Duggar Family Blog and How to Start Your Own Family Blog
Business owners are not the only ones who put up a blog! Did you know that the first people who used blogging to promote themselves were actually just everyday people and families who wanted to share their vacations with other members of their family? It’s true, and today we are going to be taking a look at one of the most popular family blogs on the internet today, while also showing you how you can start a blog of your own.
Family blogging is one of the most popular ways to document and share information about your family. While scrapbooks and photo albums were commonly used in the past, now that everything is digital and people have hundreds of digital photos on their mobile devices, it makes perfect sense to start a family blog that can easily be shared and viewed by others. This all comes together and makes sense when you look at the Duggar Family Blog, which is a blog about the Duggar family, their television show and keeping all of their fans updated on their lives and growth of their many children. Their blog is very extensive and includes many different categories of information and media that they share with other family members.
When you start looking at the blog, it’s easy to see why they need so much space. They have a very large family! They include every detail of their family’s events for other family members and friends to see and it’s clear to see that they are proud of their growing family.
Some of the categories they include in the blog include:
- Duggar updates
- Showtimes (for their online TV show)
- Photos
- Videos
- Birthdays
- Interviews
There are many others, too, all allowing fans a peek into the real lives of the Duggar Family. Their show is a reality-based TV show that chronicles the life and times of the Duggar Family and lets you get a sense of their real lives, as well as the time they spend on the set of their show.
Comments and Engagement
One of the things you may notice on the blog is the fact that they allow many comments and enjoy engaging interactions with their fans. This helps them make a connection with their fan base and gets them excited about future episodes.
Michelle and Bob Duggar, two of the co-founders of the Family Blog, also wrote a book entitled, A Love That Multiplies, which they feature on the left margin of their blog. Putting the book in this location likely helps them make more sales and generates a stronger interest in the content of the book.
Using a Blog to Advertise
The Duggars also advertise other books they have written on their blog so that people can order various books to learn more about them. They have created a very active integrated social media circle, as well, by putting Facebook and Google Plus widgets on their site.
The Duggars use their blog to develop a connection with their adoring fans and share their personal and family lives with the world. They have created their own “web within the web” with their diverse blog that covers everything from marriages and birth announcements to trips and vacations.
They talk about their show, as well, which gets their viewing audience interested in continuing episodes.
After clicking on any of the show links on the “Watch Full Episodes” page, you will often be sent to their YouTube page which features an episode like the one below.
What is the appeal of The Duggar Blog?
Perhaps the appeal of the Duggar Blog is the fact that they have so many kids. Perhaps it is because people view them with wonder and wonder how they could be so organized and efficient with so large a family. Whatever the appeal, the blog is very successful and it has resulted in over 3,000 people joining their Facebook
Duggar Family FAQ
What is happening with the Duggar family?
Are the Duggars still having babies?
What religion are the Duggar family?
How many kids do the Duggar kids have?
Duggar Family Wiki
First episode date: September 29, 2008
Final episode date: May 19, 2015
No. of episodes: 229 (plus specials) (list of episodes)
No. of seasons: 10
Executive producer: Sean Overbeeke
Original network: TLC
How to Start Your Own Family Blog
If you are interested in starting your own family blog, you could use The Duggars as an example to get started. Study their blog and make notes on what you like or don’t like about it, then decide for yourself if you would like to create something similar for your own family.
You don’t have to have a TV or online web series to do it. You don’t have to have written a book to do it, either. You just have to have a desire to share your experiences with an audience.
If you would like to get started with a website or blog of your own today, we recommend using Bluehost to get started. Not only do we personally use Bluehost to host many of our own sites, we also recommend them to our users because they are a recommended solution from WordPress as well. When you sign up for a hosting account through the link above (or image below), as a Blogging.org visitor you will receive 60% off your hosting costs and also get a free domain name!
Defining Your Audience
How do you determine who your target audience is? That will depend on who you are, what you do, and the purpose of your blog. If you know what your focus is, you should be able to figure out the type of people who will flock to your content. You can create a blog about anything, from hobbies to family vacations to business plans that you want to share with customers if you own a business.
If you plan what you are going to make the blog about and think about it carefully, you can create a blog that will interest the people you hope to attract.
Steps to Creating Your First Blog
If you are new to blogging and want to know how to get started with your first blog, follow these steps to get started:
1. Choose a blogging platform such as WordPress or Blogger.com to put your blog on.
Look at the features that the blogging platform has so that you’ll know if it has everything you need. Remember that blogs can get pretty deep in information later on as you develop it (See the Duggar Blog again if you doubt this). So make sure you are getting on a platform that will work for what you want to do. While WordPress is the recommended CMS and software for creating a new website or blog, we recommend using the software and setting up your own domain name and hosting. We do not recommend going with a free hosting solution or using Blogger.com or Blogspot. Free web hosting and blogging solutions limit the website owner’s ability to own the content, customize their sites or even make money with their content.
2. Get your initial media together.
Pictures can say a lot and can help provide you with a visual tool that allows you to tell your story without so many words. Blogging is about words. But people also love to see pictures within your blog that will compliment what you are saying within your posts. Having pictures, videos, and other media will also make your content more shareable. With WordPress, all of this is very simple and easy to set up. There is no need to be a designer or programmer. All you need to do is set up a new hosting account with Bluehost, install WordPress with their one-click option, then drag and drop any images right into your blog. It’s so easy, anyone can do it!
3. Plan your content.
Blogs are a great place to freelance and allow your creative ideas to flow. But a little planning on your topics will go a long way. If you are creating a family blog like the Duggars, you may just make these topics on things like:
- Family additions
- Marriages
- Vacations and trips
- College or life achievements
You get the idea. It’s totally up to you and you should just create content that you think your family would like and be proud of. Feel free to use your blog to express yourself, show pictures of family events, and other things.
Then, don’t forget to notify your family circle about the blog, so they can visit, comment, and add content.
Have fun with it. After all, it’s your blog!