[FrostyM]

I have an idea knocking around in my head. It's a rare occasion I must say  I was thinking of starting a blog and/or a facebook page for my random smallholding related stuff. I don't have too much going on, a back garden with a polytunnel and veg patch, a few chickens and plan on getting some pigs again next year. I am pretty good with computers and the like but I wondered if people had any advice as to which blogging site to use or if they found blogging time consuming or if they felt they didn't have much to blog about? Any advice or comments welcome 

[doganjo]

A lot of us here are on Facebook - look at the profiles and click the FB link.

[FrostyM]

Sorry I didn't explain myself very well. I have a personal Facebook page where I share some of my photos and stuff but I don't like the feeling I am spamming friends with stuff that they aren't interested in. I was thinking of setting up a page for my smallholding stuff that people could "like" to see my updates if they want to. Also people can like my smallholding page without adding my personal page if they don't know me if that makes sense?

[Brucklay]

Yes Frosty - that's what I have, a personal page and a pygmy goat/sheep page so my non animally friend don't get fed up of every kid and lamb born pictures!!

[doganjo]

Sorry I misunderstood - I have the same - one FB page for me and one for Aberdon Gundogs, but I must admit I rarely have time to swap over and add to that page.

[happygolucky]

I have a page for my pups etc and dog related stuff on Facebook, quite a lot of people cross over to both though...and I DO get mixed up too and post dog stuff ALL the time on FB...I love it

[FrostyM]

I had thought I could share some of the more "interesting" posts on my personal page but there are only so many pictures of onions most people can take I am also planning on building a few things over the next few months, cider press, chicken coop etc that I might write a blog about. Has anyone any experience, good or bad, with any blogging sites?

[Dan]

Look at getting a cheap hosting account with Wordpress available (not on wordpress.com). It's the best blogging platform there is, and is much easier to move around than platforms like blogger.com which are tied to a single provider.

Something like this:

http://www.5quidhost.co.uk/wordpresshosting.php or this:

https://www.tsohost.com/product/wordpress-hosting

It'll cost a few quid a month but generally when it comes to the web you get what you pay for - with a lot of the free sites you don't understand the costs until you try to move away or expand.

[FrostyM]

Thanks for that Dan, I don't mind spending a few quid if it will save hassle in the long run. It's not overly expensive anyway. I can give up my night out this week and put the money towards one of these hosting sites   

[Bodger]

I've just started this blog on my cider website. I've mad three posts so far but they've all been about Pru the pig. I think it should be quite enjoyable to keep it going but I'll have to make myself keep it up to date. Other than blatant plugs like this    how can I set about getting more people to look at it?
http://www.ourcider.co.uk/blog.html
I've only had two comments left so far and one of those was from one of my best friends.

[shygirl]

i had a website with a farm diary and it was linked to facebook, where i also had a business page. people do read it so its worth the effort if you are selling things.
there are a few blogs that i follow as they are so interesting.
try it. i never spent a penny but sold loads through them.

[Dan]

I've just started this blog on my cider website. I've mad three posts so far but they've all been about Pru the pig. I think it should be quite enjoyable to keep it going but I'll have to make myself keep it up to date. Other than blatant plugs like this    how can I set about getting more people to look at it?
http://www.ourcider.co.uk/blog.html
I've only had two comments left so far and one of those was from one of my best friends.

It takes time to become established, and more time now than it used to - many months and probably years to get solid results in Google for popular searches.

Post interesting snippets to Facebook, photos to Pinterest, linking back to posts on your blog - these types of things get people to your site more quickly, and they then share. Ask other related sites to link to your site. It'll slowly build traction. You've got Google Analytics installed, so can see what's happening on your site - use the information in there to understand what's popular and where people are coming from.

I think you have to enjoy blogging and be able to do it for the sake of it. We treat our blog like a diary, and sometimes post things we know will be of little interest to anyone else, but it's a record for us and we refer back to it all the time to remember what we did when.

[shygirl]

We treat our blog like a diary, and sometimes post things we know will be of little interest to anyone else, but it's a record for us and we refer back to it all the time to remember what we did when.

thats exactly what we found. when you have blogged the new arrival of lambs, then you dont forget the date for their reg papers etc. very handy when you have a terrible memory like mine ...lol

[Small Plot Big Ideas]

I started with a simple blog on Wordpress at the beginning of last year but as I have plenty of previous web development experience I soon felt too restricted with that arrangement so I got a dedicated domain for the blog.


The hosting company I use now is Pipe Ten and as I already have a few other websites/domains with them I bought their multi-host deal so I can easily add another site at any time.


Personally I'm not so convinced of the benefit of Facebook pages but I have one for my blog and I can see how they might work for some people. However I am a big fan of Twitter for promoting the blog as well as making contact with like-minded people.


Once you get multiple accounts like that you really need a tool like HootSuite or my personal favourite Buffer to manage them from a single point. These allow you to post to some or all of your accounts as needed plus they give you some feedback on the results as well. The free accounts are more than adequate for my needs at least.

[FrostyM]

I like the idea of using a blog as a diary to help keep track of dates and the likes. I am always forgetting things and losing track of dates. I am not the type to keep notes as I always lose them. While I like the expansion options with a paid hosting site, I might try starting off on a free site and see how that suits me as a few here seem to find them enough for their needs. I have no business side to what I do, it's just a hobby at the minute so I think my needs will be fairly limited. Thanks for all the advice and opinions folks.

Just an idea, would there be an interest if there was a thread where people could share their blogs? One place where people could browse blogs to find ones that interest them and could help people increase their traffic on their blogs? I don't know if there is already one I haven't seen or if there would be any demand for this kind of thing. Just a thought