Advice about Starting & Promoting a Fashion Blog - See Post #1 for Thread Rules

[dreamecho]

Santosuke and others, there are now two versions of WordPress: wordpress.org and wordpress.com. The former is the original, premium version that requires a host or installation on your own computer. Although the original has much more flexibility in terms of layout, etc., it also requires significant technical knowledge to be able to manipulate it. I imagine this is the version that Santosuke was familiar with.

However, WordPress also came out with a simpler version, wordpress.com. This is the free and easy version; it's what Little Star is using.

When I was starting my own blog last summer, my main priority was having a platform that I could have free reign over layout customization. I have some programming ability and (hopefully this does not sound snobby...?) some aptitude for winging the rest of it. Ideally then, Wordpress.org or Typepad would have been best, but I didn't want to host it from my own computer and I didn't want to put out the money for Typepad. So, that left Wordpress.com and Blogger. Though Wordpress.com is very easy to use, it's very limited in what you can do with layout. You're basically limited to several templates, and you have very little reign over color, font, etc. within those templates. Whereas I found that with Blogger, you have more templates, and better yet, within those tenplates, you have unlimited color choices. I'm very picky about color and font , so I decided Blogger is for me. In the "general" blogging world, Blogger is considered the bottom of totem pole, but it's more than made me happy. I'll chime in with everyone else's recommendation that beginner bloggers without clear purposes go with Blogger. However, if you have any tech ability, desire to eventually go pro, and are willing to put out the funds, I'd say go with the original WordPress or Typepad.

Hope this helps!

 

[Dustcakeboy]

Do Blogger offer a professional program? I thought I heard that somewhere...like an upgrade that gives you more capability and control over your blog.

 

[Santosuke]

Dreamecho thanks, that explains everything And by the way great blog I hadn't seen it yet

 

[thefrancofille]

I'm going to start a serious blog. I've had 2 before, but I didn't know all this information so I got bored with it. A couple questions: what's the best way to track readership? Are those old school hit counters still around? Also, can you have ads on blogger. com? I'd like to try this out without spending too much money to see if there's interest in what I have to say. Then, transition to a better host and invest money if it goes well.

 

[thefrancofille]

And what about copyrighting your name?

 

[Dustcakeboy]

I'm going to start a serious blog. I've had 2 before, but I didn't know all this information so I got bored with it. A couple questions: what's the best way to track readership? Are those old school hit counters still around? Also, can you have ads on blogger. com? I'd like to try this out without spending too much money to see if there's interest in what I have to say. Then, transition to a better host and invest money if it goes well.

I think Google Analytics is the best tracker of hits and their sources etc.

 

[diorable]

I use statcounter.com and it's amazing!! It gives me graphs and maps and lots of statistics for free (from 'Recent Keywords' to 'Keyword Analysis' to "Recently Came From' to 'Search Engine analysis' to 'Recent Visitor Activity' to 'Recent Pageload Activity' to much more!) and it lets you block your own IP address so that it doesn't count your hits -- and you can download your stats in a spreadsheet document!

I haven't really used Google Analytics, so I couldn't say much about that.

 

[verymoni]

www.sitemeter.com is good too

 

[indian_rose]

I've been blogging for a couple of weeks now with Wordpress (the free version) and so far i've found it really easy to use. It's really helpful how it shows how many people have visited your blog.....how they got there and for some even what they typed into google!

The only problem i've had is that, some how an uploaded image changed itself to another image after about a week or so, and i don't understand how it happend...

 

[dreamecho]

Dustcakeboy, offhand I'm not familiar with a professional version of Blogger, though I know it does allow the user to modify HTML (thank goodness!) and that other people use Blogger with "real" domain names (like "randomfashionblogname.com" as opposed to "randomfashionblogname.blogspot.com").

Thanks, Santosuke!

thefrancofille, Google Analytics seems to get high marks from lots of people, and it's nice to use if you're already using Blogger (which is run by Google -- that way you can pare down to using one account for Blogger, Gmail, Google Analytics, etc.). But, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major site analyzers. In the end, they tend to do a lot of the same stuff. Give them all a try! diorable sure does make statcounter sound good. And, yes, you can have ads on Blogger. Plenty of people do it I don't know anything about copyrighting names, though I'll admit I'm curious as well. I just noticed some other fashion bloggers who had copyrighted their stuff.

indian_rose...not sure if I can help much there... Can you edit your post after publishing it?

 

[indian_rose]

dreamecho, yea im able to edit and fix it....but it took quite a few uploads to do. I just don't know how or why the image changed itself, unless there was a glitch in the wordpress system?

 

[SohoKitten]

What a great thread!
I would love to start blogging about fashion and life advice because I think I have the potential to success . But I don't know if I should write in English (it's ok, but is that enough for serious blogging?) or German. I would like to make some money through it and as I have read here, you earn it by ads, right?! Do they pay you even if you're having a non - english (in this case: German) blog?

Hope everyone has a great week!

 

[Little Star]

Santosuke and others, there are now two versions of WordPress: wordpress.org and wordpress.com. The former is the original, premium version that requires a host or installation on your own computer. Although the original has much more flexibility in terms of layout, etc., it also requires significant technical knowledge to be able to manipulate it. I imagine this is the version that Santosuke was familiar with.

However, WordPress also came out with a simpler version, wordpress.com. This is the free and easy version; it's what Little Star is using.

Though Wordpress.com is very easy to use, it's very limited in what you can do with layout. You're basically limited to several templates, and you have very little reign over color, font, etc. within those templates.

Yes, I'm using the simple version that you simply log onto online like blogger and blogspot etc. It's very simple - I definately reccomend it after exploring it for a few days. It has an easy box for typing your entries, a quick button to upload pictures and it keeps quite detailed stats on your page like how many hits, what links they've clicked on, what they searched on google etc...it's really interesting. Actually...my only hits have come from this page at the moment! haha

It's true that you don't have a lot of freedom with the appearance...but there are a wide variety of templates/colourschemes to choose from...and you can replace the original header with your own logo/banner very easily which totally customises your blog. I did this and was really happy with the result!

 

[Little Star]

Also...I do have a question about finding readers...because it is totally unsatisfying to write if nobody knows about your blog! I've heard a lot about technorati but I am totally confused! How does it work? It's got something to do with tagging but that's as much as I understand. Can anybody explain?

How can I attract people to my blog?

 

[emi25]

I just started one today...

http://5preview.blogspot.com/

 

[seanutbutter]

I would love to start blogging about fashion and life advice because I think I have the potential to success . But I don't know if I should write in English (it's ok, but is that enough for serious blogging?) or German.

Out of the two, I actually think German would be better. There are so many English language fashion blogs out there, but not nearly as many German ones (not that I know of, at least). You'd probably attract many German speakers who wouldn't be able to read the English blogs. Of course, you could always write in both languages and get the best of both worlds!

 

[dreamecho]

Also...I do have a question about finding readers...because it is totally unsatisfying to write if nobody knows about your blog! I've heard a lot about technorati but I am totally confused! How does it work? It's got something to do with tagging but that's as much as I understand. Can anybody explain?

How can I attract people to my blog?

I think it's been discussed previously in the thread (?), but though all the tech wizardry is great, nothing beats quality content on your own blog and showing interest in other people's blogs. Leaving thoughtful, genuine comments on other people's blogs shows that you appreciate what others are doing and helps you stand out as an intriguing person...with a potentially intriguing blog that is worth checking out.

For more on Technorati, StumbleUpon, etc., check out problogger.net. There's lots of "How To" articles for everything, including how to get started and how to draw in more readers.

 

[sassybella]

I forgot to mention in earlier posts, I picked up a book late last year called The IT Girls Guide to Blogging with Moxie.

It explains all aspects of owning a blog, how to get started, getting ads, getting visitors, explains things like tracking visitors and all that jazz. It wasn't much help to me since I have worked in online and have run my own blogs for over 5 years now, but it would be fantastic for a beginner.

The language is clear and easy to understand and there are a lot of screen captures so you won't be working blind.

Here's the amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Girls-Guide-Blogging-Moxie/dp/0470168005

 

[satin chic]

Out of the two, I actually think German would be better. There are so many English language fashion blogs out there, but not nearly as many German ones (not that I know of, at least). You'd probably attract many German speakers who wouldn't be able to read the English blogs. Of course, you could always write in both languages and get the best of both worlds!

I've actually been considering writing my blog in German, in addition to English, as I've noticed that quite a few of my readers are from Germany.

 

[writergal28]

And what about copyrighting your name?

You mean trademarking? To officially trademark your name, you must register with your country's intellectual property office. And it can take up to a year or two for the entire process to complete. In Canada, the registration fee is $250 online and $300 if you do it by snail mail.