Which Platform Should You Go With?

Posted by scoop on January 31st, 2009 in Blog basics, Tips, Word Press |

This question might be as basic as basic can be but you never know who might need this information. The inspiration behind this post is a colleague who has been blogging for a while now but has not really been paying much attention to her blog. Yesterday, we got to talking about blogging and how you can make it an extra source of income. Suddenly, she had all these questions about blog platforms.

So, which platform should you use for your blog? I don’t feel comfortable dictating others on which platform to use but here are some things that you should consider when deciding on a platform.

What do you want to achieve with your blog?
This is the main question that you should answer before anything else. Do you simply want to write and create a network of friends? Or maybe you want to write paid posts? You want to have affiliate programs? Ads? If you are leaning towards the monetary side, you might want NOT to use WordPress (dot com, not dot org) as they do not allow paid posts and the like. Try to answer this question as thoroughly as you can and then compare your needs to the features and limitations of the different blog platforms available today.

Are you willing to shell out money on your blog?
If not, then your options are limited to the free blogging platforms. They are not few, so you still have a lot of choices. If you are willing to spend money, then you can look further into buying your own domain name and even pay for your own hosting.

At the end of the day, the decision is yours. I suggest actually looking at sample blogs using the various platforms. Also ask around – ask your friends which platform they are using and why. You’ll gain a lot of insights doing so.