When it comes to blogging you have a choice – blog for money or blog for passion. If you’re blogging for passion then there’s no point in paying for web hosting and a domain name – simply set-up a blog with Blogger or WordPress. Below are the 7 steps to setting up a blogger blog. 2. On your dashboard click on create a blog. 3. The title of your blog and the blog address should contain the keyword you’re trying to target in the search engines. 4. Click on Layout and change the colour and fonts of your blog. 5. Click on page elements and then add gadget. 6. The gadgets you should consider adding are subscription links, AdSense and labels. 7. Your blogger blog will now be ready to make a post. If you want to blog for money then there are a number of reasons why you should obtain web hosting and a domain name. These include WordPress doesn’t allow commercial content, WordPress or blogger could delete your blog at any time and you’re unable to sell your blog if you don’t own the domain. WordPress is considered the best blogging platform for search engine optimisation purposes.
WordPress (WP) is another popular platform and is directed towards more advanced users. WordPress is also free, however, the majority of people who use this platform buy hosting and and a domain name. Here are the benefits of using WP. 1. There are a ton of plugins (some are good, some are really bad). 2. You will own the site (if you buy the domain name). 3. There are many more theme options. 4. It’s easy to customize the appearance of each blog (Some .css knowledge might be required). 5. Looks more professional – almost like a real website. 1. Most people who use WP pay for domain names and hosting. 2. Might be too advanced for beginners. 3. You need to know a little .html and .css if you want to customize templates. 4. The widget options might be too overwhelming for beginners. 5. Not as user friendly. As you can see, WordPress is targeted towards more advance users. My recommendations are for beginners to try out Blogger and once they get an understanding of how to blog, then switch over to WordPress. This way you can obtain a free domain name, practice on the free blog and then when you’re ready, switch over to the more advanced WP platform.
This is another thing I like about the book, Hussey shares many resources, and many are free, to help you with what you want to do. There is a quick introduction about how to use the book, and then a brief history of blogs and how to start your own. There is a basic chapter on installing and setting up your first blog. This is very basic and walks the novice through the setup. Don’t know what a plugin or widget is? This chapter will tell you. Chapter three focuses on writing and creating a conversation, while chapter four is on building community. Chapter five is the first of the 6 projects. The six are: Creating a personal blog; Creating a business blog; Creating a podcast blog; Video blogging; Creating a portfolio blog; Creating your online lifestream; and a bonus chapter on Making money through your blog. In these chapters, Hussey really does walk you through doing all the things you’ll want to do with your blog. He covers the basics, but also how to record, edit and post audio and video, as well as topics like twitter, Cliqset, and ways to pull all your posting and content together. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of information and detail provided. The last chapter, which was a bonus, probably had the least amount of information, but he did cover the basic ways people are making money with their blogs. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to start blogging, or for the person who wants to improve their blog presence or take their blogging to the next level with audio or video.
WordPress is used to power some of the most prominent blogging websites on the internet that have the largest number of users. This is not the end of the road, as there are many advantages associated with WordPress as it provides an active developer community, with a wide range of reference material and a large base of people that one can connect with at times of need. WordPress also comes with its bag of tech goodies, in the form of plug-ins that give the user the freedom to do all sorts of things, as one is allowed to change the code according to their needs and requirements. On the flip side of the coin, WordPress as a blogging tool has its own set of disadvantages. The open coding system of WordPress makes it vulnerable for nefarious activities. Various high profile celebrities are also associated with blogging, thus bad guys who are looking for ways to tarnish a celebrity’s image can easily manipulate the high profile blog with easy access to open coding. But the WordPress developers at blog hosting services have been working round the clock providing a solution to tackle the vulnerabilities that are associated with WordPress and providing solutions for safeguarding blogging sites. Each time a page is updated, there are a number of processes that take place in the background and ensure that the page is displayed properly. New technology is being applied to make the pages more static and viable under heavy load. Therefore, choosing WordPress as your blogging platform with a blog hosting service is the best choice for publishing your blogs.