Get Started With WordPress.com the Easy Way

Whether you’re running a small, personal blog or a major news site, WordPress is a great platform to build your website from.  It currently powers over 8% of all sites across the ‘net, including Techinch.com, HowtoGeek.com, and many other sites you likely regularly read.  You can run WordPress on your own server or hosting account, or get started with a free blog on WordPress.com, which is a very popular way to get started blogging.  Microsoft announced recently that Windows Live Spaces is shutting down and that all Spaces blogs will be migrated over to WordPress.com.  If you have a Spaces blog and are nervous about the transition, or are just wanting to start a new blog and aren’t sure where to start, here’s some articles I’ve written on HowtoGeek that should make the transition smooth and seemless for you.

• How To Start Your Own Professional Blog with WordPress

  This article will help you get started with a new WordPress.com blog

• Customize Your WordPress Blog & Build an Audience

  Themes, widgets, social media, and more … WordPress.com has lots to offer, so here’s how you can use it all to make your blog more interesting

• Add Your Own Domain to Your WordPress.com Blog

  You’ll want to make sure your readers can easily find and remember your blog, and a custom domain name is one of the best ways to do this.  Plus, if you ever move your blog, you can always easily move your domain name … after all, Techinch.com started out as a WordPress.com blog, and I was able to easily move my content to a new hosting account and redirect my old blog’s address here with this trick.

• Tools to Help Post Content On Your WordPress Blog

  Whether you’re using WordPress.com or have WordPress installed on your own hosting account, here’s how you can easily post quality content to your blog from anywhere

• Create Your Own Twitter-style Group Blog With P2

  WordPress.com doesn’t just have to be about blogs … the P2 theme (which you can use for free) lets you setup a message board or chat-style site to keep your group in touch

  And if you need more help getting started with WordPress or moving your old blog, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try to help.  Or, if you recently moved your Spaces blog to WordPress.com, feel free to leave your blog’s address in a comment so we can check it out.

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