WordPress.com and blogging
A blog is a platform to share your opinion or knowledge on different topics that can be useful and interesting to your audience. To create your blog, you will need a blogging platform that allows you to build your website or blog, and WordPress.com does just that. WordPress.com is a self-publishing platform that lets you create a website and host your blog without any coding experience, and you can start for free. It is a great way to publish your thoughts and ideas and share them with the world.
The following chapters focus on web-based resources for learning how to blog and work with WordPress.com. These include discussing the basics of a blog, writing a blog post, finding your voice, publishing your blog post, different available web hosting and the benefits and limitations of working with WordPress, and building your blog through WordPress.
Before learning how and where to write your blog posts, you will go over the basics of a blog. Chapter 1.1 “How to create your own blog posts,” briefly discusses the influence a blog has on people searching the internet for information regarding a topic and lists a variety of formats blogs can come in.
Learning how to write good blog posts will help keep your readers coming back to your blog for more. Chapter 1.1 discusses writing a blog post from the beginning to the end, from choosing a topic, creating an outline of a list of key points to discuss, creating a hook, and providing a call to action. This chapter also discusses using Grammarly for grammar and writing tips, editing/proofreading your work, keeping blog posts conversational, cutting down walls of text, and adding engaging and relevant images. Chapter 1.3 “How WordPress Simplifies Web Publishing for Beginners,” briefly discusses the length of a blog post based on your goal and the benefits of specific post lengths.
Readers like to get to know and connect with the blogger behind the post. It is not what you say but rather how you say it that readers can recognize your voice through your writing. Chapter 1.2 “Finding Your Own Voice Within Your Fear of Posting an Imperfect Post,” discusses publishing imperfect posts to connect with readers and discover your voice while easing potential fears.
Now that you have a blog post ready to share, where do you publish them? Blog posts need a place to live, and that is a website. Chapter 1.1 briefly discusses creating a free website using popular platforms such as WordPress and the requirements for creating a successful blog through making a domain name and having a hosting provider. Then you will learn how to define the purpose of your website influencing the kind of content you will post.
WordPress.com is one of the easiest and fastest ways to create a website for your blog posts, and there is a free plan. Of course, this platform has its benefits and limitations that are good to consider if this web host is right for you. Chapter 1.3 briefly discusses a free account with limited services compared to a paid premium plan and around-the-clock help. Chapter 1.4 “WordPress.com: What’s your purpose?” continues to explain its strong encryption and help with search engine optimization. The downside of having a free plan is that there are preformatted themes for the website and do not allow you to send personal emails, upload plugins and custom themes, and sell ads on your website.
Found that WordPress is the right choice for you? It is time to start building your website. Ch 1.1 briefly explains how to build your website through WordPress, focusing on how to customize your blog post and blog website. You can personalize your website by choosing the right layout theme, designing a homepage or a webpage for your blogs, planning a color scheme, using fonts, having a logo, and using social share buttons.
