Personal Blog

Personal Blog Meaning

Here's a definition of both blog and personal blog.

• Personal or Inspirational Stories

• Food and Travel

• Areas of Expertise

• Passions and Interests

• Book or Movie Reviews

• Documentation of Life Events

Personal Blog Structure

• Introduction

  • Hook your audience with a quote or a powerful statistic, or bring up a recent news event that people are familiar with. Tie these into what you're talking about in your blog post.

• Body

  • This is where your readers will learn the purpose of your blog post. If you were planning on telling a story, this is where you would do that. You can make this as many paragraphs as you'd like.

• Conclusion

  • Here you can revisit your introduction and explain the relationship to your story. Some people like to have a call to action at the end of a blog post. This encourages readers to interact with them. An example would be asking readers to comment if they've experienced something similar.

• About page

  • This is where you can let your readers know a little bit about who you are and why you created your blog. Let people know your areas of expertise and your interests are.

• Contact page

  • This is especially important if you want to create a following for your blog or use this as a personal portfolio. You could eventually create an email list so people can enter their email addresses directly on your blog and receive notifications whenever you make a new blog post.

• Links to social media

  • This is optional, but sometimes it can be helpful for people to see things you share on other platforms. If you're using your personal blog as a portfolio, then sharing your LinkedIn account on your blog is a good idea.

Personal Blog Example

Personal blogs can showcase your passion. Sharing personal stories is a good way to connect with your readers. Perhaps you have a unique experience that others might find inspirational. Sharing your own stories in a blog can validate others who share your feelings.

Maybe you are a foodie and like to share your experiences from different restaurants you've been to around the world. You could use your passion for food to create some type of food blog. Or maybe you're an avid reader, so you want to write about books on a book club blog. The point is, there are many reasons to start a personal blog, and all of them are valid! Here is an example of how someone might start a post for their book club blog:

Now the action begins.

Personal Blog Steps

1. Consider Costs

Does it cost money to create a personal blog?

That depends. Paying for a host and domain usually means getting a unique website without the website builder's name attached to your URL. This would be the difference between yourwebsite.wix.com versus yourwebsite.com. You might have to download hosting software if you choose a paid option instead of the free option.

2. Pick a Host

There are many to choose from but here are some of the most popular ones. They all have instructions for installation:

• Bluehost

• GoDaddy

• HostGator

3. Choose a Domain Name

These are some of the most popular websites where you can register your domain name:

• WordPress (works well with Bluehost)

• Squarespace

• Wix

• Blogger

Most of these blogging websites include free domains and hosting for beginners. Again, there are paid options if you want a more professional blog.

4. Design Your Blog

If you're entirely new to blogging, don't worry! You can choose from templates on your blogging website if you aren't interested in mastering HTML or other types of code.

Fig. 3 - Consider what appeals to you and your audience.

5. Start Writing

You know your topic, so get to it! However, you can also write a personal blog based on prompts.

Personal Blog Prompts

• Reddit – r/WritingPrompts

• Tumblr

• Pinterest

• Medium

• Writers' Digest

• OneWord

• Prompted Journal

• Writing Prompts

• Daily Writing Prompt

There are other ways to come up with writing ideas, such as taking fifteen minutes to brainstorm ideas you're passionate about. But if you're still feeling overwhelmed by the options, you can use this prompt for your first post: 5 Reasons I Started a Blog. This can help your readers get to know you and establish what readers can expect from your page.