I always wanted to write a blog. Never wished to get thousands of hits, I just want to make sure that if anyone reads it they would not have any reason to say that was horrible; they could say that’s too basic but not horrible.
The blog would be about web tutorials and maybe inspiration (“top ten websites of the week” kind of thing).
Two thing that I am nervous about are: one, my grammar; I do not have a very good vocabulary, and I have to use a spell checker, and thesaurus/dictionary a lot. For example up to this point I have misspelled 6 words.
Two, would my all tutorials have to bee advanced, or can they be aim at beginners for the time being. Also is it a problem that the same tutorial (its topic) can be found elsewhere; for example if I wrote a tutorial on horizontal navigation, I am sure that a tutorial on horizontal navigation can be found elsewhere, and that would be better than my tutorial.
Those are my concerns but if you have any other tips please let me know
First thing’s first, find a good ‘Blog Name’… Something catchy…
Try to use simple contents so that beginners will embrace it… If you are dealing with web tutorial on programming, it need not correct grammar as long as coding is right.
So I should see ‘beginners’ as the target audience?
I have a domain with my name so I thought of having the blog as a personal project, running at aurelkurtula.co.uk - blog name being just myname. I know is a boring idea but would it work? or at least If you think I should find another name, would it be ok to run it at my firstandsirname.co.uk domain
thanks
Hogwash. Blogging is writing. If you want your blog to look like you know what you are talking about, work for impeccable grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They are the basics of writing. If you can’t get the basics down, how do you expect to look credible to your readers?
Shyflower is write – if your language isn’t good, people are not going to trust the accuracy of your content, and you won’t get a following. That’s particularly true if you’re targeting a serious, technical audience. If you feel that you can come up with worthwhile content and can write it in an interesting and engaging way but are struggling with the mechanical writing in terms of spelling, punctuation and grammar, my tip would be to try to find a ‘writing buddy’. That’s someone who can help you with those aspects of writing – they don’t need to be great wordsmiths themselves, just to have an eye for accuracy.
Two, would my all tutorials have to bee advanced, or can they be aim at beginners for the time being. Also is it a problem that the same tutorial (its topic) can be found elsewhere; for example if I wrote a tutorial on horizontal navigation, I am sure that a tutorial on horizontal navigation can be found elsewhere, and that would be better than my tutorial.
Any time you’re putting a new site (or even just new pages) onto the internet, you need to ask yourself “what’s in it for the readers?” … and if you can’t answer that then you’re probably best off not putting that page up there. Because if you, as the author, can’t think of any reason why people would want to visit that page rather than the many others out there, then your readers probably won’t be able to either. You need to try to find something that you can do better than your competitors, whether it’s better content, a more appealling writing style, better site layout and navigation, whatever … you have to give people a reason to visit your site.
your grammar and spellings will improve gradually. try writing on topics of your interest. find popular keywords on the topic of your interest in google keyword tracker tool and try to find out blog name that contains that keyword or at least part of the keyword.
If you targeted beginners with your blog I’m sure you would shocked by how many people would want to know what your teaching. Make sure you get your point across and try to do it clearly and you will get an audience.
Blog prefer simple and plain sentence and vocabulary. Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation before posting. Language can be improved if you write, listen and speak frequently. Otherwise, use the language that you are familiar with, so that you can confident with your article. All the best!
Thank you all, I think that with the help of spell checkers and proof reading I would be ok (considering what you all said) And hopefully as time goes by I will learn more and get more confident in what I would be doing
My unique selling point would be to write tutorials for beginners. Therefore to give enough explanations and examples to help the reader fully understand what the tutorial is telling them. This idea came to me as not long ago I was a total beginner in the web design field and all the tutorials (aimed at beginners) kind of assumed that the reader has a prior understanding of something
So I hope @maverb is right and there is an audience that want to learn the basics. Now the only problem I have is finding a name for the blog, as until it was mentioned here I totally forgot about it, how important it is and how hard it is to come up with one.
Just out of interest, how does my writing sound here? As even though writing is important I don’t think that my writing a blog I am going to need to have the skills of a professional writer.
Just read as much as you can that will increase your language skills and you’ll get an idea of different styles of writing. Don’t rust and jump in to blogging unless you are confident enough on your skills other wise you’ll spoil your image as a writer, the other thing i would suggest is work on free blogs first just for the sake of practice.
I think since it’s your first blog, you should practice it using your first domain name that promotes your name. With it, you can sort of jump start by branding your blog with your name and your quest to professional blogging for webmaster topics.
You see, even though you are not one of the best blogger for tutorial, making your blog unique is what makes most blogs outshine some. Say, you can blog about something about your growth both as a blogger, a writer or a webmaster tutor. Besides, it’s your first blog so you’ll sure your way to success on your way.
Before you do anything else, write seven articles for your blog. If you find it difficult to come up with good ideas for the last few articles, you need to come up with a better topic, or your interest will die out quickly.
Well being an SEO person, what i would like to suggest is to go for submitting RSS feed of your blog with on specific RSS web directories to get the most in terms of traffic for your fresh blog page.
Avinash is right, your grammar and spelling will improve gradually as you practice writing. Remember, even experts need to exercise their skills for continuous growth and improvement. Reading also helps widen your vocabulary, which is really helpful in writing. If you trust yourself, and you have passion in what you do, then you can master anything. Just be confident. And when it comes to your target audience, beginners would be perfect.
When you write a blog english grammar does matter,but there is no need of worrying just pay attention to few things that will improve your writing skills AND keep readers engaged.
Vary Sentence Structure
Use Effective Transitions
Choose Appropriate and Consistent Style
Always have fun and say what you need to when blogging, but pay attention to your audience and what they need to stay engaged and focused!
i would like to refer to the strategic point of view in writing a blog. well, there are 4 types of blogs: emotional, informational, marketing blog and tutorial/mentoring blog. firs u have to decide which one are u. Then, write at least 10 blogs off line just to see if you follow your ideas. while writing them, decide who’s your audience, what is it that you want to “sell” them. what’s your main point in that blog, and after answering to yourself all of these questions you could start uploading and in a consistent periods so your audience won’t be disappointed from you if u didn’t upload in a while. the most important tip i could give you is: be consistent. don’t let them down.
