What is the best way to start a blog?

What is the best way to start my own blog?

• Could you please make a recommendation? It does not need to be a free site. I am willing to pay if the characteristics are nice. Free blog sites are also welcome. Give me tips.

• Answer:

  Truly, the "best way" depends on how you want to construct your blog and other feature preferences. You can either run a blog-centered web site mostly by yourself or use a developer-hosted blog service to start a blog. If you are willing to dish out some money, then the self-hosted route is preferable. If you aren't comfortable coding pages or dealing with software features, then the developer-hosted route is likely better. Even the content of your blog matters. You should do some further research on what you think you might need and what a service offers before jumping into one. Wordpress is the most popular and progressive service out there, BUT it may not be the best for you. So, I'm going to provide some recommendations in the form of possible options below: If you want to create a web site controlled mostly by you (i.e. a stand-alone/self-hosted blog), then you would likely need money - $10 to $160 - to pay for a web host and/or domain name (prices vary regarding time range and offered features). You may need to purchase blogging software as well. There are some services that are all-inclusive - web hosting, domain name, blogging software in one package. See http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/02/15/choosing-a-blog-platform/ for more details regarding your choices (which would include Wordpress.org, Blogger.com, Typepad Pro, Movable Type as self-hosting platforms). This may be your best option if you want to help ensure that the blog stays active for a long time (provided that you can continually fund its existence). There are typically free options, which are developer-hosted blogging services, where most of the blogging functions are automated and provided by the blogging service. Rules regarding content may be more restrictive. You would have to check the site's policies regarding the use of their service to generate profit or advertise. Less web page coding skills are required. Also, visitors may need to be a member of the service and/or a connected "friend" in order to comment on content. Some blogging services (like Blogspot, Wordpress.com, LiveJournal and Vox) allow multiple authors, so you can have more than one person posting blogs instead of just commenting on them. Social-networking sites have features that extend beyond just blogging and are geared toward connecting with other profiles. Investigate and register with one of the following services to begin creating blog entries: Free blogging services: Blogger/Blogspot (http://blogger.com ), Wordpress (http://wordpress.com ), Livejournal (http://livejournal.com ), Vox (http://vox.com ), Typepad (http://typepad.com ), Travelpod (http://www.travelpod.com/ ), Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/ ) Free social-networking services with blogging capabilities: MySpace (http://myspace.com ), Facebook (http://facebook.com ), Multiply (http://multiply.com ), Xanga (http://xanga.com ), Windows Live Spaces (http://spaces.live.com/ ), and Ning (http://ning.com ). Bebo (http://www.bebo.com/ ) and Gaia (http://www.gaiaonline.com/ ) are sites geared toward teenagers. You can blog via both ways on Yahoo, but the features are remedial, so I'm not recommending those services as options. See these sites for general blogging tips. You would have to consult the Help pages of the blog site/platform that you choose for further service-related specifics: Problogger: http://problogger.net Daily Blog Tips: http://www.dailyblogtips.com/ Blogging Tips: http://www.bloggingtips.com/ Blogging 101: http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/ You may want to check out http://blog-services-review.toptenreviews.com/ and http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/ which provides a listing of top services and features (excluding Y!360 from the blog list). NOTE: You may want to post future blogging questions in the Computers & Internet > Programming & Design category or a subcategory of Computers & Internet > Internet.