Selecting A Blog Platform
There are a number of questions regarding which blog platform to select. You cannot specifically say which blog platform is the best to select because it totally depends on the purpose of your blog. Here are some factors that you would want to consider in selecting a blog platform.
There are a huge number of blogs platforms available in the market. You could change your blog platform anytime later if you wish to, majority of them have methods of importing and exporting the matter later. Normally there are some costs attached with such transfers. It is wise not to hurry and select the first option you come across. Take some time to decide, research a little and you could come across a perfect platform that would last for a long time. Try to answer the questions given below and you might end up getting the perfect track.
The most fundamental thing to do while selecting a blog platform is to keep in mind what is your requirement and purpose of your blog. Beginners would find it a little tricky to make a decision. But considering the following questions would help you to decide easily.
- What is the key purpose of your blog?
- Would you like to continue blogging for a longer period?
- Are you thinking of adding ads on your blog?
- Are you planning to start the blog as a hobby or as a professional?
There would be many other doubts you would want to clear. It’s a good thing to clear these doubts with some research because there are a few platforms that are suitable for people who want to maintain a blog as a hobby and the ones who think of maintaining it professionally.
If you are planning to select WordPress, then it’s a good choice. This blog is using WordPress. You may easily install it with one click at webhosts that support wordpress.
Blog platforms are available in a wide selection. You will come across the ones that are free of cost and also paid ones. But you really don’t need paid ones, as wordpress and blogger are great and free! (plus others too). There are three essential things that are worth paying for. They are:
Various blogging platforms provide diverse levels of service. A few of them like WordPress and Blogger provide platform, domain name and free hosting as well. But it’s better to get your own host, and install the free platform on it.
The other expenses that you would want to consider in the initial stage are:
Design: each platform is available with free templates. However, if you wish to have a more personal look then you will have to know some design skills or take the help of someone who can design or get a design by paying.
Blog tools: There are huge amount of tools that are available if you pay for them, to help your blogging better. They contain stats packages, offline blog posting tools etc. If you are new to blogging you will not need these tools but as you get deep into it, you might need them.
If you are a newbie in the field of blogging and not too technologically minded then there are a few blog platforms that are better suited for you. The other alternative is to search for someone who could help you technically. The best part about blogging is that there are a wide range of information available as well as some devoted forums that help people to understand more about the platforms they have selected. While selecting a platform it would be good to find out what others are into. In the past few years a number of platforms have taken birth and later perished and it would continue to happen.
Once you are clear with the above questions then you will have to ask yourself if you want a hosted platform or a stand alone platform.
Hosted Blog Platforms:
Hosted blog platform is a kind which many bloggers select in the beginning just for the reason that they are easy to use and less expensive. The most popular hosted blog platform is blogger.com. However you will also find platforms such as MSN spaces and WordPress.com. These platforms are hosted blog platforms as they host the blogs on their own domain. Once your blog is created, you will be given a web address that is normally a combination of the name of your blog and their own URL.
Stand Alone Blog Platforms:
The other type of blog platform is stand alone platform that is hosted under your personal domain. Textpattern, B2Evolution, are some of the stand alone blog platforms that you can make use of.
Related posts:
- How To Begin A Blog And Make It Earn
- Blog Advertising – Get Discount For Ads On My Blog
- Promote Your Blog At Blogs Communities
- Is it Necessary to Register Domain for a Blog?
- Technorati Authority – Fave – Rank – Blog Reaction Improved
Filed Under: Blogging Tips • Marketing Tools-Resources • Online Marketing Tips • WordPress & WordPress Themes
A very good post with some important points. As a really new niche blogger, I am using wordpress. This is because the course I am following uses wordpress as the template for the niche blogs. However, if I were trying to figure this all out on my own, I would be doing some more research into the options.
Thanks for presenting them objectively here. I may very well be starting some sites soon that would do better on non-wordpress platforms!
I use wordpress standalone too, I think for serious blogger, they will eventually switch to wordpress, consider all the plug in and extended functionality…Don’t think another blog platform can compete.
Cool post dude. I think those are some great tips. The only reason i’m using blogger is cos it’s free! Keep up the great posting!
If it’s just to learn and fun Blogger is a good way to go but if you plan on taking it serious you need to go with WordPress.
wordpress is the best for me, you can do anything with it
I think I am still stuck wordpress, I am terrible in it and no idea how to put the CMF ad in. Not sure if it is the same like putting other 125×125 ad in blog.
If you considering easy interface without having much to play with code, choose Blogspot. And if you looking for more features in your blog and want to go big, wordpress is the best platform so far. Not to mention joomla which recently slowly climbing to top
@peraduanku what is jomla?
It more to CMS platform but somehow a lot of users turn it into blogging platform. As i can see, their features not bad either… maybe will be a contender to wordpress
@peraduanku, thanks for explaining
I will check it out.
Btw Sherry, I love to see joomla template. They are so beautiful!
im using wordpress now and im satisfied with it
although im more comfortable with blogger
wordpress is the best for me too, I wish I can css codes for free.
I meant to say: I can add css codes for free.
Yeah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and Myblog2day.com. It is another Sunday learning for others blog post from here right now.
wordpress is very user friendly..
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I think WordPress is probably still the de facto platform for most bloggers. Other options are out there but they have a ways to go before catching or matching WordPress.
Thank you so much for the compliments. Infact, I guess you can still take that name. My name has a typo error. Though I like your name too, so don’t change it.
Do they build their own platform or use the same popular platforms and customize as everybody else does? Sites like lifehacker, downloadsquad…etc. Also, can blog platform be built easily? I actually have some ideas for starting a professional blog and would like to know what language I should learn to build such software. Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.
I have been using WordPress myself for the longest time now. It’s just plain awesome, and continues to improve!
-Jean
well, i myself have a blog of my own on Blogspot.com..the content of your blog is really very useful for me..
thanks
I had more idea about it.But I am sure to read this nice article.It’s a excellent feedback on this blog.I like it.Keep writing continue.
Thanks….
You’re right. Since this article was written, new upgrades are available. Thanks for pointing that out. WordPress MU has made a big difference in this area. I’ll make the updates now. Thanks!