Those of you who are new to blogging are probably pondering on what the best blogging platform is. You may be concerned with questions like:

“What are the cons and pros of blogging on TypePad instead of Wordpress?”

“Is Blogger better than an independently-hosted blog platform?”

“When should a free blogging platform be updated into a fee-based set-up?”

Choosing a blogging platform depends on the goals of your blog and other things. So rather than make one or two recommendations, I will instead lay down the factors that you should consider when choosing a blogging platform.

Being careless in choosing a blogging platform may have costly implications. There are many blogging platforms to choose from, and chances are you will be tempted to change your current platform at any time. Many blogging platforms allow you to easily import and export your content by the time you decide to shift to an independently-hosted blog. But beware that doing so can damage your search engine ranking. So take your time in selecting a blog platform. Below are 4 main factors that you should consider.

1. What is the purpose of your blog?

This is the most important consideration. Is blogging only a short-term undertaking? What do you want to accomplish with your blog? Is blogging only a hobby or is it business-oriented? Are you planning to post advertisements and sponsored links in your blog?

Deciding on what goals your blog should aim for must precede all other factors to platform selection. Business-oriented and hobbyists’ blogs have unique requirements that may not be supported by a particular blogging platform.

For instance, online advertisements and affiliate links are not supported by Wordpress.com, except in bigger blogs. Though Wordpress.com hints at accommodating profit-oriented blogs, there is no guarantee that it will push through in the near future. If reaping advertising revenues is the goal of your blog, you should consider other platform.

2. How much is your budget?

The cost of blogging platform ranges from free to expensive. The costs associated with blogging apply to:

• the blog platform itself
• blog hosting
• domain name

Depending on the blogging platform and the price, services range from basic to comprehensive. Blogger.com and WordPress.com provide free platform, domain name and hosting service. WordPress.org (different from Wordpress.com) offers free platform and leaves hosting and domain names up to the bloggers. MovableType charges a platform license depending on the size of blogs and whether they are intended for commercial, personal or non-profit use. The costs of domain name and hosting are shouldered by the bloggers.

Aside from platform-related costs, there are other expenses that you may deal with during the early stage:

• Design - There are free templates that come with all blogging platforms. But if you want a more professional-looking or customized layout, you may need to hire a Web designer.
• Blog tools and analytics software – These include offline blog posting tools and traffic tracking software. If you are a beginner, you don’t have to bother about these tools, but you will find them useful down the track.

3. How technology-savvy are you?

There are blogging platforms that suit certain level of technical know-how. For those who are inexperienced in blog or website development, you should find some blog platforms more user-friendly than the others.

If you settle for more advanced set-up, you can either ask a tech-savvy friend for help or pay a developer. It’s also a good thing to take advantage of online communal knowledge and forums dedicated to the technical aspects of blogging.

4. What are the latest blogging platforms?

Blogging platforms come and go. Expect better platforms to emerge in the future, or some to vanish in obsolescence.  Keep abreast of the technology trend by looking for what other bloggers are into.

• Making Myself Extra Money » Blog Archive » Hosted Blog Platforms vs Stand Alone Blog Platforms Says:
  April 11th, 2009 at 2:28 pm

  [...] How to Choose the Right Blog Platform [...]