If you are going to start a blog there are some things that you need to consider before you take the plunge.

1.) Free blog service or set up your own – that’s the question is it better to use one of the free services like blogger.com or should you set up your own site with it’s own domain name?

If you are blogging for profit you should be on your own site with your own domain name. Yes, it is possible to make money with the free blogging services but you will either have to be lucky or work much harder.

Having your own domain name and your own site makes it so that you can add features like plugins that will optimize your site for better performance in the search engines which should bring more targeted prospects to your site.

2.) Make sure you use the right blogging software – software like Joomla, TypePad and Concrete will all make blogs but I recommend that you use WordPress. The main reason for this is because WordPress has the most available plugins, themes and support.

3.) Only blog about one topic – stay on target with your blog. Yes, you can have all kinds of sub-topics but they should all be related to your main niche.

By keeping your blog on target you will build a following of loyal readers that will regard you as the expert in that field. This will help you when you are selling your product and when you recommend an affiliate product. Stay in your niche to succeed.

Your niche should be something that you have an interest in. Even if you aren’t the expert you should still be able to tell if a post is good or if it sucks and only put good ones on.

4.) Know your keywords – every blog relies on keywords to get search engine traffic. The keywords you choose to use should be researched and you should know that people are actually searching for these keywords.

You can do some quick keyword research using the Google Keyword tool. This will at least tell you if you are working with keywords that get searched.

5.) You should be the star of your blog – let the readers know who you are, put your picture on the blog and a short biography. This will help the reader relate to you and will end up getting you more loyal reader then trying to be an anonymous expert.

These steps will get you started with blogging, review them before you start your blog or if you already have a blog going see if they apply to your blog. They are the backbone of almost all successful blogs.