Anywhereist

Learn to Live, Work, and Thrive Anywhere in the World

  • Anywhereist
  • Home
  • About
    • Guest Posting Guidelines
    • Big Fat Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live
    • Getting Ready to Go
    • How to Choose the Best Country for YOUR Overseas Adventure
    • Places
      • Panama
    • Recent Articles
  • Work
    • Why WordPress?
      • What Exactly is a Content Management System?
    • So You Want to Start a Blog?
    • Recent Articles
  • Thrive
    • Recent Articles
  • Blog
  • Library
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / So You Want to Start a Blog?

So You Want to Start a Blog?

how to start a blogBloggers come in all shapes and sizes.

When I started a previous site, Future Expats, it was a place for me to collect my research and thoughts about living full-time in another country.

Being a writer, I tend to explore topics by writing about them, so into the blogging world I plunged.

Lots of people start blogs that serve as personal diaries or journals that they share with family and friends. At the other end of the spectrum are people who blog as part of an actual business. Bloggers are people who want to:

  • Share their personal experiences with friends and family
  • Share their personal experiences with the public
  • Share knowledge about a subject
  • Make some side income sharing their knowledge
  • Run a business, which includes a blog

As you can imagine, a website that’s appropriate for someone who wants to share personal experiences is quite different from what the business blogger needs.

I’ve been blogging since the mid-1990s, and during that time I’ve run:

  • A blog about a consumer protection issue I was passionate about.
  • A blog where I shared my personal explorations and musings about moving overseas. Gradually, as I gained knowledge, I also shared that knowledge with readers.
  • A blog where I shared my knowledge about a subject (WordPress), as part of a business (setting up WordPress sites and consulting).

I’ve presented each of them very differently, and needed different approaches and tools to make them work as intended.

Do You Need Your Own Site?

Your website is like your home base on the web. If you’re running a personal blog, you may or may not need a home base that you own. If you’re running a business, you definitely do.

Maybe you can satisfy your personal blogging needs on a social media platform like Facebook or Google Plus. The drawback is, if they change their rules, they could wipe out all your hard work.

Personal Blog Sites

The first two types of bloggers have a lot in common. They are what I call “personal bloggers.”

Their blogging website is pretty simple. The traditional blog layout works well for them, with a sidebar on the right and the content area taking up about 2/3 of the width of the browser on a desktop or laptop computer.

example of a personal blog

Here are a couple more examples of personal blogs.

lifestyle personal blog personal blog

If you’re looking for a personal blog, the good news is, you have some excellent free options, where you can get started quickly. Some of the most popular include:

  1. WordPress.com
  2. Blogger
  3. Tumblr
  4. Weebly
  5. Wix

Each has its pros and cons, of course. Each is reasonably intuitive to set up, and provides helpful instructions.

If you don’t need to have a specific home base on the web, you can use Medium, or LinkedIn’s publishing platform as your blogging platform. (LinkedIn is business specific.)

With each of these free services, you cede a certain amount of control to them — letting them show advertisements on your pages, for example. If you’re not happy with that solution, consider moving up to a more businesslike arrangement, using self-hosted WordPress (my preferred platform).

Business Blog Sites

Although the platforms above have room for upgrades (except for Blogger), if you’re ready for something more robust than they offer, you should look at self-hosted WordPress.

There’s a lot of confusion about the difference between WordPress.com (the free hosting service) and WordPress.org. Here’s a detailed explanation.

Here’s the short version.

WordPress is the software that you use to build your blog. If you’re using self-hosted WordPress, you install the software on the hosting server that you’ve arranged for (here’s information on how to set up a hosting account). If you’re using WordPress.com, the software is already installed and the hosting company is WordPress.com.

So if you’re running a business blog, you need a base of operations on the web (your website) that you control. Your best choice for that is self-hosted WordPress.

Before you continue: Determine what kind of blogger you’ll be. If you’ll be writing a personal blog and you don’t want to deal with the technical parts of running a website, look at WordPress.com, Blogger, or Tumblr.

If you plan to monetize or use your blog as part of a business, I recommend self-hosted WordPress.

Next In This Tutorial Series

  • Domain Name and Hosting
  • How to Choose and Register a Domain Name
  • How to Choose and Set up a Hosting Account
  • How to Install WordPress
  • More to come. . .

Search Form

Get the Latest Anywhereist News

Every week, I'll send you an email filled with information, tips, and resources about becoming an Anywhereist. I'll also include a thoughtfully curated list of articles from around the web to help you plan and execute your move from a location-based to a location-independent life.

Follow Anywhereist

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Affiliate Links

Some of the linked content on this page may include affiliate links.

If you click one of those links and make a purchase, I'll earn a small commission. It doesn't cost you a penny more, but it helps me to keep this site going.

Latest Posts

Solo Travel – a Growing Phenomenon. Is it Right for You?

Solo Travel – a Growing Phenomenon. Is it Right for You?

Guest Post by Lysha Solo travel is on the rise, especially among millennials and women. A recent estimate claims there've been 21 million solo travelers from the UK and the US. That's a lot of … [Read More...]

Latest Posts

How to Make Sure You’re Not Buying Into the Myth of Passive Income

How to Make Sure You’re Not Buying Into the Myth of Passive Income

Did you ever dream of finding that magic button on your computer that unleashes a torrent of money into your bank account? If so, you're not alone. "Passive income" is hyped all over the place as … [Read More...]

Latest Posts

How Filing my Expat Taxes Changed from a Nightmare to a Dream

How Filing my Expat Taxes Changed from a Nightmare to a Dream

I wrote this article back in 2013, and I've happily used Expatriate Tax Returns every year since - until now. FWIW, I plan to go back to them next year. I'll explain what happened in another … [Read More...]

@2018 Anywhereist.com