This is a question that I see a lot of new bloggers would like to know the answer to. It depends on what kind of blogging you would be doing. If you are going to be blogging for a hobby then it really doesn't matter what platform you choose. However, if you're blog is going to be your business then it's a very important decision you should make because you want it to be professional. Some of these blogging platforms I have used myself and I gave my opinion on how good or bad I thought they were.

 

If you are new to blogging and don't know anything about it, then ease of use is something to think about. You don't want to start using something and it's difficult for you because it will discourage you before you even get started. Let's take a look at some of the blogging/website platforms that are available. Shall we?

 

Blogger - is the first blogging platform that people have their first blogging experience with. If you are going to be blogging professionally. I wouldn't recommend using them long-term. Also, they had a time where they were shutting down people's site claiming that they were spam. Some people were targeted and some weren't. (I was one of the people who were). Losing everything is a lot to overcome. It's easy to use but as I said before it's not for people who are blogging professionally more for people who are blogging as a hobby.

 

Weebly - is a website builder. It is free and they also offer upgrade version. It has drag and drop features. It's also pretty easy to use. However, they also went on a stint of shutting people's site's down (I too was also targeted). If you don't mind taking a risk. Then, I guess you could use them. You can read my blog post that I wrote about them here called,"Weebly Not Good For Bloggers/ Internet Marketers".

 

Wordpress.org - this is what the professional bloggers use. The software is free. However, hosting is not. They have many templates you can choose from. Also, they have many plugins that allow you to do different things to make blogging more professional and to make easy to use of different functions. Many people complain that it is not easy to use especially if you have no online marketing skills such as working with html. This is one of the most recommended and most used in the blogging world.

 

Wordpress.com - this is a wordpress site but it is free and hosting is also free. However, if you plan on using your blog for a business I wouldn't recommend you use it. They do not allow you to do any kind of affiliate or internet marketing and if you do you will be penalized ( they will shutdown your blog). So, this site is only to be used for blogging and no business adventures. So, if you are just blogging for a hobby and no profit you can use them.

 

Jimdo - this is also another website builder. It is free but they also offer an upgraded version. I am using Jimdo for my natural health blog/site. It is not easy but not hard. I will say in between. I like it though. However, the learning curve is a little longer but that shouldn't discourage you. They have pretty good customer support. The templates are very professional looking. You can blog or have a website or have both.

 

Blinkweb - this is also a website builder. You can create a blog, website and sales pages. It is very easy to setup. This is for someone who wants to get on the web quickly. I used Blinkweb for a little while. What I didn't like about Blinkweb was you couldn't edit your website or blogs html i.e. you couldn't get under the hood. It was a lot of services I couldn't use because I couldn't edit the html interior of the website. Services such as outbrain and disqus were out because you can't edit the html source. Also, I wasn't crazy about their customer support. I had some issues regarding some of my blog posts weren't showing up and they never made any real attempts to help me out. This is for the ultra newbie which I don't consider myself to be.

 

Ucoz - is another website builder. It is also free. I am using Ucoz as you can see for this blog. I love it. It's very easy to use. It's for the newbie as well as for the novice. If you like to work with html (getting under the hood of a site) then you will have no problems with Ucoz. They also have a feature called builder where it makes it easy for you to edit your site especially if you have no knowledge of html. I utilize both features. The getting under the hood and builder. That's why I love Ucoz so much. You can really make it your own. I talk about Ucoz more in my blog post,"Unstoppable Rally Back Blogger."

 

The decision is ultimately yours to make. You have to find out what will work for you. I really like the website builders because you can blog or have a website or have both. Also, you can start right away for free. If you like it then you can always upgrade later. So, there is no pressure on you. Plus, they are pretty easy to use and customer support is very helpful. Since, you want your site to be professional I would recommend upgrading as soon as you can. That is what I plan on doing. I have it all mapped out. :) Plus, they are very professional. Many businesses use them for their blogs and sites as well.

 

 

 

I just wanted to let you know there are many more blogging platforms out here.  You can read about them in this Website's Magazine issue called, "50 Top Design & Development Tools". I just again wanted to put emphasis on that it's about what works for you. This is your business so you want it to be professional yet fun. No one wants something they like to do to turn into a headache.

 

 

I hope this was helpful to you. Happy Blogging!

 

P.S. If you found this blog post to be helpful and you know or see someone online who needs help choosing a blogging platform please be sure to share this blog post with them. Thank you!