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Picking a Blog Site or Platform by Interchanges.com

BY Mark Kagan | 10-13-2009 | 2:19 PM
This blog is written by a member of our blogging community and expresses that member's views alone.
Selecting the best hosted blogging solutions can be a challenge. There are several large free blog-hosting sites that dominate the market, but there are smaller blog providers with great products. Whether you decide to join up with an established site like Blogger, now owned by Google, or whether you choose to sign on with a relatively new venture depends on your outlook and style.

Selecting the best hosted blogging solutions can be a challenge. There are several large free blog-hosting sites that dominate the market, but there are smaller blog providers with great products. Whether you decide to join up with an established site like Blogger, now owned by Google, or whether you choose to sign on with a relatively new venture depends on your outlook and style.

It is a great idea to learn about all of the kinds of free blogging tools that are available so that you can make an informed decision about what to add to your blog, but try to remember that just because you can have something doesn’t mean that you need it. Practice restraint and only choose the options that you think will really be useful. If you can find out how many visitors are reading your blog by checking your traffic statistics,a visitor counter is likely to add unnecessary clutter to your page. If your blog is text-based, a flashy background can be more of a distraction than an benefit. Be realistic about assessing what kinds of blog accessories will help you realize your vision and improve your site. Most bloggers select a blog platform because of it’s easy to use content manager and ability to optimize pages for search engines.

The reliability on a blog platform is perhaps the best reason to opt for a large and well known free blogging site. When you choose to have an established brand host your blog, you can feel secure that your blog will not crash often and will not disappear in the middle of the night. A company that has been around for a while is likely to have the resources to make sure that its clients aren’t unpleasantly surprised by any technical glitches. Many bloggers try to shy away from the mainstream and try new up and coming blog platforms that may be the next big thing. Bloggers are always looking for the next big thing to put their blog over the edge.

For information on creating a blog visit Interchanges.com