I’m not sure what constitutes being a newbie to blogging, but I think I’m still a newbie, as my two blogs are less than three months old.

When I first started blogging, I felt overwhelmed by everything I was reading. My head spun for weeks, and the learning curve was more like a switchback road going through a mountain pass. With every site I visited, I got more information, however, the more I read, the more conflicting the information became. What’s a newbie to do?

So, here I am, almost three months later, and I feel I’m getting a grasp of what makes for a “decent” blog. I won’t rank myself as “good” or “excellent”, but I do feel those rankings are attainable.

If you’ve done any research at all, you see it: You need links: deep links, back links, outgoing links, etc. Then I read how I should join the blogging community and leave comments on other blogs, get my name “out there”, sign up for online directories, use keyword density, use word tags, don’t use word tags, use meta tags, don’t use meta tags, add plugins, add widgets, check your stats, download, upload, robots, spiders, crawlers, learn about HTML, XHTML, XML, CSS, pinging, trackbacks, post slugs, SEO, SERPs,carnivals, …Whew!…….the list goes on. Who would have ever thought, that just to write an article (or post), would mean that you need a higher education in computer terminology and technology?

What do I do? The most important thing I find is to write (or post) what I know. And, I post often. I’ve settled in with the thought, “If I blog, my readership will increase”. (Or as they say in the “Field of Dreams”…”If you build it, they will come”) I have lots of patience. so I’ve taken the time to learn some HTML, created some outgoing and deep links, utilize keyword density, joined a blogging carnival, and use a few plugins and widgets, etc. As time permits, I will increase my knowledge of what’s truly needed to create a successful blog, but I’m not going to beat myself up because I haven’t learned it all yet.

There’s something to be said about “Keeping It Simple”. So, if you’re a newbie to blogging, I say, “concentrate on blogging about what you know”. Don’t expect to be able to learn everything overnight. And…….most of all, have fun!