If you are going to start a blog there are some things that you need to consider before you take the plunge.

1.) Free blog service or set up your own - that's the question is it better to use one of the free services like blogger.com or should you set up your own site with it's own domain name?

The simple rule of thumb that I use is if your blog is for your business or for profit have it set up on its own domain name. If it isn't for either of these purposes then you should be fine on a free blogging service.

Having your own domain name and your own site makes it so that you can add features like plugins that will optimize your site for better performance in the search engines which should bring more targeted prospects to your site.

2.) Make sure you use the right blogging software - software like Joomla, TypePad and Concrete will all make blogs but I recommend that you use WordPress. The main reason for this is because WordPress has the most available plugins, themes and support.

3.) Stay in your niche - when you create a blog you should know what niche you are going to be working in. Make sure you stay in this niche. If you stray too far you will loose readers because no one wants to go to a blog about fitness and read about the new triple chocolate supreme delight being offered around the corner.

By keeping your blog on target you will build a following of loyal readers that will regard you as the expert in that field. This will help you when you are selling your product and when you recommend an affiliate product. Stay in your niche to succeed.

You should also make sure that your niche is a topic you like. You don't have to know everything there is to know about it but you must be interested in it enough that you will put in the time that it takes to make your site popular.

4.) Use keywords that get searched - a lot of the traffic you get to your blog comes from keywords that are searched in the search engines. Do a little research and see if the keywords you are targeting actually get searched.

Google's keyword tool is a free service where you can see exactly how many people are searching for your keywords on Google every month. This is a great place to start your keyword research.

5.) Make your blog reflect you - this simply means that your blog should be something that reflects your personality or the personality of your business. This can be the tone of voice you use in your posts or it can be something as simple as putting your name and picture on the blog. Let people know who is doing the talking, let them see you, let them put a face to the voice and you will find that you will get a better following than trying to be the anonymous expert.

These are some the most important things to know about blogging if you use these as your guideline you will end up with a blog that you enjoy working on and your viewers enjoy reading.