Wordpress is also free and extremely flexible. It builds your entire site for you, allows you to use or modify existing designs and lets you create as many categories as you choose. It also integrates RSS (more on this in a moment) into your site automatically.
Another option is Movable Type. This publishing system is the most popular business publishing platform and has many features a system such as Blogger lacks. This is a more professional program and is a paid service.
Typepad is an alternative paid blogging service. They host many of the world's most popular blogs and are easy to use.
It doesn't matter which service you choose. The important thing is to pick one and get a blog started as soon as possible. But unless your blog posts contain a combination of certain components, you can not and should not expect it to become a viral blog.
People simply won't talk about blogs that bore them, so you must give people something to talk about. You do that by keeping these five things in mind when writing your blog posts:
--Candor: be blunt, bold and truthful. Say exactly what you mean without trying to "beat around the bush." When you're honest and straightforward, people know exactly what to expect from you. They may not always agree, but they will respect you for your frankness.
--Urgency: be in demand NOW. Create a sense of urgency within your posts by being the first to break a news story within your niche, introduce a new product or interview an expert. Give people a reason to visit your blog immediately.
--Timeliness: be relevant. Keep up with the news of the day in the world, in your area and especially in your niche. Know the current trends and use your posts to enter the conversations people are already having. No one wants to read an outdated blog.
--Concise: be brief and to the point. Your readers don't have time to scroll through pages and pages of content. They're in a hurry AND have lots of other sites to choose from. But if you can save them time by getting straight to your point within a few paragraphs, they'll keep coming to you for information.
--Controversy: be different. Challenge the status quo. Talk about issues others in your niche are afraid to discuss. The best way to generate traffic is to stir people's emotions, especially when those emotions are anger and fear.
If your blog posts contain at least four of these five components, you are creating the right kind of content that has the power to attract massive traffic to your website.
