I'm not quite so feisty today, so we'll see how this post goes...
Today in Step 6, we'll talk about the cost of blogs, where the best place is to host your blog, and what blogging platform is the best.
This blog post will answer questions like:
How much money do blogs cost?
Where can I blog for free?
Where should I host my blog?
What is the best blogging platform for beginners (newbies)?
This blog post will not answer questions like:
How do geckos stick upside down on glass?
My son can't see further than the distance of 1 linear foot, could that be because of his Nintendo?
How much money do blogs cost?
It's a strange thing, but websites cost money. Sure you can get a cheapo site at Yahoo's GeoCities which is part of Yahoo, but the formatting is lame and nobody likes to look at those sites. You could have a MySpace profile, and likely you DO if you're under 30. Myspace is much worse than GeoCities in terms of formatting and professionalism, but the world is using it.
Bloggers that want to make money are using blogging-specific platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and so on. These are professional type blogging platforms, and you know what? Most of them are FREE! Why is that? The only blog host (platforms) that we'll talk about here is Google owned " Blogger.com". I could guess why they are free. Google makes a tad less money than God by providing free blogs that people run their Google ads on.
Sure, the blogger makes money too so it's a happy-happy. (same as a win-win)
But, can you imagine how much cash Google is pulling from hosting ads on a few million blogs?
Does Google give me unlimited server space?
Uhm, no. Google is good, Google is great... Google is not THAT gracious! At last count I heard there was 1 gigabyte of server space allowed for your blog at Google. After that you could purchase more space and it's easy on your wallet as well as an easy process. I heard the 1 GB figure about 3 months ago. Things may have changed already. Don't worry, you'll likely not use 1 GB anytime soon.
Where should I host my blog?
You can host your blog at Blogger or you can host it at your own web site. Hosting your blog means - where the files for your blog are stored. If they are stored at Blogger, they we say they are "hosted" by blogger. If they are hosted at your own domain then the files are actually sitting ON your own domain on a server that you're paying for.
Google offers you two possibilities for where to host your blog:
- Host your blog with Google, and your domain name will be in this format: http://BlogSimply.blogspot.com. All the files for your blog will remain at Blogger. If you ever get HUGE or for some other reason you want to change blogging platforms or web site domains to host your site at, you can choose Option #2 below, or move your site to an entirely new platform or domain.
- Host your blog "off-site". You create your site at Blogger. You then tell Blogger you want to host your site, "Off-site" - which means, off-Blogger - away from blogger -on your own domain or subdomain. Google will let you enter that domain and will start publishing your site there as you make changes at the "Blogger Dashboard" which is the control panel for your blogging site - we'll talk more about that after we register your first blog.
Example... I've created the Blog Simply blog at Blogger. I could now change the location of my blog to be one of my other websites. I could tell Blogger to publish my web site to a subdomain, uhm, http://blogsimply.thaipulse.com. I would tell Blogger where to put my files - a specific folder on my site - and then everyone that goes to that url will see my Blog Simply blog. Blogger will no longer host my blog AT their site, I will be hosting my blog at my own site.
I will still login to Blogger and create posts everyday like I'm doing now - but, when I "Publish" my blog it will be transferred over to the folder I told Blogger to send to at my Thaipulse.com site. Then, visitors will see the updated post at "http://blogsimply.thaipulse.com".
There are some advantages to this method, that we'll get into later, but just know that the two options exist - host at Blogger or host at your own domain.
What is the best blogging platform for beginners (newbies)?
I really believe, and part of the reason I created this site, that Google's Blogger is the best blog platform for a newbie to start at. I looked at TypePad and I looked at WordPress. I'm a fairly technical person - meaning, I know how to create sites and do search engine optimization at a high level. I know how to code HTML. I know how to work with web site forms and do some basic php and asp type programming. I can set up computer networks and troubleshoot anything related to computer hardware.
In about a month of trying I was still bewildered by WordPress. Everything I wanted to do was a learning experience since NOTHING was intuitive to me. Their whole blogging platform is like another language. It reminds me of Apple's operating systems - just not intuitive once you've used a Microsoft based PC for upteen years. There's no point in switching to Mac unless you want to join the cult of MAC and be one of their cheerleaders. Similarly there is no point trying WordPress until you've outgrown Blogger which may never happen since they'll release upgrades.
I didn't jump on the WordPress bandwagon like all the other top bloggers that think it's the greatest. It isn't for everyone, and it is NOT for beginners.
The best blogging platform for beginners is BY FAR, ABSOLUTELY, Blogger. It is much more intuitive and logical than WordPress, with or without update 2.
If you were bright you could start a blog today and have it up and running and publishing your blog and ads TODAY on Blogger.
Not so with WordPress, it's hard to "get it".
That being said, once you "get it" there is probably no better blogging platform available than WordPress because everything is customizable.
I just don't have time to "get it" right now.
Someday maybe.
Review...
Blogger is Free. Blogger is intuitive. Blogger is by far the BEST blogging platform for a beginner or even someone of moderate "techyness" to get started blogging with.
all was quiet... and Vern said,
Remember, Mother Google loves us like her own children and she wants to make us happy and smarter... We too should do this with our blogs, make visitors happier and smarter for having visited our blogs!
hahaha...
So, there you have it - that must be the shortest blog post I've done so far. If you are interested in learning how to blog for money in a very simple way you should start at Step 1 and progress up to this point, Step 6. Below are links to the other articles I've written so far here at Blog Simply.
Step 1, What is a Blog?
Step 2, How does a blog make money ?
Step 3, What skills and qualities do I need to blog for money?
Step 4, What topic should I blog about to make money?
Step 5, How can I choose a good domain name and title for my blog?
Step 6, This one!
Step 7, How Do I Create a Free Blog at Blogger.com?
If you have ANY QUESTIONS about anything blogging - if you just don't "get" something - ask me by clicking the COMMENT link below and posting a question to me or the other readers. You'll get free feedback as I answer COMMENTS everyday!
2 comments:
Don't know if you're still blogging, but this was VERY helpful and I thank you for sharing.
Hi!
I am at Wordpress but I have a friend who uses Blogger. He is much more computer-savvy than I am, but I have no problems with Wordpress!
However, I DO vaguely remember that when I opened my blog, I could choose whether or not to have everything in code, and Wordpress suggested to pick the "easy" version, which means I can just write, post, and buy upgrades, rather than have EVERYTHING in code. I of course chose the easy version and have been fine, so I was wondering if that's what you were talking about.
The original reason for finding your blog was because I was wondering if Blogger costs money. I have seen Blogspot blogs with videos. I can not add video or audio unless I purchase an upgrade, so my question was, "Does Blogger cost money?" You sort of answered in your entry above, but you were talking more about opening the blog, and I'm wondering about uploading stuff.
Sorry for such a long comment--I've only had a blog about 7 months or so, and I get confused about "coding," "widgets," and other stuff.
Your entry was still really helpful though, thank-you! :)
P.S.,
Weird thing: when "choosing an identity" with which to comment, I try using Wordpress, but it gives me trouble. It asks for my username, but as I type it, it comes up as a Wordpress domain. The problem with this is that my username is different from my blog name, so "username" does not equal "blog name." I've run into this when commenting on blogspot before, and sometimes both work and sometimes neither one does. Any feedback?
Again, sorry for such a long comment!
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