with a website shown on a computerIn this article, we are going to be talking about blog techniques and strategies. In yesterday’s article (Using Your Blog to Make Money) we talked about generalizations about how the site could operate. This is a sort of a, “Part II” or a follow-up to that article where blog techniques and strategies will be discussed. While there is a little bit of overlap between yesterday’s article and this one, you may find it useful to read yesterday’s post first. Who knows, you might find this enough information for you to get started right here alone. The choice is yours! Blog Techniques and Strategies With blogs, you have two basic choices… you can open an account with a service like Blogger.com or download and install your own blogging software; you can have someone run the software for you, or you can be self-hosted and have your own hosting account. Which one you choose depends primarily on what purpose the content of your blog will serve. Also, you have to determine what type of audience you want to reach and how you intend to reach them. If you plan to promote and operate your blog independently, like you would any other website, you would be better off installing software on your own server. That would give you much more capability (and most likely benefit) with regard to search engine optimization. And while this sounds technical and difficult, it is not that complicated. Installing WordPress has gotten much easier in the recent past. If, on the other hand, it’s more important that you become part of a “community” of blogs that already exist, it would be wise to consider setting up an account with a service like Blogger.com. Keep in mind that this type of site should not be used for business and trying to make an income. Of course, the main advantage of using a remotely hosted service is the fact that you won’t be responsible for keeping the blog running. Everything behind the scenes is taken care of by someone else. Everything is a trade-off in life and the same is true with your website. By giving up the pressure of not needing to take care of the site, you give up the ability to do certain things (like earn an income). That means, however, that by using your own blog software means you’ll either have to install and maintain it yourself or hire someone qualified to do it for you. On the plus side, you’ll have a great deal of freedom when it comes to how you implement your design, layout, advertising, and anything else associated with the workings of a standard website.
