Blogs are everywhere; we can’t escape them. So it’s probably not a bad idea to have a basic idea of what they are and how to use them, or at least how they work.
First – what are they? In sum, blog is short for ‘web log’, or the equivalent of an open, online journal. They started out as a way for people – bloggers – to share their thoughts, and have evolved into a tool used for everything from the basic personal online diary to a sophisticated corporate marketing/advertising/information powerhouse.
Blogs have become both highly popular and highly pervasive. In addition to the vast numbers of personal bloggers, companies and public figures have started using blogs to promote their brand.
Now – how to use them? Blogs are generally hosted by one of a variety of ‘platforms’, or services that take care of hosting the data and creating the HTML code. Popular platforms include tumblr, wordpress, drupal, joomla, posterous, typepad, and blogger.
With so many options – the list above is just a fraction of what the web has to offer – picking one platform can seem overwhelming. Here’s where I come in: let me give you a quick rundown on some of the basic differences between platforms.
Blog platforms generally come in one of two types: Hosted and Non-Hosted
In a nutshell, a hosted blog is housed on the platform’s server, and a non-hosted blog is hosted on your own server. With a non-hosted blog, you usually end up paying a third party to host your site.
Both Melanie Nelson and Darren Rowse have written articles which do a great job giving a user-friendly rundown of the biggest differences between hosted and non-hosted blogs.
What they both basically have to say is this:
Hosted sites: great because they’re easy to start up, generally free or minimal in cost, and highly user-friendly. Limited because they often seem less professional, search-engine optimization (SEO) is not good, and you have less control over the HTML design.
Non-hosted sites: great because you get to control more of the HTML, how you store archives, the post’s name – which is important to better SEO, and it’s easier to advertise. Limited because you need to be more tech-savvy to manage the HTML code (so they’re not as user-friendly) and they cost more.
So, what does this mean for you?
That depends on two factors: your intent in blogging and your level of comfort with things like HTML.
If you plan to blog mainly for personal use and haven’t worked with HTML, or with managing web pages, much before – then a hosted site is probably your best bet. You won’t have to spend a lot, if anything, on the blog and your time investment to get things up and running (and keep them running) will be minimal. Since the blog is personal, it won’t matter too much that it comes from a template and therefore may seem ‘less professional’.
On the other hand, if you plan to blog for professional use and are reasonably comfortable with HTML/managing web pages – then you may want to go with a non-hosted blog. You’ll have more control over the content, plus the ability to generate ad revenue, and your blog will probably look more professional and less formulated.
So, once you’ve determined which basic type of blog you want to use, it becomes a question of which hosting platform to use. Let me give you a rundown of 7 of the most common platforms.
First looking at five of the more basic platforms, here’s an overview of Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, and Posterous.
Tumblr is a very easy to use platform; it offers users a quick and easy way to share anything and everything. In addition to written posts, Tumblr users can share other forms of media which they find interesting: photos, videos, and other web sites. All they have to do is click a little “Share on Tumblr” bookmark, which then sends that content to their Tumblr page. It’s a little bit like re-tweeting meets blogging.
Tumblr’s quickness and simplicity, though, are also its biggest drawback – it’s more of a micro-blog than a serious blog. Tumblr is great for personal use, as it’s very fun, but not too useful if you’re looking to do something a bit more in-depth or more professional.
Of all the blogging platforms, Blogger is probably the easiest for blogging beginners to set up and use. It’s a free service that links with gmail accounts, and it’s pretty easy to customize even without any knowledge of HTML.
Unfortunately, Blogger doesn’t have very good SEO, which means that it’s not very effective to use it for commercial purposes. It also has been criticized for looking ‘less professional’ than other platforms, owing to its basic very easy-to-use nature. However, for the casual personal user, Blogger is often the easiest and most efficient choice.
WordPress actually has two different components: wordpress.com and wordpress.org
WordPress.com blogs are free and very simple to set up. They are hosted and managed by the server. They’re great for beginning bloggers for that reason. However, they are limited in design, so again not the best option for a professional blog or for someone interested in developing their own look for their blog.
WordPress.org blogs are hosted and managed by the user (or a third party server the user hires). The software used to create the blog is free, but the server needed to host the blog generally costs money. WordPress.org blog users have a little more control over the look of their blog, but users must therefore also have a little more technical experience. Since the blogger has a bit more control, WordPress.com blogs tend to look a little ‘more professional’ compared to the WordPress.org and Blogger services.
Typepad is a basic blogging platform pretty similar to WordPress and Blogger. It’s pretty simple – setting up your blog is quite user-friendly. Additionally, Typepad is easy to customize, with a lot of different themes, and allows you to have ads on your site. Another bonus is that Typepad will let you have photo albums directly on your blog.
However, Typepad has its drawbacks – mainly that users must pay. After a free trial, users are charged a monthly fee based on how many blogs they want to create.
Posterous is another free, fairly straightforward. blogging platform. It’s a little different than any of the others, though – users can post via email and share their Posterous content to their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube accounts. Posterous also allows you to create and share photo albums. Its other unique feature is the ability to directly import content from a user’s WordPress blog, meaning that postings can quickly be shared to multiple accounts.
However, Posterous, like Tumblr, is more of a micro-blogging service than a serious, professional platform. This makes it perfect for the casual blogger, but not a strong choice for business/professional use.
Now that we’ve done a basic overview of the simpler blog platforms out there, let’s look at two of the more complex services.
Drupal is great for people with a lot of web development experience. Unlike some of the more basic blogging platforms, Drupal lets you build much more than plain blogs – you can work many types of web pages using Drupal software.
Since it’s got so much flexibility, Drupal users can create some really cool sites – and it’s free. However, you do need to be pretty well-versed in web developing to take advantage of everything Drupal has to offer. For the casual blogger or the beginner, Drupal may not be your best choice. But if you’re pretty good at creating web pages and want something very flexible and very versatile, then Drupal may be for you.
Like Drupal, Joomla is a free platform offering users a lot of options in terms of flexibility and creativity. Although Joomla does also require a little more knowledge of web development than the beginning personal blogger generally has, there are plenty of templates, tutorials, and forums which make it easy to learn for someone who is willing to put in a little time.
The Joomla platform isn’t quite as strong or as flexible as Drupal, but sites often are more visually appealing and easier to create once you’ve gotten started. For someone who is comfortable with web development, or at least very motivated to learn, Joomla might be a good choice.
To sum things up – there’s a blogging platform out there for everyone. You just need to assess what your goal for your blog is, how much time you want to devote to it, and your level of comfort with HTML/web development. No matter if you want to blog for personal or professional reasons, one of the services out there will match up with your needs, whatever they may be. Happy blogging!
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