Sorry for the delay in getting this post out there. Christmas festivities have distracted me for a few days. Last week I showed you how to set up your WordPress blog using WordPress hosting. You can review the steps or read it before moving on to tweaking your blog.

Login to WordPress

Go to http://en.wordpress.com/wp-login. On the top left of the page you’ll see the login and password and you can insert the details you saved when you set up the blog in the first place. Alternatively, you can login at http://youblogname.wordpress.com/wp-admin.

Dashboard - We'll adjust the settings in the red box

Adjust the Settings

1. Click on Settings (left hand column)
2. Once the window opens, you can change the name of your blog (but not the address) and the tagline for your blog. Be sure to use some important keywords in your tagline.

Change your title if you want to and create your tagline.

Adjust the Discussion Settings

There are a number of options to adjust. For now, we’ll deal with the essentials. The privacy settings we’ll reset after the blog is up and running.

Below you’ll see a sample of how to setup the discussion settings.

Discussion Settings

The fewer barriers to discussion you have, the better. However, you also want to be aware of what people are saying and try to prevent spamming of your blog.

Let’s Change the Appearance of Your Blog

Click on Appearance. Browse the myriad options for the look of your blog. Preview a few and see what you like and what suits your business and your personality. When you find one you like, click “Activate” and visit your blog to see the new design. If you don’t like it after all, then go back to Appearance and select again. If you want to customize it, you’ll need the help of your web designer.

My decision on a look.

Tomorrow I’ll show you how to add widgets to your site. Please ask any questions or make comments via the “No comments/comments” link below this post.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under Blogging, General, Small Business, Social Media - Organizing Your Strategy, WordPress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.