All you need to get started is an email address and something to say.

Step One: Define Your Niche

Before you consider where you are going to blog it is important to decide on the theme or subject area that your blog will be about. The two main factors to consider when picking your subject is Your Audience and what you are Passionate about.

Who are you writing this blog for?

Really think about who you are blogging for, this will determine the type of blog host you use, the content of your blog, whether you need to promote that blog and how you will measure the success of your blog.

Have a think about the following 3 questions:

1. Are you creating a blog for yourself, your friends and family?
2. Do you want to create a blog for the people in the arts and cultural sector or who share your interest in arts and culture?
3. Is your blog an extension of your business?

What is the theme?

That’s for you to decide. The beauty of blogging is that there are no rules. As long as you figure out who your blog is for, then you can begin to form the theme of your blog.

How focused your blog is on a particular subject is entirely up to you. It could cover the things that interest you and need not be defined beyond that.

 If you are targeting your blog at a specific audience or niche, these are a couple of things to consider:

1. What are you interested in?
2. What are you an expert in?
3. Would your profession make an interesting subject?
4. Do you have a goal that you are trying to achieve that could be documented online?
5. Will you be able to blog about the subject you choose consistently over a long period of time?
6. How many other blogs exist on the same subject? What are you going to do to stand out from the crowd?

Step Two: Name Your Blog

There is no limit to what you can call your blog.

 Some blogs have titles that relate to their subject matter i.e. contemporaryartscotland.blogspot.com. Others have completely nonsensical names that are catchy and memorable i.e. paintisthickerthanwater.blogspot.com. The easy way out is naming the blog after yourself, this works well for individual artists and makers, but not so well for project, organisation or event based blogs).

While you can name your blog anything you like, you may be limited to what you blogs URL or web address can be. Whatever you do decide on, ensure that the blog name is memorable, easy to spell and free of hyphens!

Using a Hosted Blog

If you use a Blog service such as wordpress, typepad, or blogger, you have two options. When you create a blog through these services, you are automatically assigned a web address which will look like this:

www.yourblogname.wordpress.com

www.youblogname.typepad.com

www.yourblogname.blogspot.com

It’s quite alright to have your host service’s name in your web address, it clearly indicates to readers that this is a blog, and it makes it a lot simpler for you to get your blog up and running, particularly if this is your first blogging experience.

Using Your Own Domain

Alternatively, if you would like your web address to read www.yourblogname.com, you will need to purchase a registered domain name. You can check for domain name availability one a number of websites including 123-reg.co.uk, names.co.uk, register-domain-names.com.

Once you have checked for the availability you will need to purchase both the domain name and hosting. Sites like 123-reg.co.uk offer hosting from between £3 – £15 per month.

After you set up your blog with your chosen service (i.e. wordpress, typepad), you can then “point” your new domain name to your blog. This process differs from service to service:

Blogger – Under the ‘Settings’ tab click on the ‘Publishing’ button to switch to a Custom Domain.

WordPress – Under the ‘Settings’ tab click on the ‘Domains’ button to Add a Domain.

Typepad – Under the ‘Control Panel’ tab there is a link to Domain Mapping under the ‘Site Access’ sub-tab.

Step Three: Choose a Blog Host

The service you choose will depend on the purpose of your blog, your budget and your technical abilities, and there are a variety of different blog hosting services out there.

Hosted Blogging Platforms – For Ease and Simplicity

If you are new to blogging or don’t have a great deal of technical abilities, then a hosted blog service is definitely the way to go.

A hosted blog means that the service (such as wordpress or typepad) “hosts” your blog at their domain. These services offer you designed templates, a web address and an editors ‘kitchen-sink’ of tools and applications, so you can create blog posts simply without any technical expertise. With a hosted blog you can be up an running in 15 minutes.

Pros

Often these services are free or inexpensive to use, and they make the set-up and use of the blogging service easy for those without technical knowledge.

Cons

Blogging service hosts are not as flexible design-wise, so if you do have technical expertise and would like total control of how your blog will look, you may feel limited by the hosted blog.

Stand Alone Blogging Platforms – For the Professional

Although these are designed for the technically proficient, it is good to have an understanding of what a ‘stand alone’ or ‘server-side’ blogging platform is.

This type of blogging platform is hosted by you and your own domain and will allow you to have full control over the design of your website and enables you to use any domain name you wish.

To use a ‘server-side’ platform you will need to download a content management system from a hosting service such as laughingsquid.com and dreamhost.com. You can also download a blogging platform from wordpress.org or Movabletype.org. This route is more costly and requires a certain amount of technical literacy. But in exchange you get a fully customisable site in your own name and image.

Step Four: Create Your Blog

The next step is to set up your blog. With numerous blogging services available, it’s key to pick one that meets your needs and is easy to use based on your skills.

Pros and Cons of Blogging Services

Blogger

Pro: No tech expertise is required and you can use a registered domain name.

Cons: If you want to change the templates or side-bar add-ons you will need HTML knowledge.

Ideal for first time Bloggers.

WordPress.com  

Pro: Free with some advanced design pay options. No tech experience is needed, blog traffic statistics is build into your dashboard, and you can register your own domain name.

Cons: The interface is simple, but not as simple as Blogger. Some knowledge of tech or blog related jargon is helpful (see our section on Cutting through the Blogging Jargon), templates are not fully modifiable unless you purchase CSS editing options.

Ideal for savvy beginners who want to know about their visitors, and if you might like to switch to a stand alone host in the future.

Typepad

Pro: No tech knowledge required, broad menu of side-bar add-ons, blog traffic statistics built-in, full Photoblog capabilities and photo album interface. Can use a registered domain name.

Cons: Cost (offer 4 pricing levels), basic HITML required to use all of the sidebar add-ons, some knowledge of tech or blog jargon is useful (see our section on Cutting through the Blogging Jargon), and limited design flexibility at the Basic Pricing Level.

Ideal for savvy beginners who would like develop their blogging service as their own technical skills evolve.

Registering for a Blog

Once you have chosen your ideal blogging service you then need to sign up. All you need is an email address and click on the appropriate button to Create Your Blog. You’ll be asked by the service to create an account, where you will enter your email address, choose a password, input the name of your blog and accept the terms and conditions of the site.

You will also be prompted to choose the blog’s URL address (if you have purchased a domain name you would like to ‘point’ your blog to, then you should look out for the Advanced Setup options, or set the domain name once you have completed the registration).

You will then be given access to the services blog content management system, where you can select your template (which will determine the style and font – CSS style sheet of your blog). Pick one now, but remember you can always change it later.