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Select a blog host. A host is a website whose blogging platform you'll use in order to start blogging. With the rise of the internet, dozens of blogging hosts have risen to prominence, many of them easy to use for people who know next to nothing about computers. There are plenty of free hosts in addition to hosts for which you need to pay. Here are a list of just a few:
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Determine how much control you want control over your URL. If you use a free blogging platform, your URL is going to look something like this:
If you intend for your blog to be strictly personal, and you don't anticipate the need to build your own brand or start reaching out to other bloggers, a free web hosting service will do you fine. If, however, you believe that you may want to show your blog to other people and build your online presence at some point in the future, a paid hosting service will allow you to create a blog with a distinct and personalized URL.In that case, your URL can look like this
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Know the differences between free hosting services and paid hosting services. Mainly, paid hosting services offer much more control over the look of the website design, as well as offering more web tools with which to personalize blogs (plugins, widgets, buttons, etc.). Although the amateur blogger probably won't need a paid hosting service, it's useful to know what you can and can't do with a free platform:
Generally, free hosting services offer a few basic pre-made templates for bloggers to choose from when designing the look of the website. Paid hosting services generally offer a greater variety of templates to choose from, as well as giving the blogger the option of designing the look of the website from the bottom up.
· Certain plugins are available only to people who pay for hosting services. A plugin is a tool that bloggers use to customize their blog. (A rotating tab, for example, is a cool plugin that allows viewers to see more of your content on tabbed panels.) Countless other plugins exist for paid hosting services.
· This seems to be the bottom line: If you're just interested in creating a vehicle for your thoughts, these bells and whistles are probably superfluous. If, however, you take pride in the design of your website and like the idea of creating different tools for potential viewers to someday interact with, having more power to customize your weblog may be a good decision.
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Get familiar with the ins and outs of whatever hosting service you decide to use. How do you italicize a title? How will you create an outbound link to another website? These are questions that you'll ask yourself as you start blogging. Although your familiarity with your blogging platform will increase the more you blog, it's important to explore the different options you have with your blog. You often don't know what is possible until you try it.
Some blogs offer an interactive video or slideshow to new users. If such a video or slideshow exists on your new blogging platform, be sure to watch it. These tutorials are packed with useful tips and hints, and will get you blogging faster and better.
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