Bloggers' 101: Read this First!

by Michelle Dale

Setting up a blog is one of the best investments you can make as a Virtual Assistant. It will be your shop window, so it's really important to get it right. You really don't need to do anything fancy. At this stage you certainly don't need to pay anyone to do it for you, as all the tools are out there, most of them for free.

The one thing that I would suggest, if this is going to be your main web presence as a Virtual Assistant, then you should have your own Hosting Package and a domain name that mirrors your business name, or as near as you can get it. The process that you need to go through when starting your blog is:

First of all, before you begin, here is a big warning: Keep your site clean and simple, clarity is everything! Make the site clear for your potential clients to navigate, so they can easily find the information that they need. Whilst in technological terms it may be state of the art, your blog still needs to appear stylish.

1. The first thing to do is to pursue some keyword research around the topics you are going to talk about on your blog. From this you can identify the most optimised names for the blog.

2. Your next step is to research the blog platform that you are going to use. There are a great number of choices available, offered by providers such as WordPress.org - the Moveable Type for the self hosted option, or the likes of WordPress.com, Typepad, Blogger, Blogspot or Blogsmith for hosted platforms. The things you really need to make sure that you do are:

* Use a platform that is widely support by a very active community.
* Use something that is portable, and always keep a back up should anything go wrong.
* Go with the most flexible option you can find so that you can easily customize your blog.
* Look to the future and try and see how your blog may evolve, and make sure that the option you choose will evolve with you.

3. Once you have chosen the platform, sign up using one of the optimised names that you chose for the blog, or install the site onto your own domain.

4. Choose the template that you want to use, and make sure that:

* It 's appropriate to your topic.
* You fully customise it with headers, pictures, buttons and so on to make your blog stand out.
* The end result suits your style and brand.

5. Once you have completed this see what else you are able to add to your site, i.e. available widgets and plug-ins.

6. Once you have a look that you like, you really need to upload some posts to see what the site will look like once you start to populate it. Once you've done this, make any tweaks necessary to improve the appearance and layout.

7. When you are happy with the overall look you can then publish your blog.

Maintaining your blog can be a bit of a challenge as you really need to post at least once a week, two or three quality posts would be better. You need to be providing something that visitors will want to come back for - and encourage these users to sign up to your feed.

Don't forget that this is a business blog and you're showcasing your corporate image, so keep the tone amicable, as you want to convey your individuality whilst remaining professional. Don't mix business with pleasure on your site, and as you don't want to alienate anyone, try to keep away from any kind of controversial topics.