I taught a class on blogging at my brokerage recently at the request of management. Over the course of a solid hour many questions came up about the process of blogging and it was suggested that I write a series of articles on how to blog. After some soul-searching on my part I decided to do that.
This is the first of about 10 different articles on creating a blog. I hope that you get some value from it!
Starting your first blog is an exciting idea. You’re going to make your presence known to the world, and you’ll have an avenue for expressing your thoughts and your opinions. There are plenty of platforms for you to build your blog on, however, in this post, you’re going to find out why you should consider a self-hosted WordPress blog.
Before we begin, however, let me just clarify that WordPress.org and WordPress.com are not the same.
WordPress.com is a blog hosting service which gives you very limited options. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is where you can download the WordPress software which you then need to install on your own web hosting. While this may sound intimidating, it’s really not. Many commercial web hosts offer 1-click install for WordPress which means you can get your blog up in just a few minutes!
Running your blog on the self-hosted version of WordPress means you have full control over your website. You own it, you can design it any way you want, you can publish any kind of content you want, and so much more.
The core WordPress software is already powerful on its own, and it even comes pre-installed with a few themes and plugins. With themes, you have thousands of free and premium themes to choose from, and you can make your site look as unique as you want. And when you add plugins, you can totally change your website’s functionality!
Even if you just want to blog for now, if you ever decide you want to add an online store to your blog later on, you can do that with WordPress. You can create landing pages on WordPress, you can add a forum to your site, you can even sell memberships or courses on it! In short, WordPress plugins are awesome.
Other platforms don’t come near the number of themes and plugins available on WordPress which is why it’s such a popular choice for bloggers and website owners alike.
As with most platforms, however, WordPress does come with a bit of a learning curve. However, once you understand the basics, then it will be easy for you to build different kinds of sites. WordPress has an active global community behind it, so you’ll never run out of tips and ideas to customize your website.
And if you are agent at Dudum Real Estate Group, I will personally hold your hand through the entire process of getting your blog up and running
Stay tuned! We’ll get started with next week’s post!
