Nothing seems to strike more fear in the hearts of new website owners than starting their own blog. You might have flashbacks to Freshman English, or maybe your web publishing experience is limited to forwarding chain emails. Or perhaps you’re one of the few who really knows what you’re doing, but you want to take your blog to the next level and get the most out of every post. These 6 easy steps will help you enjoy blogging and get you on your way to more hits and higher page ranks.

1. Understand blogs

Not only does a blog give something interesting for your users to check out, but it also helps your search engine ranking. Posting to your blog regularly keeps your website frequently updated (an important key to higher rank in Google), and also gives you the opportunity to use keywords that you want to be found with. Adding relevant links in your blog posts to different pages of your site takes viewers to pages you want them to see. These are just some of the pros of posting to a blog.

2. Plan ahead

Not all of us have the time (or patience) to sit around trying to think of a good blog topic and spend an hour or more writing about it. Especially when the sun is shining outside and we’d rather be out playing with our friends. So instead, dedicate a good chunk of time every couple of weeks to brainstorming blog posts that interest you and are relevant to your website. They can be tips, reviews, guides, observations, or recommendations. You’re really free to write about what you want. Write down some ideas and if the creative juices are really flowing, start writing and don’t stop at one blog post. You can always chop up what you’ve written into several posts, and save some for later.

3. Don’t Overthink It

You’re not writing a literary masterpiece. So don’t panic about writer’s block or critics. Keep it simple, keep it short, and inject some personality into your blog posts. A great way to get inspired is to check out blogs that you like. And if you’re not a blog reader, start! StumbleUpon is a great way to find interesting and popular blogs. The blog posts you enjoy are likely to be pretty short, contain good imagery and helpful links, and have a casual, conversational tone. Once you know what you like, you can infuse the same vibes in your blog.

4. Keep Em Coming

Try starting out slow, posting to your blog once every week or two. Once you’re more comfortable and find your blogging voice, it’ll be easier to write once or twice a week. Even better is if you can add guest bloggers or a small team of cohorts to start churning out the posts. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience, one post a day is plenty. No matter how often you post, make sure all of your blog posts are written well and give genuinely interesting or helpful information. Quality over quantity is key in blogging.

5. Keep it Clean

Not only should your blog’s interface be clean and easy to navigate, but spelling and grammar should be clean as well (seriously). A great way to keep blog posts organized is to use tags and categories. Posting a tag cloud, a blog category menu, and even a search bar make your blog exceptionally user friendly, especially if your blog posts are getting up to the hundreds. I shouldn’t have to tell you, but... spell check. Use it. And unless your blog is meant to offend, leave out the four letter words.

6. Start Promoting!

Tell your friends, neighbors, grandma, daughter-in-law, and everybody on Facebook that you have a new blog. Every new post should be twittered about and up on your wall. Giving your blog a little push into the social networking world should give it the extra oomph to start getting serious traffic. Respond to comments on your blog to make your readers feel involved and keep them coming back for more.

You’re now ready to dust off your keyboard, open up your text editor, and get blogging! Results will start slowly, but if you’ve followed the steps, you’ll soon get a steady stream of comments and views. Welcome to the blogosphere.