Blogging 101: Choosing a Blogging Platform

This is part 1 in a series of posts for newbie bloggers that are intimidated by the thought of starting a blog.  Also known as blogaphobia (this should so be added to webster’s dictionary).

For our first lesson we will discuss how to choose the best blogging platform for you.

There are no right or wrong platforms to choose, only a hard decision about what your goals are with your blog.  In a blogger vs. wordpress vs. typepad universe, any are good depending on what you want to do.

Whatever you decide, do not make your decision too fast, because many consequences lay lurking in the shadows, ready to spring to life the moment you decide you want to change from one platform to another.  Loss of search engine rankings being one of the major problems laying in wait for such a potentially catastrophic change.

The best way to approach deciding what platform to use is to ask yourself a few simple questions before you begin anything else, such as:

       - What are your goals?

       – How long do you plan on blogging?

       – Is this a personal blog or a professional one?

       - Am I interested in making money from my blog?

These are only a few of the questions you should ask.  There are many more, but thinking along these lines is a great start and should help lead you to the best decision for your particular desires.

Before beginning your blog, you should also think about what type of budget you plan to work with.  While most blog platforms are free, there are a number of add-ons, widgets, unique design fees, etc., that cost money.

I have a friend who is a county attorney, and I once heard him say, “You should always spend high.”  He was of course referencing a pair of sunglasses, but that same thing has been said about blog platforms and the various add-ons associated with each.  But depending on your goals for your blog, you could just as easily succeed using the cheapest methods available.  So always determine your goals and your budget before you venture too far into blogging, because it could end up saving you money and alot of headaches.

Another factor in deciding the best platform for you is to look at what others are using that fall within the same niche.  Just because the blogger down the road makes $30,000 a month using wordpress, it doesn’t mean you should blindly jump on the bandwagon.  He may be targeting a totally different niche than you.

And one last determining factor for choosing your blog platform is how tech savvy you are.  This may be what gets many of you.  The monkey wrench in your plans of world domination.  Never fear.  There are ways around it (like paying someone to do it all for you, or choosing a platform designed for non-tech savvy users).

How tech savvy you are should also determine whether you use a free or self-hosted account, which gets into part 2 of our little journey into Blogging 101.  Next up: find out the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org as well as the pros & cons of the different major blog platforms.