Showcasing your talents, mummy’s need blogs
I have recently set up a business as a childminder. With a baby of my own, it’s the perfect way to allow me to see him all the time and not miss any of those important milestones in his development. In addition to the qualifications and registrations I needed, I wanted to set up a website to advertise my service and give a clear idea of what we do during the day!
Blog Resources
There are so many free services you can research when starting your own blog. A lot of people use sites such as Blogger.com, WordPress and Typepad.com which will host your blog for free on their own domain and you will sign up to a ‘sub-domain’ which means that your link will include both names together (e.g myblog.theirblog.com). The only thing with this is that you won’t own your blog – it will be more like rented ‘space’. Unfortunately, this means that if they no longer want you in that ‘space’ they could just close your site down and all your hard work would be lost. Apparently, this does happen, but it’s rare.
Your other option would be to design your own blog through a self-hosting company and pay a very small amount each month (about the same as a burger!) to get your site onto the internet. This way you would own your website and the host company can’t close you down! I came across a site on how to start a blog by NeilPatel.com, which I found very helpful, and his directions/instructions on how to begin your’ journey into the unknown are extremely straightforward and easy to follow. He will tell you about the hosting options and then you can choose which is the right one for you.
Hosting Your Blog
As you will learn, your first two steps are to choose a domain name and then choose the host. A domain name is where people will find you on the web; go for something which reflects your personality and the essence of your business. You can choose an extension such as .co.uk which relates to the country you live in, but why limit yourself unless there is reason to? If you use .com or .net then this is more recognisable to a worldwide audience.
Designing Your Blog
Once you have domain name and have set up your hosting platform, you are ready to design your blog. Keep things simple and easy, as most people won’t return to a site if they get frustrated with trying to navigate the pages! Keep your information informative and easy-on-the-eye so you will keep your reader’s attention. I like to include photos of parks and places that we visit, and also activities we engage in at home. I am currently looking at creating a page where I can add holiday information/schedules for parents to see what entertainments I have planned for the upcoming months.
Setting up a website was a lot easier than I thought it would be, but that may be down to the fact I had stumbled across an easy guide. I will certainly keep checking back to revisit advice and learn as much as I can about improving my blog.