Blog-site for a techno-ignoramus---->me

1. 86

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   I'm in the midst of looking for a Blogsite for a soon to be home based business. I will need to create and 'feed' the blog but as I'm a non-tech-savy-DoDo it needs to be easy to set-up and  "operate". Any suggestions would be appreciated.
   Thanks ahead of time   
   regards Zsuzsy

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2. 87

   Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

   Lissie might be a good person to ask as she has recently gone through this whole process.  The first thing that occurs to me is whether you really want a blog or a website. 
   
   Blogs are all the rage these days, but I feel they have some limitations.  Blogs were originally a kind of diary, after all, so they're based around the idea that your newest posts are the most important.  On my blog, I didn't like the fact that my earlier posts disappeared down the bottom of the page (or into archives) when in fact, they had relevant info in them. 
   
   I know you can fix that by having links to older posts etc, but I still find it harder to navigate around most blogs than around websites, and that can't be good for customers. 
   
   I think the ideal might be a website with an attached blog, not sure which providers offer those.

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3. 86

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   thanks Marisa!
   Man-o-man this can be confussing stuff
   zs

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   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   Hey Zsuszy - I use wordpress - they are very easy to use, but have limitations. What are you wanting to do ?

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5. 86

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   Hi Mark! I'd like to do a daily progress hopefully answers from future customers.  Is wordpress a website or blog?

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   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   WordPress is a blog platform. But it's also a website LOL - You can have the option of a static front page with the blog underneath it or you can have a blog page with the latest post on the front. I run a few of these:
   
   http://footieblog.co.uk/  - this one uses a static front page
   
   http://internationalpropertyinvestment.com/  - this one uses a normal blog heirarchy
   
   They are pretty easy to set up. Do you want to make money with it or just offer as a service?

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7. 86

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   If making money is an option naturally that would be the choice...is it expensive to set up this type of webpage? I need to do all on a very short shoestring...

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8. 58

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   Not expensive. You can actually set one up for free, but are limited in how much money you can make. Take a look at this site and set up a free one. If you like it, you can then set up your own hosting:
   
   http://wordpress.com/  - this is the free one - it does have limitations though.
   
   http://wordpress.org/  - this will give you information about setting up and hosting your own site

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9. 86

   Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

   Oh God what do you mean by hosting? ????

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10. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    I think wordpress might be just right for me, as they got my kind of book  'wordpress for dummies'. he-he Thanks a lot Mark I appreciate your time. regards Zsuzsy

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    1. 71

       Peter M. Lopezposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Zsuzsy, I know you've commented about your tech saviness on other hubs of mine, but if a blogging platform is what you are looking for, Blogger is very easy and very free.
       
       It is not as powerful and option-friendly as Wordpress, but it depends on what you are looking for.  Blogger is a breeze to set up and publish on.  Here are a couple of help sites just for you, and one is for dummies. 
       
       http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/
       
       http://betabloggerfordummies.blogspot.com/

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11. 58

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    No sweat - let me know when you have a wordpress.com site set up and I will take a look for you.

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12. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Thanks Zs

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    ysdataposted 16 years ago

    If you have access to your server set up your own wordpress (that's what hosting means).  The free version will kick you off for promoting products and services.  If you have your own domain (i.e. -- www.ysdata.com/bloglog) you can do what you like.  That's my blog using wordpress.  They also have many plugins.

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14. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Can I get an honest opinion here from you "savys". Is it possible for a tech-challenged that I am to start and operate and actually 'drive traffic' (Hey, that is obvious enough for me to understand) Honestly The computer was something I used to write up bills and plugged in accounting numbers for my store...The only exposure I've had has been here on the hubs for 3-4 month. I read everything written by you "GURUs" I think you're speaking english but thats debatable...Zs

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    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Yes it is. I knew absolutely nothing about it until I started about 6 months ago. Unfortunately, there are any number of people writing a load of crap about it - Even here
    
    If you write genuinely useful information and join a few forums/networking sites and make a contribution, they will come. BUT..... It's nowhere near as easy as some would tell you.
    
    And it takes time. This is my graph for page views here. I spent the first 4 months writing and very few visits. Then I started doing promo stuff and being active here and my traffic jumped. I didn't see the point of promoting my stuff until I had some decent content. I think it takes 6-18 months to get decent traffic to just about anything.
    
    

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16. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    How do I weed out the crap? Or does it make sense to hire someone to set it up for me? I'm just getting worried that if I'm working the business part of things, how much time would I need to spend on the computer to do & learn all that creative mumbo jumbo ??? Mark! How many hours do you or did you spend in front of the screen? I'm not even sure how to link things together...its frustrating I never considered myself to be stupid but man-oh-man...Sorry I'm ranting regards Zsuzsy

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17. 58

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    LOL - No problem. I understand your frustration - It was the same for me. What I suggest is you try something - if it works, do it again, if not - try something else.
    
    Part of the problem is - what works for me, may not work for you
    
    I am very aggressive in certain ways, but lack that in others. I will not do some of the things people do to generate traffic. I won't lie, I won't send people to poor sites for a commission. I won't set up dead sites that do nothing other than send you on to an affiliate site.
    
    I am sure I could make more money if I started selling ebooks to people who have even less of a clue that I do.
    
    Trust your common sense. Does it make sense that you can make thousands of dollars for a few hours input - No? Don't trust these guys.
    
    Here are a few sites that offer genuine information and useful content- at least I think so:
    
    
    http://www.doshdosh.com/
    http://www.bloggingtips.com/
    http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/
    
    Obviously it depends what you want to do

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       Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Mark, you're a gentleman!  It's depressing there are so many people on the internet, doing just the things you mention.
       
       You've given an example of your HubPages traffic.  I don't think that's necessarily a fair indication of what Zsuzy can expect from a blog or website, because in my experience, HubPages have far more "built-in" visibility.  I'm guessing that Zsuzy isn't likely to be writing on a "hot topic" like SEO or Forex trading, so she may have an uphill battle getting noticed.
       
       BTW, the free Wordpress won't allow you to monetize your blog (i.e. you can't put Adsense ads etc on it).

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    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Mark guess who I met on bloggingtips...Thanks for these great sites.I'm going to be busy reading it all. I'll be a pro yet.(this is pep talk)
    thanks again regards Zsuzsy

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    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Marisa - Yes, I know - I put some links earlier to wordpress .com and .org and explained the difference.
    
    Thanks for the compliment - I am genuinely distressed at how many people do these sort of things online.
    
    Also, I get a lot of PMs from people who are upset at their "lack of success," because they bought into these ideas. This is hard - I don't care who you are.
    
    And actually, I have seen similar traffic patterns from the wordpress blogs that I run.
    
    I like wordpress because it is very SEO friendly. If you write it genuinely, it will get indexed and found by the search engines - I am not so sure about the blogger platform.
    
    Z - Really, who di you find at bloggingtips

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20. 87

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    I thought Blogger might have more visibility because it belongs to Google - but it doesn't look like it!   I switched over from Wordpress very early on, as soon as I realised I couldn't monetize it - so I didn't have time to get any experience of Wordpress traffic.

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21. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Marisa! What I don't get is why couldn't 'my blog' have ads on it?
    Did I get this right a website can advertise, have a front page from where you goto where ever.
    A blog will not allow any ads...but both of your blogs Mark (Footie & investment) have sidebar ads???? Or is it just certain companies that will not allow ads? How do they make money then? If its free to set up and run a blog where does the revenue come from.
    (my tombstone will say ...died of too much too fast brainmatter expansion)
    Thank you all, Marisa, Mark, Peter (the distinction between me and the dummies was appreciated, but the truth really hurts)
    One other question,  lets say I'm ready to start the business production by mid-march but the product won't be ready and available for 2-3 month when would you start the blog or website which ever it's going to be? Would you start with explanation of what this site is going to be about then give regular updates and related "articles" etc? Is that how its done? (Dear Lord, it's starting to look like pal jericho wrote this)
    I will go away now and try to digest these 'help sites' you've suggested. Thanks a million guys.

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22. 58

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    Z - The free wordpress a/c does not allow ads. The self hosted ones do. You can do what you like with those.
    
    I would set it up ASAP - it takes time to get Page Rank and one of the things that counts is how old the site is.
    
    Once you have looked at all the sites I and others have suggested, come back and ask again.
    
    It is both easier and harder than you think , LOL

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23. 87

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    Zsuzsy, Mark is right - the free version of Wordpress doesn't allow ads (which is why I switched to Blogger, which does).  However, the consensus seems to be that the paid version of Wordpress is better and more flexible.  It's especially handy that you can have some fixed pages.
    
    Blogging is really hard to explain - the best way to learn is by doing.  I don't know if Mark would agree, but it might be worth setting up a free Wordpress blog on some other subject - anything you like, just to play around with the format and work out how it operates.  That sets you free to play around without worrying about how a dodgy site might impact your product.

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    ysdataposted 16 years ago

    Marisa, the host version of wordpress is free too.  That's the version you can place ads.

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       Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       The software is free, but you have to pay for hosting
       
       Most good hosting sites offer auto-install and upgrades as well.

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          Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks Mark, that's what I should have said - I expressed it badly!

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             Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

             I was just adding to it.

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    VICTORANTOSposted 16 years ago

    Hi!
    
    I am a web developer. I can create personal websites, blogs, forums, etc.
    Take a look on my CV:
    
    http://victorantos.com/resume.aspx
    
    My tech blog is : http://blog.victorantos.com
    
    
    May be I could help you

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       Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       What is it with the self promotion rubbish at the moment. He is getting all the help he needs right here and for free... Sheesh.

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26. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Thank you Mark, Marisa and all, I think my eyes will permanatly stay at a funny angle. I've been reading and reading...I'm almost sure I don't want to host a website...the blog with a set home page...maybe...I'm starting to get a bit of a better grip The doshdosh site is excellent I'm half way through their sections...I've been making notes of all I need, would like and am not interested in...Once I have it all narrowed down I will ask advice, if I may.
    Victorantos! Thanks for the offer but when I'm ready I will look for myself, of whom I will deal with. regards Zsuzsy

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27. 87

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    Zsuzsy, just repeating that it's worth checking out Lissie's work - go to her profile and you'll find links to her website and blog.  She's not an expert, but I think she's worth talking to because the experience of setting them up is very fresh in her mind - she's only been doing this for a year.  So she's in a good space to understand where you are now!

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28. 75

    Lissieposted 16 years ago

    Lissie enters stage right - blushing! I am not expert on all of this and I haven't written an ebook on it either! Theres are long thread on the business forum re the ups and downs of working on the internet!
    All the advice from Mark and Marisa above is right - Wordpress is the way to go - its only going to cost you the price of setting up the hosting - about $8 / month but you have pay about a year in advance to get that sort of price plus the domain name as in mydomain.com - < $10 / year per a domain
    
    Some hubs I wrote recently which may help
    The best thing about WordPress are the free themes -they not only do the look and feel of the website but also sort out the SEO and even the Adsense placement for you
    Free Wordpress themes - particularly the doshdosh ones
    How to set up a  Wordpress blog from scratch on your domain is here -
    WordPress blog setup - caution I do get a commission from Dreamhost - but I use them myself and they are good - and you do get a discount of $30 from your bill
    BTW the site I set up using this technique I've edited a bit so very few dates show - that may sound scary but it was pretty easy to do really! It gives you an idea of how different you can make WordPress look.   
    
    my first site was set up using Dreamweaver which is a bit trickier than WordPress (and costs a bit too) and  is a static web site - it doesn't change - I later added a blog - which I have let get out of date - but its a foot in both camps if you like -
    Hope this helps! Sorry to ad to the reading - but its all fun and its a huge thrill to get your first "own" site up and running! 
    
    Now if I could just get people to go to my sites - thats the hard bit!

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    VICTORANTOSposted 16 years ago

    OK. If you are using wordpress, it would be useful to insert a http://www.google.com/analytics  google anlytics  script to monitor your traffic.
    
    for example:
    

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       Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Seriously, have you even read this thread?
       
       
       

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30. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Thanks Lissie I will check out your hubs.  This is getting more complicated. I'm still not sure which way to turn. I just know that when the actual business is running I won't have 8 hours a day to try to do clicks and links and what nots and drive traffic etc. this is me puling my hair out...Zsuzsy

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       Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Don't do that - look what happened to me

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       Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Zsuzsy, if that's the case, then maybe you need to rethink what you're doing.  As Lissie has said, setting up your blog or website is the easy part.  Promoting it is the tough bit. 
       
       People who have been on sites like HubPages and Helium get a false sense of security because their stuff gets read, even if they don't promote it.  That's because HubPages does a lot of the work for you.  I know it was a reality check for me to start a blog and discover that it doesn't just get noticed by itself.  It just gets lost in the general noise of the internet unless you go out and promote, promote, promote.
       
       If you're promoting your business out in the real world with brochures and ads, and your website is just a backup to that, that's a different story. But if you're setting up the business and expecting the website to be your main portal, it might be better to start an eBay store than to try going it alone to begin with.

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    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Now don't I feel special....a personal invitation to become a member of Petsense for a mere $115 sign up fee plus a $55/ month............
    As a pet lover I'm seriously considering becoming a goldfish in this 8 glass jarred pool...Not.(may I use your sarcastic smiley here)
    One thing I was able to appreciate it looked like a nicely set up website.(I'm learning to pay attention to these things; thanks to the tutoring I'm receiving here. What is the overall opinion of "Linkworth"????thanks Zsuzsy

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    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Naturally I will be promoting the business in the 'real world'. The website or what ever, would only be a part of advertising and possibly orders.
    I've been in business  for thirty some years I've raised my kids on it. I just don't want to sew for 60-70 hours a week anymore. I'm going to try something else now. Unfortunately (for me) the web could be a good added promotion tool.
    I'm not under any illussions that to run anything on the web would be easy...Hence the questions here. To find out from the pros if its even worth for anyone who has no background in computers to try...and if there is a super easy way. Thanks for your time again Marisa  zs

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       Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       In your shoes, I would be promoting in the real world, too - but there are a lot of people who try setting up a business purely online, so I didn't want to make assumptions!   
       
       If it's an adjunct, I think the biggest thing is to have an easy-to-remember url.  For instance, I used to dance flamenco.  One school I attended had the website flamenco.com.au.  When people asked me where I trained, I would just tell them the website name and they didn't even have to write it down!   So I found it really easy to promote the school, even in casual conversation. 
       
       These days I've been trying belly dancing.  The school I attend has a website called sydmedfest.com.au.  There's no way anyone is going to remember that!

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    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Marisa! Thanks, that a great point. I just added that into my business plan. Have heard of  "linkworth"? what's your take on that site?  zs

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       Lissieposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       
       Yes I have- here is a link to linkworth and similar - paid to blog sites http://www.doshdosh.com/a-definitive-li … -websites/
       Note the date on this post, last Jun I think.  Google has since come down heavy on sites who sell links - which is effectively what you are doing in these programs - and G doesnt like that because they aren't "real" organic links - the type you would have on a hub for example.
       What google did was downgrade the Page Rank on sites that sold links - about last Oct - google "google slap" if you have a LOT of time. Downgrading PR means that your site doesn't rate as high on the google results - and that's bad if you are planning on using your blog/site as a form of advertising for a real-world business - which is sounds like you are.  If on the other hand you want to be on the other side and use linkworth to sell advertising that would be fine - I haven't heard of any negative consequences for the advertisers.  Adwords would be a good place to start as well- that's where people pay for the clicks that we all make money on from adsense! You can control how much you spend quite easily

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    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    No idea, sorry.

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35. 86

    Zsuzsy Beeposted 16 years ago

    Thanks Lissie. I'm starting to narrow things down, but I'm not going to rush into anything yet.
    zs

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