Blogging is very popular today. The two main blogging platforms are blogger.com and WordPress.
The platform that will work best for you depends on many factors. Learning the advantages and disadvantages of each will help you make that decision.
Blogger allows you to put up a blog quickly and easily. There is no need for you to have a website or a domain name. Blogger hosts the blog for you.
Registration is free and takes only minutes. Once you are registered, you can immediately begin to set up your blog.
Templates are provided for you to use and can be easily changed at any time to give your blog a new look.
When you add a post, you simply name it and, if you have a website, link it to your site so visitors can easily visit your site by clicking on the title.
Type in your text and preview it to be certain it looks good. Then publish it. Your blog is now live.
If it’s this easy, why would you not simply choose Blogger and be done with it?
When you get done posting, you need to ping your blog. Let blogging networks know you have just updated your blog.
You can do so by going to Pingomatic.com and entering the name of your blog and the URL address of your blog. Click on the websites you want to ping and you’re done.
If you don’t take time to ping, there’s a good chance no one will find your blog. This pinging is not hard, but it is an extra step you need to take when you post, unless you are posting for just family and/or friends.
The fact that Blogger is hosted at Blogger also means they can delete your blog at any time. You don’t have total control over your blog. Chances are this will not happen, but it does tend to make many marketers worry a bit.
WordPress, on the other hand, is hosted on your hosting service. You use your domain name and the WordPress blog is in it’s own folder. You have total control over your blog.
Once set up, it is very easy for you to post to it. You go into the administration area and write a post. When you are finished, you click to publish it. If you have set up WordPress properly and have listed auto-posting at Pingomatic, your post will automatically be pinged to the blogging networks. You do not have an additional step.
There are also many templates for you to use and it is possible to configure these templates to fit your needs. Once again, you have more control.
However, WordPress can be a little complicated to install and, to take full advantage of it, there are many different plugins you will need to install as well. This can be a bit of a daunting task and something you might not want to be bothered with.
You do have to have a domain name and you have to have web hosting set up. These costs may limit the number of different blogs you might want to publish, whereas Blogger allows you to make as many blogs as you want on different subjects and you never pay anything.
Some people have blogs using both platforms. You need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each and make your decision accordingly. The best way is to dive in and give it your best shot.
