If you’re looking for technical information, this is not the blog for you. I am a novice in blogosphere, who is doing my own spin on how I am learning how to blog—and continue to learn. If you want to hear it in my own words, then read on.
Domain name. This is like picking out a baby’s name. If you’re serious about blogging, you’re going to be using your domain name all of the time. Every time you register for anything, or communicate with others, this is the name you use, so you better like it.
The first problem you may run into, is that the name you pick, isn’t available. I had that problem with my other blog www.observationmountain.com. I ended up brainstorming for some time before I came up with a domain name I liked, was available, and described my blog. The domain name for this blog just happened. I had been keeping a pretty extensive journal of my progress of setting up my first blog, and ended up realizing and then writing. “I am blogging without a blog.” I liked the way it sounded, and it described what my this blog is about, so I went with it.
When picking out your domain name, get creative. I don’t think it matters if your name is a little longer. If people like your blog and want to keep up on your new posts (what you write), they will bookmark it (add it to their favorites).
Once you have chosen your domain name, then you get to register it. To me, that’s like getting a birth certificate for your blog. It makes your blog official. That’s pretty exciting to see it on your computer screen. It’s even more exciting when you do a search online and find your site.
You also have to have a “webhost” for your blog. This is a company that provides “server” space for your blog. There are many webhosts out there. The two listed above are ones I checked into. I ended up registering my domain name with Yahoo, and then went with BlueHost for my “webhost”, and it wasn’t until I signed onto BlueHost that I realized they provided one free domain name. What was I thinking? But, I liked the fact I could host up to six domain names with them. ( I already had two)
When I started, I know I did things a little backwards (dah!) as I am such a novice to blogging, but after a lot of trial and error, I am starting to figure things out. I won’t go into how I had to go back to Yahoo and “point the servers to my BlueHost account”. That had me confused for awhile, but tenacity paid off.
Like my Mother used to say, “Sometimes you have to go to the school of hard knocks”. Isn’t that the truth?
So, if you have read this post this far, you now know, I am not a computer guru. But, I’m having fun blogging and sharing what I learned and the mistakes I made. Maybe it’ll save you a headache or two. And if all fails, go shopping.
