Starting A Blog (For Newbies) Blogging has never been more popular. It offers people with limited experience of HTML coding and web design an easy means of creating their own website. There are several blogging platforms available, but for the purpose of this article, we will focus on the two most widely used; Blogger and WordPress.
When it comes to blogging newbies, Blogger offers the most user-friendly service. Since it is owned by Google, there is a very good chance that you will not even need to set up a new account. If you have ever used any of Google’s other services, all you need to do is log into Blogger with your existing details and look for the ‘New Blog’ button. Enter a name for your blog and you are ready to start writing content.
The old adage of a picture is worth a thousand words is definitely true of blogging, and Blogger offers users the easiest means of adding images to blog posts. Adding an image in ‘compose’ mode will automatically upload the picture from your computer to Google’s default image hosts, Picasa, and Google+. You do not need to worry about image hosting websites or inserting URLs into your posts.
The final advantage of Blogger is that you can purchase and implement your own domain name in a matter of minutes. It is all done through the dashboard and Blogger will automatically deal with the page re-direction. Your own domain name is not essential but will help with branding your blog.
So we have established that Blogger has an incredibly user-friendly interface – why would you use WordPress? Well, the predominant reason that WordPress is popular is that it is the blogging platform with the best potential for creating professional looking websites. It offers a better opportunity for customizing templates, themes, and layouts, allowing the user to move away for the typical blog appearance.
If you do not know a lot about web design this might not seem like a significant benefit. But if you want to monetize your blog in any way, either at present or in the future, then it is a point you should consider. Once your traffic starts to rise, you may want to invest in some professional web design to optimize your site’s potential. This process will be much more straightforward if you are already using the WordPress platform.
Setting up a WordPress account does not take long. It is as simple as creating a user name, a password, and coming up with a unique blog name. As with Blogger, users can also opt to re-direct the hosted blog to their own domain name. However, you can also use the software on an existing website if you find the ease of adding content appealing. A WordPress blog can be installed through your cPanel interface.
No matter what your level of expertise, Blogging offers an easy means of creating great web content. Researching the best blog host to suit your needs will be time well spent in the long run.
