In this lesson we will cover the four major free platforms.
Blogger
Blogger is one of the biggest and is owned by Google. It is a point and click simple system to use.
There are a variety of different looks available. You can even find vendors that will provide a custom look for your Blogger blog.
Advantages
If you are looking to create an Adsense account this can be one of the quickest ways to apply. Create a blog, add 3 or 4 posts then click the apply for Adsense link in the dashboard area. This is one of the biggest advantages of Blogger.
It is quick and easy to get set up. It is also easy to use.
Disadvantages
Blogger is not a search engine friendly format and does not have automated pinging. This means you need to manually ping each post through a service like Pingomatic or Pingoat.
The other problem is that you don’t own or control the site. This site can be deleted at Bloggers discretion and you don’t have any discourse.
If you are using a blog for business this is a huge disadvantage.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is another free service that is widely used. Very easy to get set up and with a large variety of themes to choose from. Unlike Blogger you are restricted to the available choices.
Advantages
Very easy to use. Just create an account, pick a look and you are ready to go.
Has an easy to use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface. Anyone that can use a word processor can use this to post.
Disadvantages
Despite having quite a few themes there is almost no customization available to you. Also, like Blogger you don’t control the blog and it can be removed at the discretion of WordPress.com. Not a good thing to base any business on.
MyCCBlog.com
A relatively new service that we just launched. Very easy to get set up and with a large variety of themes to choose from. Unlike Blogger you are restricted to the available choices.
Advantages
Has good SEO plugins and video instructions to get you started. Very similar to WordPress.com (uses the same script) but marketing friendly. Terms of service allow for you to use the blog to make money or create back links for other properties unlike WordPress.com. Was created by a marketer to be as marketing friendly as a free solution can be.
Disadvantages
Again you don’t have total control of the property as you don’t own it. Also, you need to pay a small fee if you want to use more than one blog unlike Blogger or WordPress.com which will allow you to have multiple blogs.
WordPress.org (Self hosted)
Installing WordPress on your own domain is our recommended way to get started. This allows you to overcome some of the disadvantages of both Blogger and WordPress.com.
Advantages
There are quite a few advantages to hosting your own blog.
First is that WordPress is open source and there are a wide variety of themes and plugins available. This allows you the flexibility to make the blog unique to you.
The other big advantage is that you can customize and automate your ping schedule. There are also quite a few plugins that you can add to make your blog search engine friendly. Properly set up and optimized you can easily get your posts indexed in hours.
We recommend you check out “7 Tips To Make Your WordPress Blog Search Engune Friendly.“.
You also have total control and no one can shut your blog down or make all your hard work disappear.
Disadvantage
One of the biggest disadvantages will be addressed in this course. Because it is open source there are so many choices that it can cause confusion as to what you need.
You will need to install the script to get started after that it is as easy to use as the other two platforms.
Blogger
Blogger is one of the biggest and is owned by Google. It is a point and click simple system to use.
There are a variety of different looks available. You can even find vendors that will provide a custom look for your Blogger blog.
Advantages
If you are looking to create an Adsense account this can be one of the quickest ways to apply. Create a blog, add 3 or 4 posts then click the apply for Adsense link in the dashboard area. This is one of the biggest advantages of Blogger.
It is quick and easy to get set up. It is also easy to use.
Disadvantages
Blogger is not a search engine friendly format and does not have automated pinging. This means you need to manually ping each post through a service like Pingomatic or Pingoat.
The other problem is that you don’t own or control the site. This site can be deleted at Bloggers discretion and you don’t have any discourse.
If you are using a blog for business this is a huge disadvantage.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is another free service that is widely used. Very easy to get set up and with a large variety of themes to choose from. Unlike Blogger you are restricted to the available choices.
Advantages
Very easy to use. Just create an account, pick a look and you are ready to go.
Has an easy to use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface. Anyone that can use a word processor can use this to post.
Disadvantages
Despite having quite a few themes there is almost no customization available to you. Also, like Blogger you don’t control the blog and it can be removed at the discretion of WordPress.com. Not a good thing to base any business on.
MyCCBlog.com
A relatively new service that we just launched. Very easy to get set up and with a large variety of themes to choose from. Unlike Blogger you are restricted to the available choices.
Advantages
Has good SEO plugins and video instructions to get you started. Very similar to WordPress.com (uses the same script) but marketing friendly. Terms of service allow for you to use the blog to make money or create back links for other properties unlike WordPress.com. Was created by a marketer to be as marketing friendly as a free solution can be.
Disadvantages
Again you don’t have total control of the property as you don’t own it. Also, you need to pay a small fee if you want to use more than one blog unlike Blogger or WordPress.com which will allow you to have multiple blogs.
WordPress.org (Self hosted)
Installing WordPress on your own domain is our recommended way to get started. This allows you to overcome some of the disadvantages of both Blogger and WordPress.com.
Advantages
There are quite a few advantages to hosting your own blog.
First is that WordPress is open source and there are a wide variety of themes and plugins available. This allows you the flexibility to make the blog unique to you.
The other big advantage is that you can customize and automate your ping schedule. There are also quite a few plugins that you can add to make your blog search engine friendly. Properly set up and optimized you can easily get your posts indexed in hours.
We recommend you check out “7 Tips To Make Your WordPress Blog Search Engune Friendly.“.
You also have total control and no one can shut your blog down or make all your hard work disappear.
Disadvantage
One of the biggest disadvantages will be addressed in this course. Because it is open source there are so many choices that it can cause confusion as to what you need.
You will need to install the script to get started after that it is as easy to use as the other two platforms.
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