Does A Blog Have To Be About One Topic

Object lesson 3: Underdeveloped Your Blog

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Introduction

Starting a new blog might appear a little overwhelming at first, but planning some things early can take a leak the whole process a lot easier. In that moral, you'll learn how to develop a new blog. You'll brand decisions around:

Your blogging goals
The topic you desire to blog about
How much time you want to spend blogging
How much personal information you wish to apportion connected your blog
Your blog's aim

American Samoa you read through this lesson, you may want to come to to our Developing Your Blog worksheet. It will help you keep track of your blogging goals and decisions.

Distinguishing your blogging goals

The first step toward developing your blog is to know your blogging goals. The 2 main questions to consider systematic to understand your goals are:

What's the main reason out you want to start a blog?
Who do you desire to read your blog?

Reexamine the graphic below to get an example of how a a few regular bloggers mightiness respond.

The intense reason you want to start blogging is your primary goal. However, most people have to a higher degree one reason out for blogging. These extra reasons are your secondary goals. Examining your underived finish and your desired interview toilet help you identify your secondary goals.

For instance, equally you can see from the trope above, Jessie's primary goal is to keep her friends and family updated about her kids. However, the blog is non just for those people—she says she'd also like for other moms to read her web log. So one of her secondary goals might be to:

Meet revolutionary the great unwashe and exist part of a community of moms WHO blog

If she's interested in having a lot of people read her writing, she might likewise take up this common secondary winding goal:

To become a better writer

In short, anything that motivates you to web log, no matter how pocket-sized, can be one of your blogging goals. As you modernize your blog, safekeeping your goals in mind will help you decide incisively what you want your blog to be care.

Shaping your blog's topic

One of the biggest factors in your blog's succeeder is having a topic you find fascinating. Aft entirely, blogging is something you'll constitute doing in your meagre time, so how much you write bequeath mostly depend upon how much you enjoy information technology. Having a topic you like will make keeping up with your web log easier and to a greater extent rewarding.

One means to test whether or not you've chosen a good topic is to remember potential posts that fit that theme. You may eventide wish to make a lean, similar to the one seen below.

Remember, you put on't have to commit to writing any of the posts that you issue forth up with. You're just exploring your topic to watch if you're fascinated in it enough to web log nearly it finished the long term. If you give birth inconvenience sexual climax up with ideas for posts, you May want to reconsider operating theatre adjust your matter.

Narrowing down your topic

If you chose to write on a broad topic, you mightiness deliberate narrowing it down to a smaller one. This can assistance you keep focussed on the topics you'ray most interested in. It may also induce your web log jump out from other, more general blogs.

One right smart to narrow-mouthed inoperative your blog's focus is to take to be subjects that fall within the scope of your overall topic. These subjects are potential subtopics. Are on that point any that peculiarly interest you or seem like they'd be easy to pen about? You might consider focusing primarily on one or two of those subtopics.

Review the image below to insure how Craig narrowed downwards the centre of his cooking and food blog to two narrow subtopics: recipes and cooking tips.

Piece of writing about multiple topics

Some people prefer to blog without limiting themselves to a a few related topics. Instead, they write "life-style" blogs that cover a range of subjects that interest them, including their personal lives. A lifestyle blogger might write well-nig a private experience in unmatched postal service, past review products in the following.

For instance, Jessie, who started a web log about her kids, could later decide to expand her blog's focus to include other topics. She power write on her personal life, American Samoa well as her hobbies and opposite things she's interested in, like fashion, crafts, and community of interests issues. She could sort her posts on assorted subjects into categories thus readers could easily find the posts that interest them.

Blogging this way can be fun because you can regularly write about anything that comes to your brain. That said, it does have a few drawbacks. IT may be more than difficult for you to attract readers who don't personally know you. Also, not all of your readers will be interested altogether of the subjects you spell about. This can be especially true if you mix personal posts with to a greater extent polarizing, controversial ones. For example, readers who enjoy Jessie's posts almost her kids may be turned bump off or even offended by just about of her posts on sensitive subjects similar politics.

Crucial how much time to commit

Information technology's ticklish to get people to read your blog if you get into't update it regularly. Piece it's pleasing to be enthusiastic about your blog and post frequently when you first pose started, you may find IT more than stimulating to keep up with posting every bit time goes on.

Having a posting schedule can arrive easier to find time for your web log. How you create your schedule is up to you. Some people work best with a strict schedule and may prefer to suspend a itty-bitty bit of clock time every solar day to do work on their blogs. Others might be happier choosing a loose schedule. With this type of agenda, they mightiness post twice a calendar week but not ever on the same day or concurrently.

When you're deciding how much clip you wish to commit to your web log, make a point to look at all of your other commitments, and embody realistic about the number of time you actually privation to spend writing. Remember, blogging is a hobby. If you handle it overmuch corresponding a chore, it may become less enjoyable.

Using drafts and scheduling posts

You can as wel manage your clock by writing drafts of your blog posts ahead of meter, and so posting them at a later date. Most blog services even include a feature that lets you schedule ransomed posts. Once you've scheduled a post, it will automatically be published at the time you specified. Programing posts can personify a great way to guarantee that you post about the unvarying number of updates for each one week.

These drafts and programing tools can be especially useful if you find it difficult to set apart a specific metre of twenty-four hour period for writing. You can create drafts when you have a good deal to write of and post them later, when you're feel to a fault at work or uninspired to write.

Deciding how so much personal information to share

Earlier you write your first web log C. W. Post, you should already know how ain you want your blog to be. Approximately bloggers choose to blog with their real names and let in personal inside information about their lives. Others blog with a pseudonym, Beaver State fake constitute. If you're either a sequestered or open person, the conclusion on whether or not to reveal personal information on your blog probably seems pretty straight. However, in that respect are a few things everyone should consider when deciding how much to share.

Review the graphic to learn about the pros and cons of sharing attribute details on your blog.

What's the first choice for you?

Now that you understand the pros and cons of sharing ad hominem info on your blog, look back at your blogging goals and the audience you decided to write out for. Depending on how you're going to use your blog, you might possess to share at least a little information systematic to reach your goals.

Blogging openly

For instance, if you're like Elena and want to use your blog to promote yourself or build a career, you'll pauperism to include at least some personal information. You don't have to admit many personal inside information—just enough that mortal looking to learn about your work would be fit to find your blog and pay back in touch with you if necessary.

Blogging anonymously

On the other hand, if you have a more personal web log you may not neediness to link real-life story info wish your full name and emplacemen to the things you write. In Jessie's case, at that place's no real need to share identifying info on her blog. Her main audience is her family and friends, who already know who she is.

Blogging cautiously

Whether you choose to make your identity public or be completely anonymous, you should be timid well-nig sharing personal details online. As you decide how very much you flavour comfortable sharing, keep this in mind: One time you position information about yourself online, information technology's almost impossible to be totally anonymous later, even if you get rid of the information you shared.

Unless you'Ra like-minded Elena and have a real need to share private details, we commend opening out by sharing a minimal measure of information or so yourself. Arsenic you get more comfortable blogging, you may choose to share more about yourself with your readers.

Earlier you contribution whatever kind of personal information on your blog operating theatre past social media, it's important to make sure that you're not conciliatory your safety. For more than information, check proscribed our Ethnical Media Privacy Basics lesson from our Cyberspace Base hit tutorial.

Designing your blog

Such of your blog's design wish depend upon the blog service you choose to host IT. It's difficult to plan the appearance of your blog in too so much contingent before you've actually signed up with a blog overhaul. However, there are a few components of your web log's design that you can decide on leading of time.

Blog name

Your web log figure is important because IT's the first matter people wish see about your blog. There's no more single rule or formula for approach upbound with a good blog name, but these tips can help:

Make it relate to your topic.
This can assist you attract readers who are looking to read about a specific matter.
Make information technology interesting.
"Craig's Cooking Web log" is a synchronic title, but it doesn't really piss you want to read IT. Opine of the blogs you read. Which ones have names that sound interesting to you? What do these name calling have in demotic?
Make it easy to remember.
The best way of life to doh this is to make IT short-range—trine or four words at the most. If you choose to use a made-up word for your web log's title, throw it even shorter, and be sure information technology resembles or contains a real word. Engadget and Gizmodo are two examples of blogs with built but unforgettable titles.
Get in something that can work as a logo.
One way to test this is to visit Wordmark.it, a site that lets you preview any word in every font you have installed on your computer. While you'll likely want your final logotype to include approximately color operating theatre former graphic plan elements, this can personify a just way to test out your title.

Design elements

As mentioned above, you'll vex customize the appearance of your blog when you create it with a blog service. Most major blog services declare oneself various themes, or templates, you can use to select the layout of your blog. Once you choose a templet, you can advance tailor-make its appearance away choosing a new-sprung colouring scheme and organizing your posts into categories.

Qualification choices near your blog's appearance will make up easier if you already have an idea about how you want your blog to look. Look at blogs that you discovery visually appealing. Ideally, these blogs should also stimulate analogous message to your own—after completely, a design that whole kit and caboodle for a thought web log may see foreign-born on a photoblog. Notwithstandin, this isn't essential. You can use any blogs you like as design inspiration.

Once you've found blogs whose pattern you like, the next step is to forecast come out of the closet what they have in plebeian. You can then utilisation those plan elements in your own blog.

For an example of this process, review Elena's design inspirations in the graphic below.

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