How to Make a Blog?

I've been getting numerous hits from various search engines about the question "How to make a blog". Well; since I haven't answered it generally in the past, I will make a feeble attempt here:

First of all - WHY to start blogging:

• Because you have something to say
  
• Because you want to stay in touch with new and old friends
  
• A whole lot of other reasons
  
• Next: So you've got something to say - now how do you get it online?
  

If you're starting from scratch and do not want to install either software, cgi scripts or any other techical things (you do not even have to know what those things are), try visiting any of the below sites, which will allow you to set up a blog either for free or at a very low cost:

• TypePad - a brand new service that charges a (small) fee but gives you a lot of nice features. From what I hear it can be recommended!
  
• Blogger - the original; provides you with free tools and a free website of your own (which they'll run advertising on, but you could always move on later (I did))
  
• LiveJournal - less blogging, more online journals, free all the same...
  

If you already own a website and you'd like to funk it up with a blog, but without installing anything, Blogger (mentioned above) can be set up to upload blog-files to your website. Very handy.

All of these tools, and some of the below as well, allow you to instantly become a web-publisher simply by using your normal web-browser; no software needed. If you're looking for a tool for your desktop, try Radio.

If you own a website and you're into fiddling with your own HTML templates and not afraid of installing a bit of scripts:

• Movable Type is the granddaddy of script-based blog software. It's the most widely used by top bloggers and very flexible (more about this later). Download it for free, but remember to donate to its creators if you like it (you will!)
  
• Some people use Blosxom and are happy
  
• Some people use other tools - there are loads
  

If you go for Movable Type (the tool used to update this blog), you might want to read through the following posts I've written in the past in my Movable Type category:

• My Movable Type Installation
  
• More "GoogleJuice"
  
• Get more readers
  
• XML Syndication
  
• Some information on meta-tags
  
• Category XML feeds
  

You might also want to expand the functionality by using Plugins, but all this is for the people with time and knowledge to play with tech bits... If you want a plain and simple website, go back to the top of this page and check out TypePad or Blogger...