Selecting A Blog Platform

I've been reading this post and find it so interesting because it explains different blogging platforms, plus the next steps to be done.


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:

* Domain Name
* Blog Hosting

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.