Having an online presence is becoming increasingly important for all sorts of reasons. This course looks at why you might want to start your own blog, whether it be to promote a business, promote yourself as a professional, share your expertise, or simply have fun expressing yourself and interacting with people from around the world.

We will look at the different blogging platforms available, in particular WordPress and discuss what you can write about, always keeping in mind your readers' needs. We will look at what makes a good blog post and how to avoid some common errors.

We will talk about how to attract traffic to your site and build your online community. There will be an emphasis on the interactive nature of blogging – meaning we’ll discuss online etiquette, spam, dealing with comments, and how to deal with difficult situations. We’ll also look at the different ways that you can earn money from blogging and how effective they may be.

Course Outline:

• What is a blog and why should you have one?
• What makes a good blog?
• What can you blog about?
• How to write a blog post
• Blogging platforms
• Finding readers and building your community
• Dealing with comments
• Using social media to promote your blog
• Making money from blogging

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, participants will have an understanding of:

• How to start and grow their own blog
• Using blogging platforms
• The interactive nature of blogging
• How to write an effective blog post
• Search engine optimisation and driving traffic to their blog
• Using other social media networks in conjunction with their blog
• Making money from blogging

What to bring:

• Pens and paper or laptop/tablet, whichever you prefer!

About the Tutor:

Stella is a lawyer-turned-author who has won several awards for her work. Over the years she’s written books for adults, schools, and children, and has enjoyed every minute! She loves sharing her passion for writing and the knowledge she’s gained and has been running writing workshops with the community college for more than ten years. You can find out more about Stella and visit her blog at https://www.stellatarakson.com/

Other Information:

• To ensure resources are ready for you at the start of your course, we ask you ideally enrol at least one week before the course commences.
• All courses need a minimum number of students to run ("we try our hardest to get those") . If your course does not have enough students it will be cancelled before the commencement and you will be informed.