The first issue with starting a blog is what platform do you use?
There are quite a few around now but some have more positives than others but again, it depends on what you hope to achieve with your blog. For some a free blog from a platform like Blogger or WordPress.com is enough but for others it’s apparent that they’ll need a hosted blog on their own domain.
Which ever one you choose, ensure that your identity is carred through from your static website (if you have one) to your blog. In this way you extend your overall reach and give consistency eg: My website is www.therightwriter.co.uk and my blog is my own domain http://therightwriterblog.co.uk.
The purpose of my blog is to inform and educate on the niche topic of social media marketing in the United Kingdom, specifically in the Oxfordshire region.
So, take you time and explore the many options of blogging open to you as you don’t want to lose search engine traffic if you decide www.wordpress.com wasn’t for you after 8 months of serious blogging!
Things to consider include whether or not you intend to monetise your blog. WordPress.com don’t allow monetisation but wordpress.org does. Are you going to be putting adverts on your blog? Some platforms allow it, wordpress.com doesn’t.
The other thing that will dictate what blogging platform you use is whether or not you are a capable designer or if you need a managed template for a theme? You’ll still need a corporate ID of sorts unless you’re happy to have a typeset one which most of the free platforms allow. Even then, you’ll need to understand about plugins and widgits and when to use them. Most platforms offer great tutorials which I advise you watch and absorb before you get started so you can plan your blog in advance and keep it fresh.
Most people start out with a hosted blog eg: Blogger or www.wordpress.com, MSN Spaces and Typepad and that’s a great learning curve but you may find that you grow into blogging and need more. A hosted blog from wordpress is easily identified as every URL will end in .wordpress.com which will water down your name and limit your blogging capability.
On the flip side is that most hosted blogs are put on domains that have good search engine page ranking already and get picked up a pretty quickly by the search engines.
The good thing about wordpress is that they do let you upgrade from a wordpress URL to your own domain for a low fee.
Starting out with a hosted blog on your own domain does give you more in the long run for example you can be more creative, it’s more adaptable and you can monetise them easily. You can carry advertising which is great for driving 3rd party affiliation and besides, it’s easier to remember your blog name!
Stand alone blog platforms are good for keeping control and can be configured to run very professionally limited only by your or your designers imagination. I mention a designer here as if you don’t know what you’re doing, your blog can look nasty.
Some blog platforms allow a combination of hosted and stand alone blogs via remote hosting. TypePad and Blogger.com are two examples of this. They allow you to run your blog on your own domain and hosting but still using their system to publish your blog. I’m not too familiar with how Blogger.com does it but have seen it used effectively with TypePad. The beauty of doing this with TypePad is that if you are a beginner blogger and are not too confident with running your blog it gives you the ability to set up a blog without too much trouble but on your own domain name from the very beginning. This will make swapping platforms later a lot easier.
If you want to develop serious blog and use it on a professional level (whether as a business or corporate blog, as a blog to build your own profile or a blog to earn income from advertising) I’d recommend you go in the direction of a stand alone blog. Even if you are not highly skilled in this area it’s worth spending a little money to get it set up with a designer or to get yourself trained to do it yourself. In Oxfordshire, Mary Thomas from Concise Training would be the best trainer.
If however you simply want a diary type website to run for fun and keep pics of your family or favourite hobby then a hosted option might be best. They are instant (it’ll take 5-10 minutes to set up) and while they might not have quite the same level of features, in effect they may well suit you every need.
