If you're thinking about creating a blog, you’re probably wondering which blogging site is the best to get started with. The three most popular blogging sites that most bloggers choose are Blogger, WordPress and Live Journal.
It's going to depend on your business or personal goals as to which blogging site you choose, for example not all blogging sites are ideal for posting advertisements, so you’ll want to check each one out. Here’s a short comparison of the three blogging sites listed above to help you choose what’s best for you and your niche:
Blogger.com
Blogger is probably the most popular choice for beginning bloggers because it’s the easiest of the three to set up. Simply sign up for an account and Blogger.com will take you step by step through the process of getting a blog started. Your blog will be hosted remotely so there is no hosting for you to purchase and a domain name is also provided for you so there's no cost there either. Overall the set-up is completely free.
Blogger.com is affiliated with Google, so even placing Google AdSense ads on the blog is extremely easy to do. Unfortunately Blogger.com doesn't have as many blog templates to choose from as the others, but if you've never set up a blog before, this is as easy as it gets.
WordPress
WordPress actually offers two blogging platforms, WordPress.com and WordPress.org. WordPress.com is very similar to Blogger.com in that the set up is easy, it's also remotely hosted and completely free. Simply sign-up and follow the step-by-step instructions. The one drawback to WordPress.com is you can not add Google Adsense to the blog. If you want to place ads on your blog, you will have to move to a self-hosted site using the WordPress.org.
WordPress.org, on the other hand, is a self hosted WordPress blog, that means you will need your own domain name and subscribe to a hosting service. Subscribing to a hosting service and purchasing a domain name shouldn't cost you more than about $20 for both and the WordPress.org software is completely free to download.
WordPress.org requires a few more steps to get set up but it offers you much more in the way of control, options and room for creativity. WordPress.org offers hundreds of different blog templates to choose from and free plug-ins that add a wide range of functionality to any blog.
If you are thinking of setting up a self-hosted WordPress blog, I've got a free to use step-by-step PDF guide on how to set up that you can access here:
http://www.homenotion.com/pdfs/createwordpressblog.pdf
LiveJournal
This is a community-driven blogging site. It offers a free account to blog with as well as a paid account option. It's more than just a blogging site; it's also a social networking community. They pride themselves on providing users with a friendly yet safe place to gather and meet online.
The LiveJournal offers three types of blog accounts, two of which are free. Their basic free account doesn't offer much capability but is a good option for networking. Their plus plan, which is also free, allows for ads plus it has a few more features added on. Consider it a 'feeder blog' that funnels readers to another destination.
Ads are a paid account benefit, so this option isn’t the best choice for making money from ads with little to no start-up cost. Advertisers can pay you to place ads on your blog if you have a paid account.
The free account is good for use as a networking tool to get others to visit your blog on another site where you could make money. For me, I consider it more of a “feeder blog” that funnels readers through to another destination.
Overall, there are lots of blogging sites to choose from, but most offer paid accounts to utilize the best services they have, however going with a free account to start is a perfectly fine option if you want to keep costs down and earning potential high.
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Great Post! Love the effort!