A blog can do many jobs for your small business: help you communicate with customers, attract potential clients, publish your thinking, and get search engine attention.
They can save you money because a basic blog can be inexpensive to design.
Blogs are also easy to maintain yourself- the software is easy to learn, and you can post samples of your work, updates to your services and much more.
1.
Decide on your blog platform.
WordPress is a free blog platform, but it also requires that you install the software to run it on your own web server.
You also have to update your WordPress installation regularly.
WordPress also requires more HTML coding to customize your design.
On the other hand, WordPress does offer a lot of code modules and plug-ins to make your blog more functional.
I recommend WordPress to tech-savvy clients who can install and maintain their own software or clients who have more budget to design, code and maintain their blogs.
2.
Design your own blog or start from a template.
Designing your own blog will result in a more unique look.
And, if you've chosen to use TypePad as your blog provider, designing a customized blog is pretty simple, as long as you stick with the basic layouts that they offer.
If you use a template, some of the following steps may become unnecessary.
If you like the color palette or font choices in your template (and if they match your brand design), you may just be "good to go".
However, a template has its' downsides.
It can look generic, or worse yet, your competition could decide to use the same template.
This can confuse users and make your blog less effective.
3.
Create your blog header.
You could use a standard blog header, which consists of simple text on a colored background.
But, designing a banner graphic is an easy way to make your blog stand out and can also make it more engaging and memorable.
If you have other materials already designed for your brand, you'll want the header to match your other materials (such as your website, business card, brochure, etc.
).
4.
Determine your sidebar content.
The sidebar area of your blog is a place where you can include promotional areas (for example, a box promoting a product you sell, or a sign up box for your newsletter) or link to the content in your blog in different ways (organized by categories, or archived according to the month they were written in, for example).
The sidebar is also a perfect place to promote your other online presences- like your main website, or your Twitter feed.
And, you can use the sidebar to offer visitors ways to subscribe to the blog as well.
5.
Set the number of columns.
You'll need a main text column where you can publish your posts and articles.
You can have either 1 or 2 sidebar columns for your links and widgets.
How many you'll need for the sidebar will be determined by the content in those columns.
Consider the design of the content and whether that design would look better in one wide column or two skinnier columns.
And, consider the amount of sidebar content you have- you want to be sure that the sidebar doesn't scroll on too long.
They can save you money because a basic blog can be inexpensive to design.
Blogs are also easy to maintain yourself- the software is easy to learn, and you can post samples of your work, updates to your services and much more.
1.
Decide on your blog platform.
WordPress is a free blog platform, but it also requires that you install the software to run it on your own web server.
You also have to update your WordPress installation regularly.
WordPress also requires more HTML coding to customize your design.
On the other hand, WordPress does offer a lot of code modules and plug-ins to make your blog more functional.
I recommend WordPress to tech-savvy clients who can install and maintain their own software or clients who have more budget to design, code and maintain their blogs.
2.
Design your own blog or start from a template.
Designing your own blog will result in a more unique look.
And, if you've chosen to use TypePad as your blog provider, designing a customized blog is pretty simple, as long as you stick with the basic layouts that they offer.
If you use a template, some of the following steps may become unnecessary.
If you like the color palette or font choices in your template (and if they match your brand design), you may just be "good to go".
However, a template has its' downsides.
It can look generic, or worse yet, your competition could decide to use the same template.
This can confuse users and make your blog less effective.
3.
Create your blog header.
You could use a standard blog header, which consists of simple text on a colored background.
But, designing a banner graphic is an easy way to make your blog stand out and can also make it more engaging and memorable.
If you have other materials already designed for your brand, you'll want the header to match your other materials (such as your website, business card, brochure, etc.
).
4.
Determine your sidebar content.
The sidebar area of your blog is a place where you can include promotional areas (for example, a box promoting a product you sell, or a sign up box for your newsletter) or link to the content in your blog in different ways (organized by categories, or archived according to the month they were written in, for example).
The sidebar is also a perfect place to promote your other online presences- like your main website, or your Twitter feed.
And, you can use the sidebar to offer visitors ways to subscribe to the blog as well.
5.
Set the number of columns.
You'll need a main text column where you can publish your posts and articles.
You can have either 1 or 2 sidebar columns for your links and widgets.
How many you'll need for the sidebar will be determined by the content in those columns.
Consider the design of the content and whether that design would look better in one wide column or two skinnier columns.
And, consider the amount of sidebar content you have- you want to be sure that the sidebar doesn't scroll on too long.