How To Start Your Own Blog
The content on this page and throughout our site may not be reproduced without prior, written permission from Penney Layne. You may print this content for personal use only. You may LINK to this page only; you may NOT copy this content and post it on your site. Blog Creation Date January 2008
Starting your own blog is a relatively easy task. Blogs are fast becoming very popular. The first step in creating a blog is to determine what the blog is about. Most blogs are created around a specific “theme.” For example, the theme of this blog is “Achieving Website and Internet Success.”
On this blog, Penney Layne creates and posts articles and posts that pertain to websites and internet success. We post tutorials on common tasks so that others can read them and learn how to perform many of these tasks for themselves.
There are monetized and non-monetized blogs. You must decide if you wish to monetize your blog. Our blog, as you will note, has Google Ad Sense contextual ads posted throughout the pages.
There are other ways to monetize your blog. You can post affiliate ads. You can host other advertising programs besides Google. However, please be aware there are rules and policies that must be adhered to for each monetization method you utilize. For instance, Google does not allow Ad Sense Contextual Ads to be placed on a site that has any other forms(s) of contextual ads. Contextual ads are ads that are tailored to the content of the website.
There are other restrictions for Google Ad Sense. First, you cannot click on your own ads. There are also limits on how many of each type of ad you can place on each page. Google Ad Sense ads must also be placed on pages that have actual content. In other words, you can’t just start a blog and post Google Ad Sense ads all over it if the site has no content. Google wants its ads to be placed on high content sites. So get your blog going and get some good content on the blog before you begin to post the ads.
Be certain to read the Google Terms and Policies prior to placing any ads on your site. Then you’ll be sure to avoid any problems or issues. Many people have started websites and posted Google Ads only to find their Google Account closed because they failed to read and follow the rules. It is difficult, if even possible, to get your account restored or reactivated once it’s closed for policy violations.
Research has determined that it is best to refrain from posting ads until you have sufficient site traffic. As posted above, get the blog or website going, get some really good content on the blog, and get some traffic to your site before you start posting any ads.
You do not have to monetize your blog. Many people choose not to do so. That is totally up to the blog owner. We like our ads on the Penney Layne Blog to blend in with the site so they do not stand out or distract our readers from viewing the page content. We don’t want our ads to be obtrusive or annoying.
We personally like using Word Press for our blog. If you plan to have ads on your blog such as Google Ad Sense, you will need to install Word Press on your website server. Word Press does have a free account you can join on their site, but those accounts do not allow Google Ad Sense ads. Penney Layne offers a hosting plan for $5.95 a month. We also offer Blog Installation Services.
Word Press has a wide variety of ready to use templates for your blog. The templates are very easy to download and install, and the templates can be revised and tweaked utilizing the style sheet and template files. The administration panel in Word Press is very easy to use and has many options.
The blog can be set to allow others to comment, or the blog can be set to post only and receive no comments. You can even set some articles and pages to allow comments, and set others to be closed. There are hundreds of optional free plug-ins available that allow you to customize and add even more options to your blog. The blog can be set to be moderated, meaning that you must review all comments before they are posted. We at Penney Layne like Word Press due to its user friendliness and ease in setup and daily use.
Blogging is very popular and growing on a daily basis. The only true cost involved is the monthly host fee, which at our site is only about 19 cents a day, plus the cost of your time. You can sign up here: Simple Monthly Host Plan. Blogging is fun, and can also provide some money making opportunities as well. We hope to see you out there blogging soon if you are not blogging already!
…….by Laura Brown, Penney Layne Graphics