Free Blogging Platforms
The first kinds of blogging platforms are the free variants of popular applications. Blogger.com is the one that is owned by Google and it’s very straightforward to use and completely free. The only drawback is that you don’t really own your blog as it is hosted by Blogger. While the software is great, you’re pretty much out of luck if they decide to pull the plug on you.
The other major, free blogging application is WordPress.com (not to be confused with WordPress.org, which is self-hosted). This is also very easy to use, and it is hosted by WordPress. Be very careful if you are going to do a lot of affiliate marketing on your blog. WordPress.com has been known to shut sites down without warning!
Hosted Blogging Platforms
As you can see, it is generally a good idea to self-host your blog so you have total control over it. As you begin getting good traffic you’ll definitely want to ensure that there is nothing that can be done to take your blog away. Setting up a free hosted blog is like putting all your eggs in one basket, and that’s never a good idea. Of course that doesn’t mean you cannot set one up that is secondary and meant to help you get backlinks.
Hosted blogs are much better for most people. One of the oldies but goodies is the Moveable Type software. You do have to pay for this, but many people think it’s worth it. It’s a very powerful way to blog.
The Bloggers Blog?
Most bloggers, however, seem to favour WordPress.org blogs. You host these on your own server, so you have total control! It’s similar to Moveable Type in that it’s very easy to use, but the variety in the support and plugins available is incredible.
There is a massive community set up based around WordPress. You can find plugins to help you with SEO, to run a membership site, to backup your blog for you, to sell eBay items, and a lot more! There are also a large number of themes you can choose from to make the blog completely your own.
The Decision Is Yours
So, which one should you select? Again, most Internet marketers tend to choose WordPress. You might want to as well since it is phenomenal software and offers everything you need. Better yet, it’s so easy to use that you can have a blog up and running very quickly and easily.
It is also important to note that most tutorials written in the Internet Marketing arena are focused on WordPress. It seems to be the gold standard for bloggers, and you might want to select it if only to avoid the hassle of trying to learn another system that not many people use.
This is an excerpt from the free Guide To Blogging E-Course
If you are determined about earning money with blogging and would like to get the rest of the “Guide To Blogging E-Course” visit www.internetninetofive.com/guide-to-blogging
An avid user of the Internet. Interested in the use of Web 2.0 technologies, blogging and Internet Marketing. An enthusiastic player of a number of MMORPG’s including: World Of Warcraft, LOTR: Online and Everquest 2. I just wish I had more time to play these – there never seems to enough hours in the day…
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Print This Post
Comments