If you've considered starting a blog for profit and have been checking out the options you're probably overwhelmed with how to choose a blog platform for making money online.
To start, you'll want to carefully consider a blog platform that will help you create a blog that will not only attract targeted traffic but provide flexibility and be easy to navigate, very important.
Like most tools on the web you have lots of choices but if you're looking for easy to use platforms that are search engine friendly, two of the best options are WordPress and Blogger. They are both free blogging platforms but they have some significant differences.
Let's discuss them…
Blogger.com
Blogger is owned by Google and is super simple to use, especially for brand new bloggers. There's nothing to install, no domain name to purchase or hosting service required, just a simple sign-up. Once you've created an account simply follow the easy directions and within a few mouse clicks you've got a blog ready for you to populate with content and posts.
Posting to Blogger is easy and you can easily change the look of your blog if you want. All this is all done through Blogger’s dashboard. If you have more than one blog with Blogger, you can access all of the blogs from the same dashboard.
You will get a free domain name with your Blogger blog, but the domain name will look something like this:“yourblogname.blogspot.com” instead of “yourblogname.com", and because your Blogger blog is hosted on Blogger's server you won't have the control and ownership of the blog like you would if you were hosting it on your own server.
The down side to Blogger is its lack of flexibility. Compared to other blogging platforms the design and function of Blogger is limited. You can download and install custom themes for the blog, but most of them are similar in look and feel, so if you've created your blog as a means for making money you won't stand out as well within your niche.
It's also important to note that because blogger.com is owned and hosted by a third party, your blog could be deleted for whatever reason, if you're blog is a source of income, that could be a huge risk if you were to violate their terms of agreement in some way.
WordPress
WordPress offers two distinct options, WordPress.com and Worpress.org. Both are free to use but the main differences are control and ownership. Wordpress.com is similar to Blogger in that there's nothing to install, no domain name to purchase or hosting service required, just sign-up and go.
WordPress.org, on the other hand, requires you to have your own hosting service, purchase a domain name and requires a WordPress installation on your host. If you've never done this before or are a bit technically challenged a good hosting service like Hostgator, which I use, makes it fairly simple to set up and their technical support is awesome.
The real beauty of WordPress.org are the customization options. There are tons of WordPress theme templates to choose from and hundreds of customization plug-ins that extend the capabilities of WordPress to do just about anything you can think of.
Note: If you're considering setting up a blog to make money it's worth noting that WordPress.com (non hosted version) does not allow Google Adsense ads.
In summary, the blog platform you choose is an individual choice. Your goals, your budget and technical skills all come into play when making your choice.
I would recommend that if you're seriously looking to choose a blog platform for making money online that you choose a self hosted blog platform such as WordPress.org. It will provide you the flexibility and control you will need.
If you're blogging more for fun with no specific monetary goals in mind, blogger.com or Worpress.com will do just fine.
Here's a simple system and some real proof that shows you how you can make money with blogs.
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good info, thank you
nice info… thanks for sharing….
Great Post Very Good Information Thanks
Cool site, love the info.
I’m so glad I found this site…Keep up the good work
Liz, thanks for this article. It should be very helpful for someone who is deciding what blog platform to use.
It’s also helpful to me because it confirms the direction I am going in. I have two Squarespace blogs. With good internet marketing training, they are easy to set up. They also have a good amount of flexibility.
However, I am in the process of setting up a Wordpress blog through Wordpress.org. Although I am finding it more difficult to set up, I know I will be far more happy with the end result.
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