Where Can I Blog? (Part 2)

Continuing my (too exciting!) series on blogging, today I’m going to discuss some different options a person has when blogging. Believe it or not there are a bunch of different blogging options for someone wanting to start a new blog. They each have different things they do and don’t do, so let’s dive in.

Blogger
Blogger is by far the most popular of all blogging options. This is for a number of reasons: They are owned by Google (enough said.). It has a very simple programming interface. Here are the pro’s and con’s of Blogger:

Pro’s

• Very simple to use. Not a lot of fancy add-ons.
• It’s free! (always a plus!)
• As I mentioned earlier, it’s owned by Google so it works well with things like Google Reader.
• Although you can’t personalize your site too much, you can upload a custom header image.

Con’s

• It can be, at times, too simple.
• You can’t upload files to post on your site.
• Not a lot of template options for your blog layout.
• Although it is free, there are no upgrading options.
• You have very little control over your text (changing text colors, etc.).

For the most part, blogger isn’t a bad choice. If you’re looking to start blogging and don’t want to put too much into it right off the bat – this would be a good option, not the best, but a good one.

LiveJournal
Although, LiveJournal is a valid option for blogging I don’t really have any experience working with it, so I can’t say how good or bad it is. Feel free to check it out though.

TypePad
TypePad is a great place to blog. Many of the “Big Time” bloggers will use this site. Users must pay a monthly/annual fee to use TypePad, but you definitely get what you pay for. Here’s the pro’s and con’s of Typepad:

Pro’s

• You have a lot more control over your text (color & size) and what your site looks like – especially compared to Blogger.
• You can have multiple blogs with some actually being hidden/password protected. (Always nice for you FBI agents out there!)
• You can upload files for your posts. (.jpg, .pdf, .doc, etc.)
• You can upgrade your site to even further improve the add-ons and options.

Con’s

• It costs money. I know – you do get what you pay for, but nonetheless it does cost money.
• Although you do have the ability to customize your site, it is limited. You can’t really change the html coding.
• Although you can have multiple blogs, you can’t add multiple pages aside from you ‘About’ page.

Over all, TypePad is a great place to blog as can be seen by the fact that many of the high-traffic blogs use TypePad. Although it doesn’t offer everything, what does?

WordPress
In case you don’t know this, this blog is a WordPress blog. In my personal opinion, WordPress is the best blogging option. Now, that is probably biased, but it has the best options and very few downsides. Here’s the pro’s and con’s:

Pro’s

• It’s free!!
• You can upload files for your posts.
• You have the ability to upgrade to different options.
• You have the capability to edit the html on your site.
• It is very easy to set-up & pay for a domain (ex: nickpoolenow.com).
• It’s farely easy to set-up and edit widgets.
• And my favorite option: You can have multiple pages on your site!

Con’s

• You don’t have control over your text color or size like with TypePad.
• WordPress isn’t as well known (can be good & bad).
• Some add-on widgets aren’t WordPress compatible.

As you can probably tell, I’m pretty sold on WordPress.  It has a lot of cool options and is very user-friendly.

Those are the most widely used blogging options and some thoughts for each.  If there’s one you don’t see, feel free to leave a comment with the info.  Although I have my preference, check them out and see what works best for you.  If you are considering starting a blog, though, start it for the right reason.  Don’t just jump on the bandwagon.  Doing things just because they’re the ‘in’ thing to do is really pretty dumb.  If you’re going to blog, blog with a purpose.