Starting a blog may seem like an easy process, but there are pitfalls along the way, and many executives require a step-by-step process to avoid them. Based on my experience for clients in a wide variety of industries, here is a simple do-it-yourself process to ensure your blog provides a powerful and readable resource, both to generate readership and maximize the search engine optimization (SEO) impact on your company's website.





1) If you are not already doing so, host your website on Go Daddy. When you set up or transfer your site, make sure you have your own IP address and are not hosting the blog directly on Go Daddy. The location of your blog will impact search engine optimization – if it is hosted on another organization's site, the one benefiting from all the original content you create will be them and not you.

2) Once your website hosting is arranged, and you have your own IP address, call Go Daddy for easy installation of blogging software. The software should be uploaded to your root directory in a folder titled "blog." Then, you blog can be accessed from the URL www.yoursite.com/blog.  When you go through the process with technical support from Go Daddy, make sure the word "blog" is physically typed into the sub-directory before the automatic installation.

3) When you access the URL of your blog, you will see a sign-in screen. You need to enter your user name (get it from Go Daddy), and then click "I forgot my password" to get a password reset option sent to your email address.

4) After entering the blogging software, you will automatically be forwarded to the dashboard. This page will allow you to access all the functions of your blog. The first step involves choosing a theme. A theme will provide the color background and structure of your blog. You can click on "appearance" in the left-side navigation bar, then themes in the sub-navigation. Wordpress will give you a few themes to choose from and then a box titled "Add theme" at the bottom in a large box with a plus sign in the middle. Click the plus sign, and you will literally be able to access hundreds of designs.

5) Choose a professional looking theme. The best themes have two columns for a simple layout. Your blog posts will be entered into the wide column, and you will be able to add various graphics and "widgets" in the side column. Generally vendor-neutral advice works best for the blog posts with more promotional content added through widgets.

6) Widgets may be accessed as an item under the appearance link in your blog's dashboard in the navigation bar on the left side. When you click on this item, you will see various widgets in the left column under the heading "available widgets." On the right side, you will see depictions of sidebars corresponding to the theme you have chosen. To add a widget, simply click and drag it from one column into another. I suggest adding a search bar, categories, archives and a box to add text, generally used for a description of your company and your headshot.

7) The next step involves increasing your blog's functionality using plug-ins.  You will see an item titled "plug-ins" in your dashboard's left navigation bar. If you select "add new," you will get a new screen with a search box. While there aren't any plug-ins I would describe as essential in the beginning, I do recommend Akismet and Wordpress SEO. These plug-ins will protect your blog from spam and help your search engine ranking respectively. Other plug-ins can be used to provide social sharing bars and improve your blog's loading speed, for example. You can research recommended plug-ins in Google by searching on "Wordpress.org plug-ins."

8) With the above steps completed, you are ready to start blogging. I recommend a length of 200 to 300 words per entry – the 200 minimum is required to be recognized by Google's spiders and the upper limit is simply to save your time. Remember also that most visitors do not have time themselves to read longer entries, and you can always split up larger posts and link them by using the same category. You should blog either daily or once a week, with the latter as an absolute minimum.

9) Once you have reached ten blog entries, you should submit your blog to blog search engines. The best blog directories, according to Planet Ocean Communications, are Blog Flux, Get Blogs, BlogCatalog and Globe of Blogs.

10) You should promote your blog in every way possible. Add the title and address to your email signature; add links from your social media accounts; include a box with the most recent blog post headlines on your website's home page. You will get out of your blog what you put into it. If you are blog-focused, your visitors will be, too, and you will find your blog a valuable resource both for prospective clients and for your own uses.




Thanks For Reading.