Choose Perfect Blog Platform

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Are you satisfied with your blog platform?

When you decide to start your own blog, there are many considerations to be made. From your purposes and goals to what niche you will be into as well as from blog platform to template designs.

Of course you want your internet presence to be relevant and satisfying. And one of the choices to be made is choosing a blog platform. Here are some questions to consider:

1. Which Blog Platform Should I use?
2. Should I use a free platform like Blogger.com?
3. Should I have my own domain and hosted blog?
4. Should I start with the free Blogging Platform and just Upgrade it later?
5. Which Blog Platform is the best?
   

I think you know already what a blog platform is. If you happened to be lured putting a site without knowing this, it is high time to reconsider the platform of your blog now.

There are two categories of blog platform. These are hosted blog platform and non-hosted blog platform. There is a need to determine whether you would prefer a hosted or non-hosted platform. When choosing your blog platform, you’ll need to consider your goals as will as your niche.

A hosted site is one that is housed on the platform’s server like these famous three: Blogger, Typepad and Wordpress. In simple terms, if your have a Blogger blog, your blog is hosted on the Blogger server.

A non-hosted site is a blog that is housed on your own server and this usually a third party host site, which you have paid to host your site. Wordpress.org is a blogging platform but they do not host your blog. You need to have another to host it.

In this article, I will cite some advantages and disadvantages of each platform.

The Advantages of Hosted Blogging Platform

1. A hosted site makes it extremely easy for you to start a blog.
2. Mostly are free, so you do not need to spend up-front. Some ask for upgrade payments depending on your needs.
3. Updated automatically.
4. A hosted platform is usually user-friendly.
5. You do not need HTML and CSS knowledge to start a site. Of course, if you know some of these technicalities, you could customize your blog design like in Blogger.com, in other words, just like this site. (You may not find this site’s template as one of Blogger.com’s Templates but with good friendship, you may get this template for free (LOL). Just let us know below.)
6. A hosted blog platform has a helpful forum.

The Disadvantages of a Hosted Platform

1. In the blogging community, there is a bias for hosted sites like Blogger blogs. They are deemed less professional. But, don’t be discourage, there are successful sites housed on Blogger.
2. There are platform limitations like archiving and search engine optimization. Archiving is less user-friendly and post addresses are automatically generated by the platform usually from your post title. But with some tweaks, you could improve this in Blogger.
3. You will generally have less control of your HTML or CSS. Blogger allows you to change various parts of your HTML, but not everything. TypePad allows you to buy an option that gives you access to your CSS.
4. In WordPress.com(it's different to wordpress.org), you are not allowed to put advertising programs in your site.
   

The Advantages of Non-Hosted Platform

1. You have control over how your archives are managed.
2. You have control over all of your HTML and CSS.
3. You have control over permalinks.
4. You could manage your SEO.
5. More professional site (a bias in blogosphere).
6. Non-Hosted Platform has a vast community of developers for plugins.
   

The Disadvantages of Non-Hosted Platform

1. Some platforms support only one installation.
2. You need to disburse some cash before you start.
3. You need to do your own styling and coding.Unlike hosted platform, you need to work each static page you want to publish.

I will not prescribe any platform here. It is up to you to decide according to your purpose. Every program has its advantages and disadvantages. Select the best according to your needs as well as your budget.

Recently, some friends and I are in the brainstorming stage of putting some sites at Site Build It!

Again, I ask: Are you satisfied with your blog platform?

This was one of the questions I asked to myself in my quest of chronicling ways to make money online. How about you?

Let us know. You might help others by putting your insights below.

Thank you for your time.

I appreciate very much if you could drop some comments below.