Blogging is an easy way to start sharing your story and thoughts about mental health attitudes. You don’t have to be an amazing writer or spend hours crafting long posts. Share as much or as little as you like, keep it simple or go into detail, it's up to you. Just make sure your message is clear.
Why use a blog to share your story?
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Tell your story using a combination of words and images
A blog can be a great way to experiment with different ways of expressing yourself.
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Share as much or as little as you want
Unlike social media platforms, there's no character limit or obligation to include a photo. You can share a long story or just a few thoughts.
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Many blog platforms are free and easy to use
You don't need to be a digital expert to get started, or spend lots of money building a website.
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Blogs are a little more 'evergreen' than social media posts
Social media is a great way to join in with a conversation and make connections, but posts can get lost in the noise or buried over time. A blog post can have a bit more longevity depending on the topic. You could re-share your blog long after it's been published, and if your blog is public it could appear in search engine results.
1. Choose a blog platform
There are loads of free blog platforms. All of them allow you to pick a theme and upload text, photos and videos. Most people won’t need much more than that, so choose the one that feels most comfortable for you. Here's a few to get you started:
- Wordpress is easy to use and the most well-known, and there's lots of advice on the internet to help you set it up. If you plan to grow your blog, it’s easy to switch to a paid account with more features later on.
- Blogger is a more limited platform but a little easier to use than Wordpress for most people. This is a good option if you want something simple and straightforward, so you can focus on storytelling.
- Tumblr is a very intuitive platform that includes a ‘hashtag’ style sharing feature – a good way to reach new readers. It tends to have a younger audience.
'Premium' vs free blog platforms
There are also premium blog platforms out there that charge a fee for advanced features. It’s probably best to ‘test the waters’ first – start with a free version and see how you get on. You can always move to a fancy paid-for version later if you need to add extra features.
Note that if you decide to buy your own domain name for your blog (eg myblogname.com), Blogger and Tumblr will let you use this on your blog for free, but Wordpress will ask you to pay for this.
2. Set up your blog
Each platform will run you through a set up process when you sign up which usually takes about 5 - 10 minutes. All you need is an email address, a secure password and a blog name to get started.
Some people prefer to set up a new email address for their blog, so any comments or notifications stay separate from their personal inbox. This can be helpful if you need to 'switch off' from your blog at times when you're not feeling well.
Choosing a blog name
- Make it short, snappy and memorable, and relevant to your blog content.
- If you're planning to write about a specific condition, e.g. PTSD, including that in your blog title can help to improve how high you appear in Google and other search engines for that condition - and make it easier for people searching to find your content. However, you might want to do the opposite and choose something more broad if you want more freedom to talk about a variety of things.
- Take some time to check Google and social media to make sure your name isn't being used by anyone else. This means you'll be able to have social media usernames similar to your blog name, which will help readers to recognise you across the web, and it also avoids any issues with other bloggers. If you want to buy a domain name later on, it's more likely to be available.
- It's possible to change your blog name later on - but it's a bit of a pain to do so! So do your research now and take time to make sure you're happy with it.
3. Choose your design
All of these platforms have pre-made templates for you to choose from. We recommend you choose a layout that’s simple and helps people focus on the writing more than the design. Usually, for most of your content this means black text on a white background, using a clear font at least size 12. If you decide to use different colours, make sure there's a strong contrast between the text and background colours so it's still easy to read. You can be a little more creative with colour and font sizes for your headings and blog title!
Once you've published a few posts and setup any social media accounts, you could add these into your blog design:
- Links to your social media profiles - so readers can follow you and your future blogs.
- Social share buttons - this makes it easy for people to share your posts on their own social media.
- Tags - once you’ve published a few posts, tags will allow your readers to navigate between the different topics and themes that you’ve mentioned.
Remember - your blog doesn't have to look professional, and you can improve how it looks over time. The most important thing is that you can share your stories, and your audience can easily read and take away your intended message from your posts.