Blogs are everywhere on the Internet. Anyone with Internet access can create a blogging site in seconds. Topics can range from cooking to social media. The important thing to note when blogging is to blog about something you are passionate about.
Once you have decided to start blogging, your next step is to pick which platform you want to use. There are many options you can choose from. In Sandbox, we are here to help you figure out which platform best suits your needs.
Here are some of the major blogging sites:
WordPress is a free, open-source publishing platform that was first released in May 2003. This site is for more advanced users because of the many widgets that can be used on your site. Also, what is great about WordPress is that you can sign up for your own domain name for only $7 per year. That is a great deal if you’re a small business looking to create and manage a website. Major sites like CNN.com and eBay.com are powered by WordPress.
With WordPress you can use many widgets to help create a more personalized site integrating sites like Twitter and Flickr. Once you are familiar with WordPress, their user-interface becomes very easy to navigate around. Creating pages for your site takes no hassle at all.
Pro: Create a professional looking site. Great for starting up a small-business or personal website.
Con: For more experienced web-users.
Tumblr is a social-blogging site. It looks and feels like a social network. It is easy to set-up and posting is painless. Tumblr makes it easy to share music, links, photos, and anything else you feel is necessary to share. Users can choose to link Tumblr to their social networks for real-time posts. Tumblr has many themes to choose from which makes starting a Tumblr site easy. For example, take a look at this site done by the 9 Clouds U interns.
Tumblr is referred to as a social-blogging site, because Tumblr makes it easy for you to follow other blogs that would show up in Facebook-like news feed on your homepage. Tumblr makes blogging fun and simple.
Pro: Easy to setup and share.
Con: Maybe not the most professional looking site and not as customizable (as far as widgets are concerned) compared to WordPress.
One of the oldest blogging sites around, Blogger made its debut way back in 1999 and then purchased by Google in 2003. Blogger is much like Tumblr in that it is very easy to setup and create a blog site. Users can again choose from an array of templates and designs.
Blogger enables other viewers of your site to comment on your posts. With Blogger, you also have a Blogger profile and connect with other users who share the same interests as you do.
Pro: Again, very easy to setup and customize. Blogger has a unique drag-and-drop feature to allow you to create a page with a few clicks of a mouse.
Con: Suited more for a personal site rather than a small-business site.
So which platform do you think best suits you? Do you already have a blog? Let us know if you have any questions on how to get started with blogging. We would love to see what you are doing with your knowledge from Sandbox.
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