There are two broad factors you\u2019ll need to get in alignment in order to create a successful history blog. <\/p>\n
The first falls under the category of \u201ctechnical issues,\u201d which refers to securing and installing a domain, hosting, blogging platform – consider these all the pieces that must be in place in order for your blog to be discoverable online. <\/p>\n
The second factor to address is content. What will you write and how often will you write it? It\u2019s probably not feasible to cover the entirety of human history. <\/p>\n
You\u2019re going to need to decide on a niche and focus your efforts there. Consider the following 10 Steps for creating a Blog<\/a> your road map to creating the most successful history blog in, well, history.<\/p>\n 1. Decide on a Niche:<\/i> History is a pretty big topic. Unimaginably, beautifully big. There\u2019s no way a single person writing could do it justice. Before anything else, sit down and ponder how you could focus on an area of particular interest. We\u2019ve all read about the global stories in high school history class. What you need for a successful blog is to target like a laser a small niche and uncover the cool and quirky things about it.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re having trouble choosing a specialty for your blog, try reducing the big picture by a factor of two or more. Here\u2019s an example. Let\u2019s say we start with the general idea of history. Narrow that down to North American history. Another step would be to narrow it even further to Missouri history. This is still a formidable topic, but it is starting to look manageable. Maybe you want to target even closer and blog about 19th century Missouri history. Use this process with your own interests to choose a topic that\u2019s interesting to you and not too broad.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a secret. Audiences love the little quirky stories. Remember, the broad strokes of history are created by millions of tiny incidents.<\/p>\n 2. Domain:<\/i> With a topic in hand, let\u2019s jump into the technical side of things. Before anything else, you need to pick a domain. This is the www.YourCoolHistoryWebsite.com (yours will be different) that appears in the URL at the top of your computer\u2019s browser. Consider this your new blog\u2019s home address on the internet. At this point in cyber history, choosing a domain that reflects the content of the website isn\u2019t as critical as it used to be for search engine rankings. Still, it would be a good idea to pick something catchy and easy to remember.<\/p>\n You could go one of two ways here. Incorporate your own name and plan to build it into a brand or go with something memorable. A good example of the latter would be the Comedy Central show, Drunk History. The creators have established a clear schtick that makes it quite obvious to even the most casual of observers what they\u2019re in for. Obviously, you can be quite serious about your topic. We\u2019re not suggesting you adopt the tone of Drunk History, though it\u2019s not a bad idea to keep in mind that people do love humor, and history has a reputation in some quarters for being a bit dry. So, figure out what domain name you want and proceed to step three.<\/p>\n 3. Hosting:<\/i> If it were only so easy to just pick a domain and wish your new history blog into existence. Unfortunately, it\u2019s not. The good news is you don\u2019t need to drop $500 into the pocket of your local web design company to get your blog up and going. As technology becomes ever easier for the average person to use, we\u2019re here to tell you that, yes, you can do it all yourself and at a lower cost than you might imagine. Upfront expenses to get your site live online is about $15 to buy a domain for a year – it needs to be renewed annually – and anywhere from $5 to $10 monthly for a website hosting company services. The good deal is that you often get a domain free when you sign up for hosting.<\/p>\n Hosting refers to the place online where all the files and content associated with your blog will be stored so they are accessible to people online. There are dozens and dozens of companies that offer hosting, so many that it\u2019s probably silly to appear to endorse any particular one. However, don\u2019t spend too much time obsessing over the detailed offerings of the various plans. <\/p>\n We get no endorsement fees whatsoever for this, so feel it\u2019s not a terrible idea to throw a few names out there: Hostgator<\/a>, Bluehost<\/a>, Namecheap<\/a>. You won\u2019t go wrong with any of these and might get a free domain for your blog in the process.<\/p>\n