Choosing a Blog Platform

There are a variety of options available when it comes to choosing a blog platform. There are some blog platforms that don't cost you anything, and there are some blog platforms that can be very costly. The blog platform that you wind up choosing has a lot to do with the purpose you have in mind for your blog. It also has to do with the kinds of things you want to be able to do, from a technical perspective, with your blog.

There are several different free blog platforms to choose from. Free blog platforms are, obviously, free. These free blog platforms include Google's Blogger (also known as BlogSpot), WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad, and others. However, in exchange for being free, these blog platforms have some down sides. Generally speaking, free blog platforms will have advertising or links that can take users and readers away from your blog. This is especially a problem if you are trying to sell something on your blog, or if you have advertising of your own on your blog.

In addition, some of these free blog platform services can be rather limited in their functionality. For example, there are only so many different theme configurations you can use on Blogger. LiveJournal doesn't have some of the options that bloggers would like when it comes to customization. The free WordPress and TypePad services have more functionality than the others, but they still have those pesky ads or outgoing links to contend with.

If you want full customization and don't want someone else advertising on your blog, a self-hosted blog platform is the way to go. Many hosting providers, such as GoDaddy, will even provide blog software such as WordPress free of charge when you purchase domain hosting. Even if your hosting provider doesn't provide this, you can still install WordPress or whatever blog software platform that you would like to install. Ultimately, choosing a blog platform is something you have to decide for yourself. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each platform will, however, prepare you to make that important decision about which blog platform you ought to choose.