Market your business with a Blog [Archive]

DarrenC

17th March 2007, 22:41

I wonder how many of you use a blog to market your business?

Blogs are great marketing tools and can be used to promote your service or product, raise awareness of your company or build business brands. I write a successful travel blog, and have found by writing unqiue content, people have linked to me and the blog now receives avg 2,000 uniques per day.

Creating a blog is easy, but promoting it and adding unique content is difficult but having one could help your business.

Some other reasons for creating a blog

- Give your business a 'front desk' for customers to communicate with you
- Drive more visitors to your website

If you want more information about blogging let me know, I'm not one of these problogger types, but I do have a new blog which is helping people promote their blog.

Darren

simonr

18th March 2007, 12:25

I do it here (http://www.curved-vision.co.uk/presentation-skills-blog). It's not something that brings in thousands of pounds a month directly - but what it does do is mean that people can get a feel of our style before they contact us. That means that anyone who contacts us is likely to be a much warmer contact.

The other advantage is that it means our homepage changes frequently (for google) by way of a free bit of PHP (called CaRP) that feeds the most up to date bit as part of the page. I've no idea if it works, but we're on the first Google page for "presentation skills training (http://www.curved-vision.co.uk)".

The getting to know you function seems to be the most important....

Richie N

18th March 2007, 13:37

Hi Darren

I've just started a blog - http://premier-recruit.blogspot.com/

let me know your thoughts on how to improve things.

thanks :)

Richie N

18th March 2007, 13:38

So it's best to have a blog on your website for SEO purposes, rather than with a blog spot or something similar?

thanks

shellie

18th March 2007, 14:44

Sooooooo, kindly tell me how a blog would help me promote my childrens enterainment site. I do pamper parties for children. I have always thought it seems like too much hassle, and if I am not very busy with business people will know.

AND, how do I promote the blog. Do I need to? I dont really understand it all!

An Oasis

18th March 2007, 15:45

So it's best to have a blog on your website for SEO purposes, rather than with a blog spot or something similar?

Blog spot and the likes are ok but not as much functionality as the better blog software. Also most of the spamlogs are blogger/blog spot type so I would expect to see a penalty made by the search engines in the future. Wordpress is the way to go.

IN answer to your question DarrenC yeah been using blogs for couple of years, done properly they can be a useful tool. www.realoasis.net (http://www.realoasis.net)

An Oasis

18th March 2007, 15:55

Silly statistic of the day. In 2006 there were more blogs created than websites created between 1996 - 2006.

Richie N

18th March 2007, 16:19

Cheers Richard for your reply ;)

Mark Nagurski

18th March 2007, 16:31

I agree with the 'feel' description as above - I use ours (www.textstarters.blogspot.com) to help give a bit of a sneak peak into the way we think.

Having said that, having run it for a few months now on Blogger, I will be moving the lot onto our website soon

DarrenC

18th March 2007, 17:14

Hi Darren

I've just started a blog - http://premier-recruit.blogspot.com/

let me know your thoughts on how to improve things.

thanks :)

Richie, add some images in between the content to make it more readable, also look at creating an RSS feed at www.feedburner.com so that people can read your content in an RSS reader

[let me know ifyou need more info on RSS feeds]

So it's best to have a blog on your website for SEO purposes, rather than with a blog spot or something similar?

thanks

I'd recommend buying a domain name and hosting, and then use a free blog software like Wordpress.org its much more SEO friendly then blogspot and you have complete control of your blog.

Sooooooo, kindly tell me how a blog would help me promote my childrens enterainment site. I do pamper parties for children. I have always thought it seems like too much hassle, and if I am not very busy with business people will know.

AND, how do I promote the blog. Do I need to? I dont really understand it all!

Shellie, creating a blog is another door into your business online. People search for a specific service like Childrens entertainment and find your blog and contact you.

You could write about what types of entertainment you offer, maybe post on the blog once a week, and cover a different topic each week. The first step is getting the blog set up, the 2nd is then promoting it.

Hope this helps

globalart4u

18th March 2007, 20:09

is it possible on a blog to also have say a gallery of pics linked to the blog?

An Oasis

18th March 2007, 21:11

Yep what software are you using?

Richie N

18th March 2007, 21:43

[quote=DarrenC;214218]Richie, add some images in between the content to make it more readable, also look at creating an RSS feed at www.feedburner.com (http://www.feedburner.com) so that people can read your content in an RSS reader

[let me know ifyou need more info on RSS feeds]

Cheers, managed to add a few pictures and feed, I think? lol :)

DarrenC

19th March 2007, 13:01

Richie, much better. The photograhs break up the content and make it more readable.

Did you sign up with Feedburner? You can promote your feed on your blog and also create a newsletter so when you make a post on the blog the subscribers will receive notifcation.

DarrenC

19th March 2007, 13:02

is it possible on a blog to also have say a gallery of pics linked to the blog?

You could try www.flickr.com

You can then add the images on your blog visit the travel blog in my sig and scroll down to the bottom. Whenever I add a photograph it appears randomly in here.

globalart4u

19th March 2007, 20:35

i have not created it yet but have bought the domain and am searching for blog software to install into to and need to add a gallery to it i will check out these sites thank you

Richie N

19th March 2007, 21:11

Wine Unearthed

19th March 2007, 21:29

Thanks this is very useful as i need all the help possible to drive business to the web

DarrenC

20th March 2007, 12:31

No problem.

Blogs have been slow to take off in the UK, and they are over 55million blogs on the net according to www.technorati.com

Whilst there is no doubt that blogs can be a useful marketing tool for your business, I'd be lieing if I said it was an easy way to market your business. You have to write unique content, and people will link to your blog, which will help it increase in the search engines.

You need to write articles that people are going to get something from, rather than just news and events.

markpadam

20th March 2007, 13:39

Here is my blog:

impact-computers.blogspot.com

let me know what you think

carps

21st March 2007, 09:23

Hi

Good advice and interesting reading! IMO, blogs are only going to do you any good if you've got a good writer knocking about the place - someone with a snappy prose style and an idea of the kind of things people might be interested in reading. Another thing to bear in mind is that this normally means having a point of view and being prepared for disagreements amongst your comments.

In general terms, a nice friendly blog about what your business is up to can do wonders in terms of making your site memorable. Although blogs are quite the "hot thing" few people do them well - and even fewer businesses.

If you're looking to use your blog as a tool for Search Engine Optimisation, you're better off getting some custom software on your site and hosting your blog on your own domain (instead of at blogger.com etc). Domain strength is Google's thing at the minute, and that means concentrating your links and content in one place.

Good luck though!

carps

21st March 2007, 09:27

Hi Mark

Just had a quick look at your blog. Obviously it's early days so there isn't much to go on yet. If you are going to blog, the first thing I'd recommend is making sure you keep it up - maybe set aside a morning every week to get a new entry up. The second thing I'd suggest would be to write about things that are less obviously promotional. So instead of articles about sales you're running or how good you are, talk about your customers - without naming names you can get good stories from the odd questions you probably get asked and so on. It's normally a bit more interesting if you write as "me" rather than "we" (a trap I fall into myself!)

Other than that - way to go!

Cheers

Paul

RahXephon

22nd March 2007, 17:50

I just start my blog this week but it's true as you said that easy to produce but difficult to promote...

Printcartridgedirect

23rd March 2007, 14:39

Hi all,
Im a cheeky student here working for a company one day a week. I have been left to my own devices and my 'job role' is to advertise the company usings blogs and such things. I knew nothing about them before I started here. I had a bebo for my own use, just to keep up to date with my friends. With my time at printcartridgedirect, I have made many blogs advertising them on things like blogger, squidoo, blog.co.uk and bebo. I have made many mistakes though. I havent really appealed to anyone yet! I think this is becuase my content is wrong. I have set them up to simply advertise. How ever recently I have tried to use blogs as a place to share information on the related topic and then linking that page to my advert, so to speak. An example of the advert is
http :// printcartridgedirect.blogspot.com
and where I have tried to change my direction to provide information is seen at
http ://
print-cartridgedirect.blogspot.com.
I realise this post is very long and I apologize, but.......
I wanted to know what you think is important to include on the blog, when you are talking about the company, i ask this question becuase I want to talk about the history and where the company is going and I was wondering what kind of things the customer really wants to know.
Thanks to everyone who takes their time to read this.

Afaia

26th March 2007, 20:24

I've been thinking about this but don't know how to go about it.
Can you tell me the basics please?
Many thanks
Melody

An Oasis

26th March 2007, 20:27

I've been thinking about this but don't know how to go about it.
Can you tell me the basics please?
Many thanks
Melody

Easy, find some good examples and...

JustOneUK

26th March 2007, 22:14

RayB

27th March 2007, 16:50

This is a great post and timely too - cos we wan't to lauch a blog about general eco business issues as an outlet for my missus who has a talent for writing such stuff (as opposed to me who is pants!)

My queries are:

1. If I want to do it properly I assume I'm best to buy a domain, use wordpress and host it "properly" - I guess not on my own website server?

2. If so where best to host "properly" - any suggestions?

3. Is this a better way than using free "blog space" somewhere?

In other words - we wan't to create a blog that people will find, enjoy, and return to - if not what's the point?

And if that indirectly helps our business site then great.

Any help on this would be great!

Lorna

28th March 2007, 20:55

netidme

30th March 2007, 14:51

blogs are useful, both hosted, and built into your website (particularly useful for seo). Article submission sites are also helpful - like go articles and ezine articles

DarrenC

31st March 2007, 01:57

@DarrenC

You say "market your business with a blog" if we could all write so enthusiastically as you, we would all be rich. Nice blog.

I think blogging is a case of "if the glove fits"
I actually think that blogging and business should be kept a mile apart, and will be blogging about that soon, ..erm....

Thanks JustOne, I completely disagree about keeping blogging and business a mile apart. A blog should just be one of may tools you should use to market your business, build your brand and create yourself a communication channel with your potential clients, customers and buyers etc.

This is a great post and timely too - cos we wan't to lauch a blog about general eco business issues as an outlet for my missus who has a talent for writing such stuff (as opposed to me who is pants!)

My queries are:

1. If I want to do it properly I assume I'm best to buy a domain, use wordpress and host it "properly" - I guess not on my own website server?

2. If so where best to host "properly" - any suggestions?

3. Is this a better way than using free "blog space" somewhere?

In other words - we wan't to create a blog that people will find, enjoy, and return to - if not what's the point?

And if that indirectly helps our business site then great.

Any help on this would be great!

Buy cheap hosting, which comes with a MySQL database, and PHP4+ and you'll be fine. PM me and I will recommend a good company for hosting, or visit the UKCB business directory

No, don't use Blogger, etc. Use Wordpress or any of the other blogging applications out there, and host it yourself. You have complete control over your blog then.

Hello

I checked out your link and submitted our blog to Blogburst, and was accepted, so thanks for the info!

Great news ;)

I hope it brings you tons of new visitors, it has to my travel blog, just featured in USA today this week and the Independent last week, over 2,000 visitors a DAY, imagine getting that traffic if you were using a blog to market your business ;)

blogs are useful, both hosted, and built into your website (particularly useful for seo). Article submission sites are also helpful - like go articles and ezine articles

Article sites are a waste of time IMO, your just generating duplicate content all over the net and the search engines just hate that.

Laine

31st March 2007, 07:26

I've been blogging in various places for years, so I didn't begin to blog as a means of marketing my business, which is fairly new. I think blogging does drive traffic to your business but it takes time. And if a blog is created purely as a means to attract traffic, then it is less effective in terms of building-up visitor numbers.

In addition to the blog on the Larkin & Catcher website, we also have the more relaxed 2planets blog at wordpress. I'm a bit of an insomniac and I usually write a post in the early hours of the morning. I haven't been to bed yet and I've just finished a pretty rambling 'Panties Week' post on the 2planets blog.

I enjoy blogging, and if it has any positive effect on business traffic, then that is just a bonus to me.

Peter BreE

31st March 2007, 07:48

High Darren -what sort of costs are involved
Peter B

DarrenC

5th April 2007, 18:38

High Darren -what sort of costs are involved
Peter B

For what Peter?

If you mean creating a blog, it'll be the cost of a domain name and hosting, but if you already have a domain for your business, then adding a blog is free, using applications like www.wordpress.org

Drop me a PM if you need any assistance.

Dawg

5th April 2007, 19:48

I've been doing mine mostly for fun, but after reading this thread I'm going to bite the bullet and get RSS up and going and market the dang thing.
Thanks for the kick in the bum!:)

RoyJ

6th April 2007, 17:50

I write a couple of blogs. One which has evolved over time into my business and writing blog was originally hosted on Blogger, but is now hosted on my old wellversed domain, though still using Blogger technology. The other, purely for poetry, has always been hosted on that domain but also uses Blogger, simply because it's easy.

We'll probably use wordpress on our new site, though, as it looks more professional and is probably more versatile. We'll also explore RSS feeds then.

For the blog to boost the business it will need to attract visitors in the first place. Some of them will arrive via the website or your other promotions anyway, others via links from elsewhere or as a result of RSS. Your newsletter is a good way to gain visitors, by including a teaser that readers can only read by clicking onto your blog. From there, they may well go on to visit other parts of your site. Make the blog entertaining and useful, and a percentage will keep returning and may even link to you from their site.

Still, until you can reach a level where it begins to become viral, I'd say the benefits are quite small, but all these little things add up.

Roy

An Oasis

6th April 2007, 19:45

Hi Roy

Our visitor stats are dramatically different if you compare our website to our blog. Traffic from your blog can be converts to your website if managed well, so it's worth looking at how your blog interacts with your website.

Blog traffic is much more technically savvy.

Trumpion

9th April 2007, 14:40

Thanks for shareing such as a great idea.

Rachael

9th April 2007, 14:53

I love reading blogs and when I launch my new website I'll be setting up a blog (and actually sticking to it this time). I think a great example of a blog is the 10 yetis one. As they update it so often and it's not just regular business stuff it's everyday reads that are interesting. FYI the yetis blog is here: http://www.10yetis.co.uk/yetiblog/

I'm also considering starting a private blog as I want to start writing again so thought it'd be a good way showcase my talents!

Rachael

DarrenC

9th April 2007, 16:32

I use a blog to promote my primary business [not on my sig] and I've seen an increase of over 30% since I created the blog. I haven't created a new domain, just simply used my business domain and I have someone who writes on the blog daily, to keep the content fresh and unique.

DarrenC

10th April 2007, 05:43

Still, until you can reach a level where it begins to become viral, I'd say the benefits are quite small, but all these little things add up.

Roy

Roy, I'd disagree that the benefits are quite small. Like most marketing techniques it depends on your niche, but if you optimise the blog for the search engines, promote it by networking with other blogs in your niche then I have seen examples where traffic to the blog has doubled, and in return this has increase the websites traffic.

I'll not pretend it's easy, it's not, but if done right a blog can be a good marketing too. It's not the only tool that businesses should use but can be an effective one.

Hi Roy

Our visitor stats are dramatically different if you compare our website to our blog. Traffic from your blog can be converts to your website if managed well, so it's worth looking at how your blog interacts with your website.

Blog traffic is much more technically savvy.

Blog traffic isn't necessary technically savvy, it depends on your niche. For example my travel blog, this gets over 2,000 uniques a day, and most of these are people looking for advice, don't comment on the blog, but hopefully go away with the answer they are looking for.

Blogs aren't just about the social networking aspect, they are great for finding information.

An Oasis

10th April 2007, 09:41

...Blog traffic isn't necessary technically savvy, it depends on your niche. ...

Just stating what we are seeing, which is a very very heavy bias to all the latest tech specs... for our blog stats.

...Blogs aren't just about the social networking aspect, they are great for finding information...

In a conversation with Dwag we both feel that there is very little to distinguish a blog from a web site, in fact I would go so far as to say there is will be none in 12 months time.

Blogs are a more efficient way to get your message over and I personally feel that websites will either need to catch up or fade away.

RoyJ

10th April 2007, 09:47

Yes, I'd wondered about the 'technically savvy' bit. It must depend on the niche audience to some extent.

I've never troubled myself too much with SEO on the blog, or with links from others in the niche, not least because it was something I used to do in 'stolen' minutes at the day job... I concentrated more on making it useful and interesting (I hope) and I've re-used some of the posts elsewhere as well.

Now I have the time, we'll make the new website blog a much more professional affair, and a more integral part of our marketing effort.

Good to have the feedback, though - thanks.

Roy

DarrenC

10th April 2007, 20:01

In a conversation with Dwag we both feel that there is very little to distinguish a blog from a web site, in fact I would go so far as to say there is will be none in 12 months time.

I partly agree with you.

I'd hate that to happen personally.

A good comparison though is that a website is much much [much] more difficult to market, and if you are offering a service or product very few people will link to the website.

Compare this with a blog, where your writing unique content and your giving people your knowledge, experiences and opinions for free. Write unique content that people find interesting and they will link to it.

So, by but giving away free advice and experiences it is a great way to promote your services and products to your targeted audiance. I've seen travel companies do this and it's seen their bookings IF dont properly.

An Oasis

11th April 2007, 19:44

Hey DarrenC

I think it's on the cards, in fact happening now, blog technology has got so much more packed into it - that it will happen, if we want it to or not. Just looooooook at the stats and then repackage a blog into a website + blog....

For me it's already happening. Don't go to sleep on me folks, just because it's not the norm doesn't mean it's not going to happen.:eek:

RoyJ

11th April 2007, 20:09

I think you're right - a lot of blogs look like websites at first glance, and with all those features ... I think we've some catching-up to do!

Roy

hgv

11th April 2007, 23:46

DarrenC

12th April 2007, 01:46

My travel blog has just hit 2,500 unique visitors a day, imagine I was a travel company, they would kill for traffic like that. If it was a website, I wouldn't get that traffic because I wouldn't be adding as much content, as reguarly as I do.

I write 1 or 2 blog posts every day.

Each day they are over 400 different keyword terms people are using to find the blog. On a website you wouldn't write so much unique content, you just display what product or service you want to sell.

Blogs are so much more superior.

Alison Clayton-Smith

12th April 2007, 15:14

I've only just become a member of ukbusinessforums and I saw this thread about blogs. Having recently set up as a freelance consultant I was deliberating about a website. Anyway, prompted to action I looked at wordpress.com, after seeing it recommended, and in about a day's effort I actually have something which works as a website. I haven't yet done an actual blog on it, it is all static pages, but I intend to start doing a blog of relevant thought pieces connected to what's going on in the legal sector. I've really enjoyed putting it together. In the end it might only be an interim thing till I can get something more sophisticated but then to be honest I'm not sure I need anything too whizzy for what I need anyway. If you fancy having a look it is at http:/connectperformanceconsulting.wordpress.com. Clearly there are restrictions around formatting, etc. but then it some ways it makes it easier to be restricted as you can get something up there without aiming for the perfect site. So anyway, thanks for the thoughts here about blogging as websites, they really helped.

Dawg

12th April 2007, 15:38

Way to go Alison!
A couple of small points: your picture could do with a bit of attention, sharpening up or whatever, and having Wordpress in your blogroll is a tad of a giveaway..:)
As "connectperformanceconsulting" has been registered as a domain, I presume by you, it might be worth pointing it at Wordpress, and for 10 credits, ($10) having "www.connectperformanceconsulting.co.uk" as your address rather than
"www.connectperformanceconsulting.wordpress.com"..just looks a bit more pro.

Alison Clayton-Smith

12th April 2007, 15:58

Hi

Thanks for your comments. Yes picture isn't great. I need to borrow a proper digital camera off someone (haven't entered that world of technology yet). I tried sharpening this picture up on the PC but this was the best I could get. Good point about blogroll, will do that in a mo. And yes have registered the domain, I'm waiting for my DNS (I think that's the right name) to be redirected, have done the necessary technical bits just waiting for it to be processed and then I can use the proper domain name instead. I'm really waiting for this before I start properly publicising the site.

DarrenC

13th April 2007, 05:41

Good decision Alison ;)

Whilst the Wordpress service is much more reliable than Googles blogger, why don't you think about getting some hosting, and buy a domain name and host the blog yourself.

You'll have much more flexability and thousands more themes to choose from.

Saying that, it's probably good to use wordpress.com to get used to the functionality and then move to a hosted version later.

Just a thought.

Alison Clayton-Smith

13th April 2007, 14:01

Hi Darren

Yes I am thinking of doing that. This week I've really just been seeing what I can do with it and having had some feedback that is positive with a few suggestions on look/feel I am inclined to pay some money to be able to customise more on the grounds that I may not need to do down the route of a 'proper' website. And then I need to get my head round hosting - so much to learn!

Alison

eMarketing Mark

17th April 2007, 00:44

I think that the customisation is good not only from a graphic point of view but also the application of extra functionality which will help to promote the blog and hence your business.

You may find the ideas on this post on Better Business Blogging (http://www.betterbusinessblogging.com/blog-directories-and-search/52-of-the-best-ways-to-promote-your-blog-and-your-business/) could also prove useful in that respect.

All the best,

Mark

simonr

17th April 2007, 09:48

Just a quick post in support of Mark.... he helped me hugely while I was setting up my presentation skills blog (http://www.curved-vision.co.uk/presentation-skills-blog) back in the days when we were both members of Ecademy (some good things do come from there!). Listen to the man and read his stuff!

S

PS: any mistakes in the blog are mine, not his! :)

Gillie

17th April 2007, 09:59

As a Company we actually have two blogs, one on the main site and one that I run and maintain when inspiration takes me in hand ...

And yes I have found that over the last couple of months as I put more and more entries on the blog and started using keywords when I could remember, that hits have tripled and the outgoing links as well are now taking good hits.

I find it easy enough to set up and maintain but do wish on the feedburner side of things that when you are trying to organise things, they spoke english .... its hard work trying to figure out what how and when ....

Anyone recommend a good blog for for a translation service for explaining to idiots how to use their back scenes widgets to get traffic to you??

orangepant

19th April 2007, 10:14

We have a businss blog - nurtur.co.uk/naked ; its called NAKED business. its Humourous observations of starting a company. it gets alot of view but not too many comments. seems to bring people to the website tho.

Please have a look and comment

PI Guy

19th April 2007, 10:35

http://www.salgadoinvestigations.com/blog/

The above is mine but its very new at the moment. I use wordpress and have found it very stable

carps

20th April 2007, 08:45

As we're all chucking our blogs into the mix, here's ours:
http://www.clearsitemarketing.co.uk/blog.html

It's doing us a fair bit of business. We've won credibility with potential clients who've read it before signing up with us, and (slowly) it's building up our search engine traffic and enquiries.

There's definitely mileage in it and I would recommend it to anyone. With a BIG caveat: Make sure you've got a decent writer doing it.

OGY

20th April 2007, 13:13

We have a blog at www.grasscircle.co.uk/blog. (http://www.grasscircle.co.uk/blog) (We use a WordPress blog (by far the best blogging software available)

We also wrote a recent article about setting up blogs here. (http://www.grasscircle.co.uk/blog/2007/03/12/setting-up-a-blog-tips/)

We tend to use the blog to communicate developments in our industry and find it very effective.

One of the beauties of a blog is the respect it has within Google's search results. Examples:

We rank position 5 (behind Google & the Register!) for "Google Grants (http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Google+Grants&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB211GB211)"
We rank position 1 for "Windows Vista Usage (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB211GB211&q=Windows+Vista+Usage&btnG=Search&meta=)" The rankings from a blog are always short lived - Google tends to give your article a short chance at the limelight to see if the result is useful to users.

The thing to remember...
Very few blogs (unless you are a world class writer) are enough to make you money directly. Yes you can use AdSense to get a few pounds from click through’s (however remember with this you are paid for users who leave your site!)
The real benefit of a blog, is promote your brand - Every article I write has our logo and contact details along with adverts for my services (with links to those pages)

Lorna

20th April 2007, 15:48

We started out using our blog (http://www.tickeverybox.com/blog) to keep our site updated with property news, so would just copy relevant bits of articles from the property news sources and insert them into the software (Wordpress).

Now,we tend to write our own content and comment, and the blog is really starting to take off. We use feedburner and feedboy, along with technorati and other blog promotion sites to increase traffic, and with a bit of effort it has really started to work. I would say that a blog is well worth having, if you can just put a bit of time in.

carolb

20th April 2007, 16:43

Carl-CSNM

20th April 2007, 16:54

Ok I need some help here please:|

You've all convinced me that a blog is a great thing to have and for someone who can sit and talk all day about any topic you want to talk about (except building websites/domains/hosting etc of which I know nothing and all the jargon scares me to bits :eek: ) I fancy giving blogging a go.

I've had a look at wordpress so do I just get a name e.g.xxxxxwordpress.com or can I use my url allaboutmytown and then put /blog at the end and do I have to buy that as a domain name ? (told you I know nothing :| ) and then do I just ask my hosting company to host the blog as well ?

carolb
www.allaboutmytown.co.uk (http://www.allaboutmytown.co.uk)

You can use your existing domain name i.e. allaboutmytown.co.uk/blog

All you need to do is download wordpress, upload it to your hosting via FTP to the "blog" folder you will create, create a database inside your hosting control panel. Once all the files are uploaded run the installer.

If you ask your host they should be able to install it for you.

carolb

20th April 2007, 16:57

Thanks Carl. I'll just copy and paste exactlly what you have said and send it to my web hoster. Job done :D

OGY

20th April 2007, 18:06

Hi Carol,

DEFINATLEY PUT THE BLOG AT /blog!

You will need to make sure you hosting supports PHP first.

Read my blog entry http://www.grasscircle.co.uk/blog/2007/03/12/setting-up-a-blog-tips/ (http://www.grasscircle.co.uk/blog/2007/03/12/setting-up-a-blog-tips/)

Cheers,

carolb

20th April 2007, 18:12

Will do thanks Ogy. And if they don't support PHP I'm sure there will be someone on here who can help me out ;)

By the way, some great tips on blogging

DarrenC

21st April 2007, 15:03

Sorry, been on my travels to Latvia.

It's good that this post is still going, and if anyone wants any help setting up a blog then just drop me a Pm and I will try and help them.

Dawg

22nd April 2007, 20:00

Dawg has started a separate market blog (http://dawgmarkets.co.uk/) to let people know about a) farmers markets we do, and then b) shops in those areas who will stock Dawg's treats.

One little thing we are doing is asking people to send in pix of their dogs so we can put them in the Dawg's Gallery (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawgsgallery). This seems to be going well, (people get a printed card with their purchase, and with freebies we hand out), but as it is early days the Gallery needs a few pix.

If you have any could you be kind enough to email them to dawg@thedawg.co.uk so we can put them up?

Any comments on how to refine this idea most gratefully received.

(Cross posted as new thread. Hope thats OK mods?)

carolb

24th April 2007, 17:32

Have spoke to my web hoster and they have quoted me £60 to install wordpress for me to start a blog, that is without any modifications if I want them. Does anyone know if this is about the right price to charge?

TheProblemConsultant

24th April 2007, 19:20

That depends on the level of service your hosting provides. I use Heart Internet and their hosting packages (http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/hosting-h.shtml) include a nice control panel that lets you install Wordpress with just the click of a button, all for just £2.49 per month.

Once you've done that it's generally easy to install plugins or themes.

On that note what themes do we all suggest are installed?

Regards, John

garyk

24th April 2007, 21:22

I've got quite a few sites using wordpress, two of them are;

www.business-answers.net (this uses a paid template from template monster which I think was about $50)
www.sageline500.net this uses a freebie template

The key for me using a blog as as site is that I update it alot more often. The Sage site was static and whilst I was capturing emails with a free newsletter and an adwords campaign I did't actually get content out that regularly. Now I tend to provide less information but more often so like easier to digest nuggets!

On the Sage site I am just back filling it all at the moment but the idea is as I do work for clients and hit problems and solve them I actually log all that so it provides a good basis for content and if you are an organisation using Line 500 you may find something of use.

Thats my tack anyway!

maruby

24th April 2007, 21:35

Just a quick question - can you start a wordpress blog hosted by wordpress and then move it to your own host later?

carolb

25th April 2007, 08:59

I paid an annual charge for hosting which was included in my web site build. All they do is host the site and rectify any problems with it that are out of my control otherwise I don't receive any contact from them unless I e-mail them. So the £60 would be to purley install wordpress.

I have considered moving host as there are some areas of the site that only they have control over so if I need to change the text etc. I have to ask them to do it and that constitutes a charge. On saying that they do reply promptly to my requests and make any changes within a day.

Is it easy to move host? What would I have to do?

garyk

25th April 2007, 10:43

Just a quick question - can you start a wordpress blog hosted by wordpress and then move it to your own host later?

I didnt know wordpress did their own hosting. You are probably better off getting it hosted yourself as long term thats probably what you will want to do so better off starting as you mean to go on.

TheProblemConsultant

25th April 2007, 10:51

Is it easy to move host? What would I have to do?

That largely depends on how complex your current site is and if you have easy access to the code/database or whatever is behind it.

You will also need access to be able to configure the domain name.

How easy that all is depends on your current hosting provider and how they've set it up - less so if you brought the hosting and/or domain seperately.

That said there's no reason not to run your blog of a seperate domain...

simonr

25th April 2007, 12:53

Maruby - yup. That's exactly what I did with mine (http://www.curved-vision.co.uk/presentation-skills-blog). It wasn't hard to migrate (and there are now automatic ways of doing it, apparently). I'm with garyk though, in that it's so easy to do (assuming you ISP plays ball) that you're better off doing it on your own domain from the start. Other than finding a place where you can get lots of incoming links to your 'real' site I can't think of an advantage of a wordpress hosted version.

S