There are hundreds of blogging platforms available in the World Wide Web today. Each one specializes on the different features and applications. At the start of 2009, one of the up-and-coming blogging platforms, JournalSpace, has closed down due to a technical sabotage made by an IT employee to one of their main hard drives. This incident has disgruntled a lot of bloggers who now have zero journal entries. In order to avoid ignorance on this subject, here are a few blogging platform tips for maximizing your site visibility.
Knowing the Difference
Choosing the right blogging platform is essential in maintaining a blog. Remember that you have to assess your skills before picking the right platform to use. There are those that may require advance technical skills involving the use of Javascript or HTML. There are also those that require a certain fee to keep the web space running.
Blog platforms come in two types: Hosted Blog Platform and Stand Alone Blog Platform. A Hosted Blog Platform is by the word itself “hosted” by a particular server using their own domain. More often than not, these are the widely used blog platforms in the internet; the standouts include WordPress, Blogger and Livejournal. The process of site customization is not that intricate and tedious for Hosted Blog Platforms. There are user-friendly codes that you can use to manage your account. Most layouts are ready-to-use and the packages are usually cheap or free of charge.
A Stand Alone Blog Platform, on the other hand, aims for personalization. Your blog can be noticeable with its own domain and with modified applications. A number of the existing Stand Alone Blog Platforms include Movable Type, Expression Engine and b2Evolution. These platforms can configured to your own liking and have various plug-ins that are constantly updated.
Getting the Criteria
Since each person has different skills in using online softwares, you may also opt to create your own criteria in choosing your blogging platform. Remember that in doing so, you must think of which possible server can best maximize your site visibility.
Plug-ins. One effective way to make your blog stand out is to insert plug-ins. These are usually additional features that serve different purposes. To guard your guestbook against spam, you may indicate the requirement of typing codes. You may also tag related articles depending on the topic of your entry as well as RSS and Syndicate features.
Budget. Make sure you know how much you want to spend. The bigger your budget is, the more chances of purchasing a better domain. You also have to make sure that you get your money’s worth by choosing the platform that you can manage and configure on your own.
Tech-savvy. Know what you can and cannot do. Although the platform may be promising in its applications, you have to make sure that they are useable. Some blog platforms are also not compatible with other media sites like Flicker, YouTube or Photobucket.
A Piece of Advice
It always pays to research on your own and to check if some of your friends are using those platforms. Most of the time, the best advisers are the current users of the application.
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May 14, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I've always used WordPress self-hosted (which should be listed in standalone too shouldn't it?). I did actually try Blogger once but it didn't provide me with the flexibility I wanted from a blog, where as WordPress is very flexible, not just as a blog but it also works as a traditional CMS quite well too. I haven't tried many others though but it seems to me that WordPress has the best level of support, plug-in development etc. So it's an easy choice for me.
May 15, 2009 at 2:08 am
WordPress blog platform is what I'm using since the first day I started my blog, I'm sure that WordPress is the most easiest blog platform among all of them for beginner. I've tried Joomla before but it was complicated, just tried it in my another domain, but I gave up, it's too much of features and I was not able to handle it.
If my friends ask me about blog platform, I would definitely recommend WordPress to them. I believe that you're the same, right?
Good writing Salwa!
Regards,
Lee
May 15, 2009 at 2:17 am
Hi Salwa,
I agree self hosted blogs are the most popular methods you have more control.
May 15, 2009 at 4:46 am
Very good advice here. I agree about budget, the more you spend the more chances you have on bigger profit later. But it's still a risk
May 15, 2009 at 7:03 am
WordPress is the king ^_^
May 15, 2009 at 8:48 am
I'll definitely recommend that you go for the self hosted blog solution on your own domain. I've seen so many blogger start off with the free solutions only to regret it deeply after less than one year of blogging.
May 15, 2009 at 9:08 am
Really bad to hear about what happened to journalspace. Hoping they can recover.
I really think that the majority of bloggers simply have decided that wordpress is the best. The amount of plugins you find to customize and make your blog more efficient when you use wordpress. I can't see there going to be any major migration in the near future so I would really recommend wordpress for any starting or veteran blogger.
May 15, 2009 at 10:40 am
I've read where folks take a subject that they're interested in and make money blogging; how can I turn my love of handbags into a successful blogging venture?
May 15, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Well, I'd have to agree with everyone else that having a self-hosted WordPress blog is the way to go. It's very easy to setup, use, and manage the content and functionality of your site. Oh, and the best part, of course, is that it's free. You really can't beat it.
May 16, 2009 at 12:39 am
But I do see some bloggers doing well with Free hosted blogspot platform, such as http://moneymakerinfo.blogspot.com (Liew) & http://makemoneyforbeginner.blogspot.com (Grizzly). They can rank well in Top even though they use blogspot, but there is a lot of works need to be done in order to reach this stage.
But still, I support self hosted blog, WordPress!
Regards.
Lee
May 19, 2009 at 5:41 am
I'm starting to get to grips with WordPress myself, I find it pretty easy and straightforward.
I hav, however, been reading that using a hosted system like Blogger, is better for SEO. Is this true?
May 19, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Whether self-hosted or not, Blogger is not better for SEO. A self-hosted WordPress blog is much better in terms of SEO than Blogger.
May 20, 2009 at 4:28 am
Thanks, that's a relief! Didn't want to have to start again…!
May 20, 2009 at 6:24 am
Lee,
WordPress simply rocks! and it is not just easy to handle but you can also pretty much make anything out of it which makes it so flexible.
Thanks for your comment.
May 20, 2009 at 6:30 am
Hi James,
Yeah, if you are more of a serious blogger and hoping to make few bucks along the way than self hosted blogs are definitely for u.
May 20, 2009 at 6:51 am
It is but if you have the money you might as well invest it on your business and hope for the best!
May 20, 2009 at 6:53 am
Agreed!
May 20, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Glad I could help. I'd hate to see you have to start over because someone gave you bad information!
May 22, 2009 at 12:06 am
Hi Salwa,
As always great post. I guess you have an idea of the platform I use for blogging and what an expert I am in this platform, lol
Luis
May 22, 2009 at 12:08 am
I just began using a self hosted but free account but it was some restrictions that do not allowed you to really have some control over your site that´s why I change to a paid hosting.
May 22, 2009 at 12:10 am
I know Grizzly, this guy its amazing with links and techniques even that his sites are not very pretty, but he has a lot of subscribers and is making money already. But I still prefer to use self hosted WP.
May 22, 2009 at 12:42 am
That´s true. Even most of the pro bloggers use and prefer WP like Yaro Starak. WP have tp be the prefered choice over any other platforms.
May 22, 2009 at 1:15 am
Absolutely, its the best way to go. I learn this the hard way, after using free blogspot and then free hosting, never again. I will use paid hosting as well as self hosted WP.
May 22, 2009 at 1:18 am
More than decided that WP its the best, is because there is an actual reason why and is because you can tweak it and make it better for SEO and grab more plugins, themes and lots of tools in the market.
May 24, 2009 at 7:15 am
I use Blogger and yes, it's not as customizable as WP, but it's not so bad!!!
May 25, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Salwa, thanks for the breakdown of what to look for and consider when choosing a blogging platform. I see from the responses here that WP is the preferred platform but my friend tells me that there are two versions of WP so which should I use and why?
Paul
May 26, 2009 at 10:17 am
Hi Paul,
There's a self-hosted option for WP, which is what you want. The other option is to have WP host it for you, but that comes with A LOT of restrictions. Modifying is very restricted as well as the links you put on it. There's many cases where people lose their account because they fail to comply with the huge list of terms. With a self-hosted WP blog, you're not bound by any restrictions, only the ones you place on yourself.
Hope that helps,
Alan
May 28, 2009 at 9:14 pm
WordPress is just absolutely awesome!
May 28, 2009 at 9:16 pm
WordPress is just absolutely awesome!
May 28, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Hi Patriotic plates,
There are many ways on how one can monetising their blogs. They are programs such as adsense which you can use. As long as you can get some clicks, you can start earning from your blog almost immediately, affiliates and many other methods really.
Obviosly I won't be able to answer this question in whole on one single comment, or even an article for that matter as it is such a vast subject but if you do little search on google I am sure you will be able to get lots of information to help you make money blogging.
Regards
Salwa
May 28, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Work From Home Opportunities,
Very true, WP simply rules!
May 28, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Alan answered you perfectly!
May 29, 2009 at 11:59 am
That's good to know!
LOL
May 29, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I love it! I can't believe I went so long without it. Beats Blogger any day.
May 30, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Thanks Alan, I get it. Hey just a quick question for you or anyone that may care to answer. I am in a niche where forums are used and get more exposure than individual corporate blogs. Please remember that I am a one person show, the majority of my competitors have the money, technological expertise and a large community following so…
Wouldn't it make more sense in my situation to start a Forum (like the Warriors) rather than doing a blog?
Paul
June 1, 2009 at 7:44 am
I think a blog is still a good idea. I do believe there's a way to add a forum to a WP blog. Maybe you could go that route? A forum is a good idea, but if it were me I'd want a blog attached to the forum or vice versa.
June 2, 2009 at 9:06 am
Self-hosted WordPress gets my thumbs up every time!
June 7, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Yup no 3rd party ads.. you have total control of your blog!
June 18, 2009 at 1:37 am
I recently made a political blog and was wondering if the type of content on there could ever be successful, or if the writing or content will not attract visitors in the future. I realize it only has a few posts, but I am wondering if I should continue in the long-term or not. Thanks!
June 18, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I recently made a political blog and was wondering if the type of content on there could ever be successful, or if the writing or content will not attract visitors in the future. I realize it only has a few posts, but I am wondering if I should continue in the long-term or not. Thanks.
July 5, 2009 at 8:23 pm
After reading this article I am definitely looking forward to add blogging to my video marketing system. I love the community effect that takes place on the blogs. Right now I mainly post video to video uploading sites. A great place to post for marketers is http://www.Adwido.com because it's free plus they target specific keywords to boost targeted traffic. This would even be a great way to create targeted traffic to videos on blogs.
July 10, 2009 at 9:10 am
i want to make a successful blog and im wondering what topics i could use.
maybe show me a successful blog as an example.
July 23, 2009 at 4:41 am
Yes WordPress is good platform to consider aside from blogspot.
July 23, 2009 at 9:41 am
Yes WordPress is good platform to consider aside from blogspot.