In the past a blog was used as a simple personal journal, however times have changed and more and more people are setting up their own blogs either as a hobby, or to earn an extra income. Especially in the current global economic situation, the need for that little bit more of extra cash, is a growing necessity.

So, coming back to the question "how do I make a blog website"?

The answer is in three general steps.

1. Find your blog topic
2. Choose your domain name
3. Installing your blog

First of all you need to know what your blog will be all about. You need to write down a list of subjects that you have some experience in. From that list, now select what you like doing the most and what you are passionate about. Ask yourself the question "If I was to write about this subject, would my friends and family members want to read it"?

Finding your blog topic is not that difficult – blogging about it is the difficult part, but also the most self rewarding. A successful blog is all about "new" content and "quality" content. This is what will drive your readers to come back for more!

When choosing your domain name, think of a name that represents your blog and for what it stands for. Your domain name should be short, unique and easy to remember, avoiding hyphens. To register your domain name you will need a registrar. I personally use GoDaddy for my domain names, and HostGator as my hosting company because they offer excellent support. When you enter the online world, support is vital.

Installing your blog is the next procedure. The best way to install WordPress is by using Fantastico in your Cpanel. To access your Cpanel, write your domain name followed by a slash (/) then Cpanel. Then:

1. Log into your cpanel with the username and password your hosting company has emailed you (in this case from HostGator).
2. Scroll down until you find a blue smiley faced icon called "Fantastico".
3. Click on "Fantastico" and choose "WordPress".
4. Select "New Installation".
5. In the "install in directory" field you will choose a name of the directory you want (preferably something related to your site) i.e. if your site is about videos, just use the name for the directory (videos).
6. In the "admin access data" field, choose a username and password for your administrator (admin).
7. Then choose your "admin nickname", write your "email", and choose the name of your site (which is basically your title).
8. Then in the "description" field, write the description of your site. For your site name and site description, try to be specific and relate your "keywords"
9. Then click "install WordPress"
10. Then click "finish installation"

And that is it!

You have just installed WordPress, using your Cpanels Fantastico.

They are products of various statistical methods done by the search engines themselves regarding on the most used keyword under a particular topic. These keywords are strategically placed in an article while at the same time not really sacrificing the integrity and the main idea behind it. Writing is writing. What a writer must do is to integrate the keywords to a particular article in a manner that is organic and natural. Adding keywords in a robotic manner can only spell the doom of the whole quality of the write up. For one, the genuine feeling of an honest write-up is lost. The repetition can become very obvious and the too much emphasis may sap the idea out of the subject. Discussing personal injury lawyers, for example, must not contain the keyword "personal injury attorneys" at almost every sentence of the whole paragraph. Other forms of SEO article writing are SEO blogs. This, however, are wholly different from SEO article writing. Here are some SEO blog tips that one could use:

1. Blogging about a particular news makes the whole blog credible. It adds to the feel that the blog is constantly updated and the sources are socially aware. The news does not need to be sensational. It only has to be simple, concise, and organized, and must be analyzed with the most humane logic of the writer involved. Some SEO blog tips found in the internet even consider news blogging as very important as it gives importance more to the analysis of a particular subject than the SEO itself.

2. Be structured and sensible, and entertain as much as possible. A blog must be readable and must not contain large amounts of texts that could repel the typical short attention span of the internet goer. Google must also detect the credibility of the blog so that it will return as a top search result overall.

3. Do not beat around the bush. Be safe and concise about the matter at hand. A good SEO blog is direct to the point. No literary fuss must be added. The aim of a blog is to edify simple and direct information rather than poetically saying things.

These SEO blog tips are just the basic ones found in the internet. Overall, the task of a good SEO blogger is to make the blog… well, a blog. This makes everything more natural, more credible, and less stressful to maintain over all.

Here are 3 aspects of your platform you’ll want to establish control over even before the first new blog post is even submitted for public viewing!

Data Base Control

If you don’t have access to your own data base for back-up and/or transferring purposes you are at risk! You absolutely must be sure you can access your own data base and never assume that however is hosting your site will allow you to do so! Remember you are the one whose time and effort have gone into creating content and then posting it on your site! It only stands to reason that you be allowed ‘direct’ access to anything you posted or even the configuration of the site itself! You worked hard composing each new blog post and attracting the comments visitors left, which are vital in terms offering ‘social proof’ of the popularity your site has gained! These things are rightfully yours so be sure you have total control in this area!

Domain Name Selection

Although free platforms may be available the sub-domain names they offer are neither professional nor eye-catching! You want complete control over the selection of your domain name and how it appears in the browser window! The free platforms found online are great for beginners and/or short term use but if you have ‘big’ plans once you start blogging it is best to own your domain name as opposed to using a ‘free’ one! The typically sub-domain name is unusually long and lacks relevance to what your site is all about!

Control Comments

This is NOT to imply you rule with an ‘iron hand’ on what people can say but merely you should monitor comments that are disruptive or non-productive! Whether you comb through each remark or use an available widget that filters out spam (recommended) you don’t want to necessarily expose your readers to these type comments! Don’t be fooled thinking your the only one who reads remarks left at your site! Do your visitors a favor and ‘insulate’ them from these useless comments that are the equivalent of verbalized graffiti!

There are certain steps you need to take before you start building a blog that if you overlook you may end up regretting you did so! It all comes down to controlling certain aspects of your site concerning your ability to choose your own domain name or even backing up any new blog post you have created! Remember it’s your site and therefore your efforts that go into creating content or even moderating the conduct of visitors to your platform! The 3 key aspects over which you want total control, and rightfully so, are discussed above and this control should be clearly established before you even compose your first new blog post!

Here are the 3 elements that must be in place before most blogging sites can consider their efforts a success!

Source of Useful Information

One thing you can never get around or neglect in order to build traffic to any blog is the content quality you offer visitors! You may be able to attract new visitors but once they land on your site if your content quality is not sufficient they will not return! On the other hand if what you offer satisfies readers they’ll stick around and even refer your site to friends, family and/or colleagues! The information found on your platform is the first ‘building block’ you need to have in place as you move forward with your future efforts!

Community Atmosphere

By creating a sense of community, which can be accomplished by allowing comments, you’re developing ‘close knit’ atmosphere! This is of vital importance because you want people to feel both welcomed and comfortable when they arrive! Now that you have useful information to share with them visitors can in turn share with you and others their comments on what you posted! This invites interaction, exchanging ideas/opinions and helps develop a stronger bond with not only one another but also to your site as well! Blogging sites that don’t allow comments typically have a short life span due to the fact that visitors are not allowed to contribute their thoughts! Remember blogs are the forerunner of the social network sites found online today and people expect to be able and interact!

Reader Loyalty

When you combine good content quality with reader interaction you create a place that people enjoy and thus continue returning! Once your readers keep coming back like this you are now developing their loyalty and this loyalty is merely a reflection of their satisfaction and your success as a blogger! This is what it is all about, attracting people and giving them a reason to return time and again to your blog! Once this is accomplished you can consider your efforts successful!

In order to consider yourself the administrator of a successful blog there are 3 elements you must have in place to do so! Obviously everything starts with the content quality you offer since this helps you build traffic to your site but it’s what you do with this traffic that will determine your success! The above discussion focuses on 3 particular elements most successful blogging sites have which leads to the success they experience! As you can see you must first gain reader interest but of equal importance is promoting an atmosphere of ‘belonging’ which leads to visitor loyalty and your ultimate success!

Many people kept diaries and such great diarists as Samuel Pepys have been a source of knowledge, and of course amusement over a long period. There were also letters to the editor of different publications, usually to express an opinion at some article they had published. The first few pages of Time Magazine and The Economist, not to mention large sections of newspapers are devoted to this form of personal expression.

But much of this has changed forever and is still developing at a furious pace. With the rolling out of the internet there are now a myriad of ways to go about making one’s voice heard. The first and most obvious way is in the comments section of online newspapers and magazines. Click through any article and, where allowed by the editors, there will be a discussion. On some controversial topics these contributions may run into the thousands.

A slightly out of date way, and also unlikely to get much exposure are the chat rooms. Many chat rooms are open discussion groups but when they are unstructured are usually pretty pointless and are often dominated by one or two people with the others in the room being ignored or worse.

Facebook and other social media are open and free. But the only people who are likely to see your opinions and arguments will be your online "friends". Most of the postings on Facebook are only a few entries long as time brings more contributions to the fore so postings age very quickly.

One can join a forum. There are many forums and one can find many that will allow one to open one’s own "thread" to which the other members of the forum may or may not contribute.

The best way, however, is to open one’s own blog. A blog is a contraction of the words Web log and started life as a chronological listing of one persons thoughts and opinions, with the most recent being displayed first. Pretty soon however most blogs started to allow contributors to express their opinions. Unlike chat rooms but somewhat like forums these tend to be archived so a topic may remain "live" with contributions and discussion points being added for an extended period.

Many people would not know how to start a blog. Actually the process is quite easy. This very useful website will provide guidance, tips and a detailed description of the steps one has to take to start, open, host, advertise and maintain a blog.

Running one’s own blog is a hugely satisfying thing to do and provides a useful focus point to keep one’s opinions and ideas focused and to the point.

Facebook is more than just a way to stay in touch with friends and family members that you would otherwise lose touch with. It can also be a useful tool when you want to increase your blog following. Not only do you want to post a link to your blog on your Facebook page, but you are also going to want to create a fan page for your blog where followers of your blog can come together and mingle and discuss topics that they didn’t want to leave in your comment section. Through these people, word of your blog will reach additional people.

If you haven’t already checked out StumbleUpon, you need to. This is a fun website that is quickly growing a loyal fan base. When you are on this website you will find all kinds of interesting stuff. In addition to using StumbleUpon to entertain yourself, you can also use it to help you increase blog traffic. All you have to do is register your blog on the website. When other members of StumbleUpon happen across your blog, not only will they be able to read your posts, they will also be able to pass on your blog’s StumbleUpon link via their favorite social networking sites. The one unwritten rule of StumbleUpon is that you can’t "stumble" across your own blog.

Never underestimate the value of self-promotion. There is nothing wrong with hitting up places like forum’s, discussion boards, and other blogs and mentioning your own blog. This can actually be a really useful way to connect with people while you also increase blog traffic. The trick is to make sure that you are actually contributing to the conversation and not just shamelessly promoting your blog. You should also make sure that a link to your blog is included in your signature. Not only will the link make it easy for people to find your blog, but it will also boost your search engine ranking.

Even though you are trying to increase blog traffic, you should never allow yourself to become so obsessed with the idea that you are going to increase blog traffic that you neglect your blog. In addition to working to increase your list of subscribers, you should make sure that you are regularly updating your blog with fascinating posts. It is your writings, more than anything else, which will have people returning to your blog.

Take a moment to consider the following points as a way to expand your level of success.

• Understand your audience – When you are focusing on your social media campaigns and tasks, you will want to pay attention to what is successful in your industry at the time. By watching the trends on Twitter and the interaction you have on Facebook, for instance, you can begin to create a series of presentations or interactions that will garner the interest of people. Keep in mind that with the changing platforms of social media, you will need to ensure that your content and approach evolves with these trends. For example, if a well-known person has just passed away in your industry, mention this news and link to a news video announcement about it in your social media post.

• Niche understanding is essential – The same idea can go with blogging. If you are developing and publishing content on your blog, it will be important that you understand the areas of interest your clients have. This again means that you need to keep up with the trends in your niche. You will then need to ensure that your content is of high quality and offers your readers information they can use.

• Get help growing your business – There is no need to go it alone, get help with your content and publishing. Even if you have an outline or topics in mind that you want to focus on, you can still save your time for other tasks like sales calls and chats, follow up activities and event marketing while ghostwriters develop your content and virtual assistants publish it via multiple formats across multiple platforms to cover many bases today.

As you begin to drive more targeted people to your content, you can begin to see an increase in revenue. For your blog, you can choose to offer advertising or take advantage of advertising through programs like Google AdSense. This revenue can offset your operating costs and help you to make money in the process. Keep in mind that most posts, tweets or status updates you publish should link back to your main web pages where you want some action to take place like a click, sale or sign up. This can help determine if your readers are interested, plus with each click, you have a potential sale.

Once you purchase your domain, go over to your hosting company. I recommend Blue Host. It has C-panel which is great for blogging. Log in over on the Blue Host site and scroll down until you find Software & Services category. Then chose WordPress and click on it. Then select the domain name where you are installing the blog. Fill in the blanks. Under advanced options, select a user name and password, etc. Then click the complete button. On the next page, it will show you as it is installing it right before your eyes.

It will then give you the link to your page along with your user name and password. Write down your username and password and then to connect to your page. That’s it. Wasn’t that simple?

There is a search bar on Blue Host. Type in videos and look on the right. There will be an icon for you to click on and a large list will appear. These videos will walk you through installing WordPress. There is also a contact area. If you have any questions, you can contact your hosting site and they will walk you through your problems. You can also call on the phone if you can’t wait for an email response. The hosting company wants your business. They want you to succeed. So, they will be happy to answer your questions.

If you don’t have C-panel on your hosting, there is another way to install WordPress. It is a few more steps. You can go to Google search bar and type in "5 minute WordPress install" and the first entry that comes up will be a link to help you install it another way.

No matter which way you install it, you blog is now ready for your first post. Blogging is to grow your business. Writing posts is getting information out to potential customers.

Lately, a digital presence is important for whatever business you engage in. Blogs are a favorite means of creating a presence online. So, if you want a way to show your expertise, consider starting a blog.

I think of a blog as an online journal. A blog enables you to create daily content on any subject you choose. You could create a personal blog to keep in touch with family members. You could also create a business blog attract blog traffic to sell products or services.

There are many ways to set up your blog. You can get a done-for-you blog and not have to be concerned with any technical stuff.

You should decide what your niche is before you begin posting to your blog. Once you decide on what the blog will be about, then it is time to create content.

Running a blog requires commitment. Unless you are prepared to treat your blog seriously and put time into it, you probably will not continue blogging for long.

Here are key strategies for getting more blog or website traffic:

1. Create fresh content regularly. Most experts say that you should post to your blog at least two to three times a week.

2. Submit your posts (at least 400 words long) to article directories and be sure to put your website address in the resource box, so people know where to read more. This will generate website traffic if you give readers a reason to click the link. So, remember to have a compelling call to action.

3. Next, post updates to social networking sites. These should include Facebook, Twitter and Google+. When using social media as a marketing strategy, you will need to build up friends or followers who have similar interests on these social networking sites. This will lead to targeted, website traffic for your blog. One tool I use to build a Twitter following is TweetAdder.

4. Spread the word about your site to attract blog traffic. Tell friends and family for a start. You should give out your business cards with your blog address.

5. Ask visitors to sign up for your RSS feed for recurring website traffic. RSS is Really Simple Syndication. An RSS feed allows readers to sign up for updates. After you post new material, they will be notified via email.

6. Submit your blog to search engines for more website traffic. This makes it possible for your blog to show up quicker in the search engines.

7. Join business forums (or forums geared to your niche) and, in your signature, add links to your site in order to lead blog traffic to your site.

8. Reciprocate visits and comments to sites of visitors and people who leave comments on your blog.

9. Optimize your site to get free website traffic from the search engines. This is called SEO (search engine optimization). I use SEOPressor to make SEO easy.

10. Submit your posts to social bookmarking sites. This makes it possible for members of those sites to go to your site. This will lead to more blog traffic for you.

In summary, your blog will need to:

• Have regularly updated content for readers.
• Be marketed to draw targeted, blog traffic.
• Register with the search engines so that they find your blog.

These strategies will drive targeted, blog traffic to your site. It takes time, but consistency is the key to website traffic generation. Ready for more website traffic?

The good thing about blog hosts is that they are very easy to set up. With regular websites, it would take hours and even days to set it up so that you can start adding content. With blogs, you’re up and running in minutes. It’s easy and quick to update as well. Also, you get all of the same features with a blog host as you would with a site. You can add pages, videos and images. As a matter of fact, blogs have a slight advantage over the other types of web sites in that they rank faster.

The attractive thing about blogs is the social aspect of them. You add the content and users can discuss them. In many cases, they are better than forums because of the fact that the user isn’t going to have to go through a sign up process that could be lengthy. Also, blog hosting services cost less than web hosting services. Also, even the free hosting platforms are better for blogs as well. However, for the most features, you would want to have a hosting platform that you pay for, especially if you want to make money.

There are a lot of good themes that you can choose with your hosting service. You can look over each of them carefully so that you can decide which one is the best match for the type of site that you are going to run. You also have some of the features that make it look more like a website. You can add pages which make it look more official.

Of course, each different blog host has different features. After you choose the one that you want, you just have to add content and submit it to search engines. You’ll rank a lot faster on search engines with blogs.