Congratulations on your decision to start a blog Now what? Well, for starters, you have to create the website where you will post all of your rants and ramblings. New to the whole website development thing? Don’t worry – you are not alone. Many bloggers find the myriad options when it comes to blogging platforms to be anything but helpful – they can actually be downright confusing. What’s best for you and your blog? Here are some pointers for how to choose the right blogging platform:
Free hosting. There are many free blogging platforms out there (which we will get to later) that provide everything from hosting to blog templates. This format makes it very easy to develop a blog that can easily compete with many of the blogs out there. However, in order to use one of these free blogging platforms, you must use a blog URL with the host name in it. For example, if you opt to use WordPress, one of the most popular blogging platforms available, your blog site will be a subdirectory of WordPress, as such: www.wordpress.com/myblog.
Self-hosting. If you really want your blog to appear as a unique entity, then you will need to pay for hosting. Fortunately, hosting is relatively inexpensive, and an online search will return a wide array of hosting companies that offer their customers a variety of services. When you pay for hosting, you can choose your own URL. If you are lucky, your name will be available But you will still be responsible for finding a blogging platform .
Free blogging platforms. As previously mentioned, WordPress is probably the most widely used blogging platform there is, and you can use WordPress (and other such platforms) whether you use the free hosting or choose to pay for hosting. WordPress is extremely user friendly, and offers literally hundreds of customizable themes that you can install and use for your blog. What’s more, there are also literally hundreds of WordPress-compatible plug-ins that allow you to customize the blog experience to your desires, including SEO building, analytics, and user-oriented applications. Examples of other free blogging platforms include Tumblr, Blogger, and TypePad. Each has its own unique features, and its own set of pros and cons. Explore the website of each platform to decide which experience is best for you.
Developing and maintaining a blog can be a very fulfilling experience. However, it can also be a lot of work. Take the guesswork out of your blog design by choosing a blogging platform that is best suited for you. Explore your options with these tips in mind, and you will be well on your way to creating a blog that is uniquely yours.
Solomon Bonaguidi is a web developer who loves helping new bloggers get started with their platform of choice. When he’s also a finance writer who specializes in credit repair, loans, Great Plains Lending, and insurance.
