Choosing a Blogging Platform
There is no more common question or concern among both novice and experienced bloggers alike: which blog platform should I use? Aside from learning how to blog, it's an almost universal concern.
And there is no one-size-fits-all answer. All bloggers NEED to own their URLs, but platform choice is mainly dependent on the individual blogger's requirements. With that stated, I've compiled a list of pros and cons of the two primary platform categorizations below.
Hosted Platforms
Hosted platforms refer to services whereby a service provider grants you access to their hardware, network connection, and software, and you create a blogging account for use on their service. With a hosted blog, you have access to an administrative panel for your blog, and nothing else.
Typical hosted platforms include solutions like LiveJournal, TypePad, and Blogger.
Advantages of Hosted Platforms- Economical: many are free; others (like TypePad) are offered with multiple price points
- Quick to get started: just signup for an account and then quickly learn how to create blog posts
- Automatic updates: you needn't concern yourself with keeping hosted software up-to-date and patched.
Disadvantages of Hosted Platforms
- Inflexible: there are fewer personalization choices with hosted platforms.
Limited design choices: you usually only get to choose from a limited number of average designs, and you often can't make improvements to them - Generic URL: some hosted platforms don't have the option to use your own URL
- Less control: you are at the mercy of the platform
- Migration issues: moving from some free hosted platforms results in a lot of effort and often the temporary loss of search engine rankings
Self-hosted Platforms
Self-hosted platforms consist of a web hosting account you establish with a host, and the blogging software you install on the host's server. With a self-hosted blog, you have access to an administrative panel for your blog, but you also have access to a server account and the blog software where you can do almost anything.
Common self-hosted software includes Movable Type, Joomla, and WordPress.
Advantages of Self-hosted Platforms
- Design flexibility: you have complete control over layout and design
- Great software: killer software is available on self-hosted platforms
- Custom URL: custom URL's are common on self-hosted platforms
- Adaptability: as your needs change, so can your blog
- Easy migration: should you ever need to migrate to another platform or another server, migrating is a snap
Disadvantages of Self-hosted Platforms
- Difficult setup: setup can sometimes be difficult, but this can be overcome with a good blogs how to
- Cost: while the blogging software is free, the hosting platform will cost you money
- Hosting issues: unless you choose a good host, you might have to suffer from down-time or poor support
- Upgrades: you will need to keep your software patched
Most of of my blogs are self-hosted, and it's what I generally recommend to anyone looking to create a professional presence. There are just too many advantages to pass up, and you usually have the ability to host many blogs and domains on one account, lowering the cost per blog down to a small amount.
