How to choose a topic for your blog?  If you are asking this question then you are off to a good start because this is one of the most important things one should consider when starting a blog.  Finding a great topic is not as easy as one might think but if you take the time to look deep inside yourself I am sure you will come up with a great topic. So grab yourself a pen and paper and start brainstorming.

Start asking yourself some questions:

What are you passionate about?

Do you have a hobby you love? (i.e. traveling,fitness,coin collecting , wood working, film, sports, music- you get the idea)

Do you have an expertise? (i.e. plumber, carpenter, mechanic, make up artist)

Your blog has to be about something you enjoy and can have fun with but at the same time your readers need to have fun and learn something at the same time as well.  You need to enjoy your blog so you come back and keep adding new content.  Your readers need to enjoy your blog so they come back and keep reading it.  Blogging is not a sprint it is a marathon so don’t think you will have thousands of visitors in just a few short weeks.  It could take up to a year or more of writing valuable content before you start receiving a good number of visitors.  So make sure your topic is going to keep you excited.  If you feel you won’t be able to write about it for 12 straight months then you probably have the wrong topic.

After you have chosen your niche topic for your blog here are a few more questions you need to ask to make sure your blog is successful:

Will you be able to produce plenty of content?

Make sure you have plenty of things to write about.  You don’t want to get writers block after only 3 weeks and find yourself not having anything interesting to write about.

If your topic being searched for or in demand?

You could have the best blog in the world with the best content but if it is on a topic that no one is searching for then you are going to crash and burn.  One could place to check to see if you have an interesting topic is to go to Amazon.com and see what kinds of books are written on your subject.  If there is a “dummies” on your subject then you are most likely heading in the right direction.

Is the topic you chose in a very competitive market?

You really don’t want to be competing against a ton of competition if you don’t have to so do a Google search on your topic and see what’s out there.  Even if there are a lot of blogs on the subject that does not necessarily mean that it is too competitive.  They might not be doing it as well as your are going to be so you might be able to pass them up in the search rankings.

For fun, passion or profit?

I really feel any blog can be monetized but some will have better potential based on the subject matter.  If you are blogging for profit then this is something to take into consideration. Even if you want to make money, you still have to make sure you really enjoy your topic.  If you don’t it will show through in your writing.

Can you break your subject down into an even smaller niche?

Highly targeted blogs tend to be very successful if you are provider the reader with good content.  For example, don’t just blog about cars, blog about Mustangs or Corvettes.  You could even go a step further and blog about convertible Corvettes or 1960′s convertible Corvettes.  You get the picture here.

Don’t forget to give your blog a title before you get started blogging.  You would probably be surprised how many people forget to do this very important simple thing.  I have seen people leave the title of their blog as Home, My Blog, My WordPress Blog, www.domainname.com, and sometimes it is even left blank.  If you do any of these then you are going to be off to a very bad start.  You also need to put in a tag line which is just a brief description of what your blogging about.

The title is important to your readers as well as the search engines which will help increase your blog traffic.  Think about who you are trying to attract and what keywords you will be using to do that.  Now include them in your title, tag line and description.

There are two places you will need to add your title and description. One is from your user dashboard and the other is inside of the All in One SEO Pack plug in, which you have if we set up your blog for you.  If you do not have this plug in then go and install in now since it is one of the most important plug ins you will need.

Now to change your title in your WordPress dashboard just look over on the left where it says settings and click the arrow next to it to open your options.  Then click on general. Once that page opens you will see “Blog Title” and “Tag Line” at the top.  This is the first place you need to add your title and this will most likely appear in your header unless you have customized it.  Click save changes, and you are all set there but you are not finished yet.

Now you have to add your blog title in the All in One SEO Plug In.  To do this just go to setting again on the left in your dashboard and hit the arrow next to it. Look down a little and you will see “All In One SEO”.  Click on it.  On the next page you will see your option for this plug in. First make sure the plug in status is enable by checking the little circle next to enable.  Then you will put in your blog title and your blog description. Remember, who are you trying to attract? If you are blogging about Corvettes don’t just put “All about Cars”.  Put “All about Corvettes”. You get the idea.  Then include those keywords again in your description while telling your readers what your blog is about.  Add your keywords just below that in the next box and your are all set.  Don’t worry about all of the other options there.  They are preset to optimize your blog.  Don’t forget to click “update options on the bottom” and you are done. There is also a spot to make a donation at the top of the page which you can do if you like this plug in.  I would suggest it since this is what enables the developer to keep it updated.

In another post I will be showing you how to add a title to a post with All In One SEO plug in.

So you are thinking about starting a blog but you are worried about the technical stuff.  Well guess what? Everyone who starts a blog is worried about the technical stuff in the beginning.  Java script, html, php, follow or nofollow,tags,pings and on and on and on.  Sounds scary but don’t let it stop you from starting your master piece.  With WordPress almost all of the technical stuff is done for you with the help of a plug in.  A plug in is just a simple script that lets you do something by keeping it in English.  I mean, you do not have to go behind the scenes and become some coding expert. Believe me when I say this, I no nothing about php.  Why? Because with WordPress you really don’t need to.  This is the great part about WordPress.  If you can send an email and attach a link and a picture to that email then you have what it takes to learn how to blog in WordPress. Of course there is a bit of a learning curve but I would say it is kind of like getting a new cell phone.  You still have to learn the new menu and where everything is and the same is true with WordPress.  Heck, you don’t even have to set it up anymore since we here at www.startablog101.com will do it for you.  All you have to do is get your hosting, fill out the form and in 24 – 48 hours your site will be ready for you to log in and and make your first post. Don’t know how to log in? Then just watch “How to log in to your wordpress blog“. Don’t know how to add a  post? Then just watch “How to add a post in your WordPress blog“.

So in a nutshell I would have to say don’t worry about the technical stuff it’s nothing to lose sleep over.  Take everything one step at a time and you will be a pro in no time but the first thing you have to do is start. So spend a few bucks and get your hosting package and we’ll get you going fast.