in the same position as me and want to swap notes. Whichever you are grab a cuppa and lets get chatting.

Everyone knows what blogging is to an extent and most people will follow a blog or two or four. I know I’m subscribed to a number of fantastic blogs and find i read them more than i do books.

However dispute this not many people under stand the mechanics that go into establishing a blog. Most people – myself included, are under the illusion that blogging would be easy. Most how twos on this subject make it sound so simple. On the contrary, in fact i have struggled a little in my first month. Not so much the writing part. I love putting pen to paper or should i say fingers to keyboard, I’m talking about the setting up side. Unfortunately i lacked the basic skill set and understanding of tech. However, with each hurdle i’m really understanding the blogging world. Resulting to one day actually coming across like i know what i am doing. Lol.

So here goes.

My first impressions.

First impressions, in my personal opinion (if you want to hear it) the deciding factor would be, why are you are creating a blog in the first place? What is your blog for?

If your answers are on the lines of creating a blog for fun or a hobby, I feel with basic knowledge navigating around a computer – iPad and good internet access, blogging is not hard at all. 

All you need to do is to set up an account with a hosting site. (There are plenty of hosting sites around with many free options to chose from. ) Wix, Blogger or Tumbler WordPress are just a few i can think of. With these sites mentioned you dont need to understand the ever complicated computer coding. Everything is set up for you. Just pick pick a theme ( the look of your page) give your blog a name and start writing. Simple as that.

However, if your answer is to create a blog with the intentions to make a big payday, then this is where i feel it gets a little more complexed. To start with you’ll be needing a little more in depth knowledge (which – I’m still figuring out) and incredibly hard work and dedication.

Which ever you’re reason career or fun, you will need to decide on where your making you’re blog. This is done on a hosting site. I mentioned above a few hosting sites you can use. However, I choose to use wordpress. Why? Well it’s the biggest blogging platform in the world and from using wordpress, i can understand first hand why there’s a number of reason for that number one crown. 

I confessed earlier my skill set on tech is rather abysmal but WordPress has been amazing!  From the very start as I navigated through the set up of my site, I’ve had my hand held by their supportive round the clock tech support. Like most hosting sites WordPress sets everything up with no need to learn coding. But i still needed some help with some of the further advanced settings. This is where their very large forum has been extremely instrumental in my new found web making know how. From Sending me how too videos on with explanations of widgets and blocks, to explaining the differences between plug ins i would need to help get my site off the ground and onto google. Such as using google site kite and Yoast seo.

This is definitely where i had an eye opener. Plugins. A month ago i was completely oblivious to what a plugin meant in the website world. Learning on the job i know now what they are. Plugins are a piece of software containing a group of functions that you can add to a website. Allowing the web browser to display additional content it wasn’t originally designed to have. As simple as that, you ‘plugin’ software.

One month on and i am just about getting to grips with the plugins, site kite and Yoast SEO. Site kite is the official wordpress plugin for google insights and Yoast SEO is a plugin that helps you keep your site in shape tip top readable shape. In other words points out your bad grammar amongst other features. I will be honest with you now, I’v only been using them a week and I’m still navigating through these plugins. And I’m not entirely 100 percent no if I’m using them right. Perhaps in another month or too i will be a plugin expert and will share my new found expertises.

The difficult part of WordPress was choosing weather or not to set up the free version or invest and pay for one? WordPress free option offers a lot of functions. There is very few limitations on what you can use on a free blog versus a paid blog. Which is why I think if your doing a blog for fun you should just stick with the free version.

However, having a paid one has it’s advantages as well. When you pay for a blog at WordPress you get your own domain name and can choose your own web suffix, such as ‘.com’, ‘.org’, ‘.co.uk’ etc. Going down this route  will only make your blog look a lot more professional and is definitely easier and clearer for people to find you. In addition, it also gives you bandwidth for videos, images and other content. 

Another thing to think to about is setting up your logo. WordPress do offer a logo making option for a small fee. But i decided to use a free logo making app on my phone. The jury is out on how good it looks, so i will let you be the judge on what my logo really looks like. I would love your opinion so please feel free to let me know.

The theme was another factor i found i toyed around with even before my website went live. I love clean lines and simplicity which is what i hope I’ve created. Yet the choice of theme was an important one, as this what your website looks like. And with so many to choose from, for an indecisive person this was some what a challenge. Again I’d love to get your fed back on how my site looks for you guys and it’s ease of navigating around.

Final thoughts.

It is clear only one Month in to thehomeslogg I’m still learning on the job. I do have a fair bit to learn and a long way to go My website up and running its now all about the writing the blog itself. This certainly isn’t as easy as it seems. Blogging is all about keeping to a schedule and posting regularly. I’m lucky that i have a lot to say, especially when it comes to home decor. Here on thehomeslogg blog I’m able to write with a lot more In depth than I am in instagram. I do however, under no illusion believe that blogging on a full time capacity will be an easy task.

To run a successful blog is no easy task and you need to be on top of things to be able to do just that. If you are wanting to blog for the sole purpose of earning from it, then you need to work at it like any business that you start. Putting in minimal effort will give you minimal results. Once you have your head around how to navigate through how to use your hosting site and all its features provided or add ons, it can become straight forward. The real hard work is in maintaining your blog, it takes a lot of long – term commitment, focus and with inventive post people want to read.

‘What comes easy wont last, what lasts wont come easy.‘

Thankyou for reading peeps, until next time.

Much love

S x

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