Blogging software & tools

Now that you know what a blog is, and how it can benefit your business, let’s look at some of the most commonly used ways to get your blog up and running.

WordPress Blogging software and blogging tools

WordPress is the most popular blogging software used online today. This is because it is not only free to use, but has a huge support community that helps new and veteran users alike.

The biggest advantage to using WordPress, is that it is constantly being updated and improved upon. In fact, because it is open source software, there are hundreds, if not thousands of programmers constantly creating WordPress plugins.

These plugins are basically like bonus features you can use with the software, to upgrade its functionality (Making your life much, much easier).

You can view a list of these plugins at:

http://wiki.wordpress.org/?pagename=Plugin

One major feature of the software, is that it automatically creates a RSS feed for your blog.

Each time you post to your blog, the software automatically updates your feed. This is a dynamic feature that will help expose your blog to a wider audience, and best of all, requires no extra work on your part.

Installing WordPress

The first step you will need to take, is to download WordPress here: http://wordpress.org/download/

You can then follow the detailed installation instructions. Should you run into any problems, don’t hesitate to use the support forum at: http://wordpress.org/support/

After you have installed the software, you will want to change your theme. The theme is simply the layout/design of your blog. You can make it look as simple, or as creative as you wish.

Wordpress themes

To choose a theme for your WordPress blog, visit: http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/

Once you have chosen your preferred theme, simply download the file to your hard drive. The zip file should contain easy installation instructions for changing your theme in a few simple steps.

These are just the basics you need to get started using WordPress to power your blog. As you become more familiar with the software, you can slowly begin to use more of the advanced features and plugins.

Follow the Installing wordpress tutorial I did a while back

Popular WordPress Plugins

As we discussed earlier, there are a vast amount of helpful plugins you can use for WordPress.

Here are five of the most popular plugins available:

Spam Karma 2.0 – One of the most frustrating obstacles to running your own blog, is automatic comment spam. This is an underhanded tactic that unscrupulous marketers use to get free advertising on your blog.

Spam Karma 2.0 is the best anti-spam plugin available. Without getting too technical, this plugin will run all comments through a series of spam tests before posting them to your blog.

Click here to download this plugin

WP-Contact Form – This plugin allows you to add a contact form to your blog in two easy steps.

Click here to download this plugin

One Click Backup v. 1.3 – Quickly and easily backup your blog using this plugin.

Click here to download this plugin

Google Sitemap Generator – One of the hottest ways to get your Website/blog pages listed on Google is by using a Google Sitemap.

Use this plugin to instantly generate your own Google Sitemap, and you should see a dramatic increase in the pages Google indexes from your blog.

Click here to download this plugin

WP Subscribe To Comments – This plugin will give your readers instant email notifications when there are new comments to your posts.

This is a great way to keep your visitors coming back to read your blog!

You can download it here:

Click here to download this plugin

Hope these little blogging software and tool goodies are helpful