118 Days till Christmas…I know, it doesn’t seem all that far away since we celebrated Christmas last year and we’re preparing for the next. Well I don’t know if you have seen but Wordpress have some fantastic Christmas Wordpress themes, I have a list of the top 9 Christmas Wordpress themes right here. We’ll I’ve been racking my brains on what to base my Christmas blog about and I’m sure there are people like me doing the same so I decided to do some research and come up with a list of Christmas blog ideas. Here they are:

1. An Online Shopping site: this will save people spending time in stores. What is nice about online shopping is that you can search for online retailers, search for Christmas gift ideas, place your order and pay for your order all while sitting from the comfort of your own home.  Add bright, colourful images to attract attention and you can write posts about things like strategies for planning early Christmas shopping, or Christmas gift ideas for men and women or how to set a budget for Christmas shopping, the list is endless. Think of original content that no one else has thought of that will make your site a hit.
2. Christmas Craft decoration ideas: we all see it on TV so why not see it on the net. You can use your own craft ideas and sell it to the public via a blog. Think about what people need for Christmas. Everyone wants to save money right? So you could invent a Christmas decoration idea, something simple and easy that anyone will want to try out.
3. Christmas Holiday ideas: have a list of the top 10 or the top 20 Christmas holiday ideas. You can include tips on getting there and planning your trip, or better still a list of all the top Christmas events in that area.
4. Christmas Quotes:  have several quotations for Christmas, you could even invite others to comment there favourite quotes, or you could have a list of the top 10 Christmas quotes broken down into selected categories like humorous, inspiring, poignant etc
5. Christmas Card ideas:  people always go out and buy Christmas cards but you can change that by inviting people to make there own from your site. Have a list that tells people what they need to make there own card, for example what materials they will need, what stationary items, a list of possible messages you could write inside a card etc. You could run a Christmas card competition which is sure to grab attention. People love competitions and winning. Think of a good prize to give to the winner it could be something as cheap as a cuddly toy.
6. A General Christmas blog: help people with tips and fun ideas for preparing for Christmas and choosing the right gifts.
7. Christmas recipes blog: this one is sure to attract visitors.
8. Christmas Carol: have a blog solely on Christmas carols. You can add the lyrics and even a small audio clip to help people remember the songs.
9. Christmas Countdown: you’ll be surprised how many people search this keyword - I did!
10. History of Christmas: have an information and history about Christmas, the historical roots of Christmas and how it’s celebrated around the world.
11. Christmas Gallery: people love to see the festive illustration, Use colours that are warm and beautiful. You can have a very creative Christmas gallery that people will love to look at. Having a site like this can really put someone in the mood for Christmas. An example of such a site is http://www.pbase.com/saskia/christmas

Feel free to leave comments and recommendation of any of these ideas or any others that you can think of that you would like to see added to the list.
 

Have a domain and the idea for it, but still haven’t got around designing it? well it’s now time to start making those web pages for your site. This is the most exciting part believe me. If you don’t know HTML or PHP (the language used to create web pages) then don’t worry. I didn’t know HTML or PHP either when I first started and I still have lots to learn, however if you use a blog package like Wordpress to design your site then you shouldn’t have much problem and it will get you started and up and ready in no time. Wordpress is so easy to use that you can literally have a site ready in less than 30 mins! You can update content frequently without the hassle of having to upload and download files from the server everytime you want to add, delete or edit something. It is designed in such a way that is user friendly and easy to use. Wordpress is open-source which means its free. It’s a content management system written in PHP. It’s so popular that many say it should soon take over all it’s competitors. I use the software for nearly all my sites including this one.

How do I get started?

Depending on the amount of customization and flexibility you want and on how much you are willing to learn getting started is simple.

1. Blog Software: You can go for the easy option and choose Wordpress, trust me it’s a fantastic piece of software that you can have hours of fun with. All you need to to do is install wordpress, choose your wordpress theme (there are literally hundreds to choose from), make those few minor changes for example change the footer, remove any unwanted links and that’s it your done! You will find everything you need to get you started from wordpress tutorials to plugins that you can easily install to offer you additional functionality that isn’t already available in your theme. This could be something like a FAQ plugin, contact form, newsletter, there are so many to choose from. Blogging with Wordpress really is fun and you can get nice looking, professional and google adsense ready themes so you dont have to do anything. The great news is that you can also specify exactly what type of template you are looking for by performing a search by category which is made available in Wordpress. For example, if you are designing a website about travel then you may be search for ‘travel’ in the theme listings. Worpress is ideal and probably most used option. You should browse around the internet as there are so many blogging software but by far Wordpress is the best and most popular offering free templates which are easily available for download.
2. Freelance Web Designer: You could get someone else to design your site for you. There are many freelancers out their and you can place your project on a freelances website. In doing this you will get instant access to post your projects, search resumes, select candidates and manage your entire hiring process. Some hosting companies may also offer web design so you might want to check it out with your host provider.