Are you a small business owner in need of a website but can’t afford to pay a designer? If you’re just starting your business, you may need a professional looking website but just can’t spend the money right now. If this is the case, there is a solution and that is to start a blog. A blog can act as a website, where you don’t have to actually blog, but will have blogging as an option if and when you want to.
A couple of options exist to get started with a blog. First, you can choose to develop the blog yourself, if you have some technical ability, or you can choose to ask for help creating a blog, which can be cost effective. If you choose to set-up the blog yourself, you will want a blogging platform suited to your ability. But the first step is to determine whether you want to have the blog hosted by a third party or by the blog platform you choose.
Hosted or Non-Hosted Blog Platform?
When choosing your blog platform, you’ll need to determine whether you want to have it hosted by the company providing the blog or a hosting company of your own choosing. This means that if you choose Blogger or Blogspot (a Google product) as your platform, for example, you can use the Blogger server (this is free) or have the blog hosted by a company such as Network Solutions (pay a monthly or annual fee). I recommend having a third party host your blog because, this way, your domain name will appear as www.yourdomainname.com as opposed to www.yourdomainname.blogspot.com.
Types of Blogging Platforms
There are a number of blogging platforms to choose from. Below is a brief description of the most popular ones. Most of these platforms are free, which makes using a blog platform for your website a desirable way to start for a small business owner.
- Blogger.com (or Blogspot) – This is by Google so it integrates easily with other Google products such as Google Analytics, Feedburner and AdSense. Blogspot includes a set-up wizard so you can have your blog live in just minutes. You can select from various templates and will have the option to customize the template if you are comfortable with HTML and CSS. Using Blogger is a great way to get started if you are unsure if blogging is right for you. You also have the option to use your own domain name, i.e. www.yourdomainname.com as opposed to: www.yourdomainname.blogspot.com (as noted previously). Also, a key advantage of using your own domain name is that you will not have the Blogger navigation bar every time the site is launched, which makes you look that much more professional.
- Typepad.com – This platform does have a fee and provides personal customer support, whereas, with other blogging platforms, the support is provided mostly through Forums. The cost starts at $8.95 a month for the Plus package, $14.95 a month for the most popular Unlimited package and $29.95 a month for the Premium package. With the Unlimited package you will be able to fully customize your design, and if you are familiar with HTML and CSS, you can design the blog to your liking. Typepad has a variety of features such as design templates, easy sidebar manipulation, user-friendly interface, and the ability to create unlimited blogs with their premium account.
- WordPress – There are two versions of WordPress, WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They are both free and if you are just starting then WordPress.com is a good choice. This platform offers free templates and a limited amount of customization. The main drawback with WordPress.com is that you cannot have advertising on your blog so you will not have the opportunity to make money from your blog.
WordPress.org is also free and this is the choice of serious bloggers. Also, of those of you who want your blog to look like a website, this is a great option. You have free reign with the design capabilities, and there is a wide selection of Widgets and Plug-ins to choose from. The support is excellent with the WordPress support forum and WordPress.tv and thousands of free themes are available (more on this below).- Thesis Theme (I highly recommend this particular theme, which I used for the creation of my websites.)
- StudioPress Themes
- Elegant Themes
- Woo Themes
- Mojo Themes
I personally use WordPress.org because of its design capabilities, theme choices, easy integration with social media, and ease of use. WordPress.org is a blogging platform where the blog is not hosted for you. You will have to pay for hosting to support your blog. What’s really nice though is that most hosting companies have WordPress.org as a platform selection so you will not need to upload it yourself.
Choosing a Theme for Your Blog
Once you have chosen a platform for your blog, next is choosing a theme. Blogger, Typepad and WordPress.com have built-in themes that you can choose from with a click of a button. If you are using WordPress.org, there are many other options available. Here are some of these options below, which you will have to pay an affordable fee for but, keep in mind, WordPress.org does come with free themes too.
Determine Your Goals
You must decide what your goals are when you start a blog. Is your goal to blog for fun or are you looking to make money? Are you looking for a website where you will use WordPress.org as your content management system? Do you want to significantly customize your blog? Can you afford to pay for hosting each month?
If you need help choosing which direction is right for you, please feel free to contact me. Also, if you are looking for a website with blogging capability, we can design one for you.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Enjoyed this post!
Wordpress Blog Marketing no matter is the way forward
After a little hardwork, You can earn from Wordpress/Blogs
via Affiliate Methods and Adsence quite easily.
I love your blog. I’ve added it to my favorite bookmarks and subscribed in a reader.
Looking forward to reading more posts.
Thanks.