How to make a blog?

How to make a blog?

Oh hello! So, it looks like you are back again. That just feels wonderful to have you here. 

Oh you wanna know how to make a blog? Well, go to your kitchen and put on your cooking apron and your oven mitts. I'm desperately trying to be funny! 😂

Starting a blog is the best way to share your ideas or expertise online. It's highly beneficial for you small business too, if you have one, or it can be beneficial for people who are bored, like really really bored. Another great reason to start a blog is you can earn money! Lots and lots of money where there is no limit as to how much you can earn !! 💰

Luckily today in 2018, starting a blog will take you hardly 30 minutes or so. However choosing a blogging platform can take you a while, but deciding on the theme is what's most time-consuming task, I mean you just cant get it right. 😓

Before starting the boring lecture about blogs and stuff related to blogs, I have to tell you that you should be more concerned about writing stuff that you want people to read no matter whatever it is, and less concerned about earning money because you won't be a millionaire in a matter of days by blogging unless you do something that becomes viral in a matter of days, I'm talking "Gangnam Style" or "Despacito" level viral. If money is your primary concern then I'd suggest you try something else (with all due respect) because it takes months to get a proper reader/audience for your blog and it requires a lot of commitment and dedication. But once you manage to reach that level, you'll actually see money pouring in and people interacting with each other and then you will actually see the better side of being a content creator.

That being said, we'll proceed with the boring lecture. Before making a blog, you need to decide which blogging platform to use. I'll talk about that below and I'll try to be simple and "use easy to understand" phrases, so be patient and keep reading. 

Which blogging platform to choose?

Blogging platforms are the “websites” where you can get a blog created although it’s you who have to do to do all the work. Now there are two ways where you can do it, either you get your domain name registered through one of the several ways, or you can just opt for a free account provided by some of the blogging platform. Although several professional bloggers recommend getting a domain name and a hosting-platform so that your blog URL looks a bit more “professional-ish” and safe, but it’s not always possible due to various reasons. I mean if you are a newbie blogger who just wants his/her blog to be seen by people, you can easily go for the “free” versions of blog, and your blog would look something - “http://yourblog.blogspot.com” or “http://yourblog.wordpress.com”. 

But if you are fully prepared to get a blog and you have no problem in shelling out a few bucks then I would suggest that you too get a domain, because nothing looks better than “http://yourblog.photography” for a photographer, these are just examples though so don’t get too cranky when you find mistakes, please. 

Now, let’s address the question stated above. What are the blogging platforms and which one to choose?

These days new blogging platforms keeps popping up every now and then, but there are few evergreen ones like Wordpress (both free and paid), Blogger, Tumblr, LiveJournal, Weebly, etc. There are some new kids in the block too like Yola, Wix, Pen.io, Ghost, etc.

Now I'll try my best to describe the pros and cons about a few of them, which I am familiar with. SO, get ready. Please note that these aren't in any order, and I have just typed them as I remembered about them.

Blogger :

Tell me what's the first thing that pops up inside your head when you hear Blogger? You'd definitely guess that with a name like "blogger" it would be a decent free to use platform that was entirely created for blogging purposes. Right? You are absolutely correct. It is one of the most popular blogging platforms today, and this page is in blogger because I am a very mushy, emotional person and I have a soft corner for blogger in my heart because my first blog was in blogger (although it was just called Blogspot those days). 

It was launched in the year 1999, so you know it is old and has managed to be at the top of the game for 18 years straight, and it was named as Blogger. But Google acquired it on 2003 and there was a major redesign and several upgrades including Geo-tagging, Social Media integration and what not. 

Pros :

It  is free, although you can get a paid domain which would cost you a few bucks. You can also opt for third-party domains like Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc.It is very very easy to setup a new blog which you can customize with numerous themes that are available there. 

Cons : 

I have read people say this so I am just going to put it here. It is solely owned by Google, and Google has a bad rep for suddenly shutting down things that millions of people were using happily. But I haven't had any trouble with that. A typical blog URL in blogger (free) would look like "youblog.blogspot.com" which isnt preferred by many. Other than that, it's awesome in my own humble opinion.

WordPress :

If you are willing to believe the folks at WordPress then according to them, more than a quarter of all the blogs are on WordPress (30% according to them). I mean they are actually proclaiming that they "power" 30 % of all the blogs ever created (their words, not mine). It is understandable though, any novice can create a blog in WordPress within minutes with minimal customization. Now the most interesting thing about WordPress is that you get the free version WordPress.com where you get very very less customization, and then there's the paid version (you pay for the domain) aptly named WordPress.org where you can do anything you wish, all you need is to be a bit creative. 

Pros :

It is one of the best blogging platform, if not the best. You get almost infinite number of themes in Wordpress, and in the paid version your blog is safe as long as internet exists.

Cons :

Newcomers find WordPress a bit bewildering initially because of it's customization and what not. But once you get used to it, you'll have a great great blogging experience. 

  

Tumblr :

If WordPress and Twitter met each other and they had a baby, that baby would somewhat look like Tumblr. No, I'm not kidding ! I mean every single word I said (typed) there. It resembles Twitter to a cdrtain extent, but offers more scope than Twitter, and tends to favour more concise output than WordPress. 

With the Tumblr mobile apps, which are available for multiple OS, it is very easy to submit or edit content from anywhere with ease. It is unimaginably easy to customize it according to your taste too, thanks to the themes available there. Another uncanny resemblance Tumblr has to any social networking site is the "following model" combined with notes and favourites. 

One downside to Tumblr is that there have been reports of porn-bots sneaking in there, presenting unsuspecting victims a bit of a shock.

LiveJournal :

Like Blogger, LiveJournal is one of the veterans of this game and it has definitely aged well. It started it's life in the year 1999, same as Blogger, and it has skillfully mixed blogging and social networking which has resulted in a platform which is more of a community which provides adequate privacy along with communal interactions too. 

Weebly :

Weebly is a hosted platform that allows users to use drag and drop tools to create a stunning website from scratch. however blogging is integrated into the system, you get access to various layouts that are customizable and several (although not many) free themes. One great thing about Weebly is that you get the option to try out their service for free before buying them. 

Yola :

Yola is another great blogging platform that any aspiring blogger can use, but there are certain limitations if you have grand plans for your blog. If you have chosen their free plan, you get to have only two sites and a maximum of three web pages. But getting started is easy and it is very much customizable from several templates available there. 

Medium :

You probably use Twitter, and Medium and Twitter are the brainchild of the same people, although it was launched in 2012.  Medium has grown into one of the most favored community of writers, photographers, journalists, bloggers, artists all over the world in a relatively short span of time. But if you have an inclination towards customization, please look somewhere else. 

Wix :

Wix is another relatively young blogging platform which was launched in the year 2006. It offers a very easy way for small businesses to build websites using drag and drop tools, furthermore it offers customizable website templates along with HTML5 website builder to create your desired website. But there's one catch, you'd have to use their Wix Blog App to create a blog. 

Joomla! :

Joomla! is an open source software content management system used for creating and maintaining websites. It provides a compelling, powerful and flexible platform that can be used to create any kind of blog from scratch. 

But there are several cons like you'd need to get a web hosting and a domain name since Joomla! is a self hosted platform, and you will be solely responsible for managing your backups, updates and security. 

Squarespace :

Squarespace is basically a website building service that you can use to make stunning websites using easy drag and drop tools. It is very simple and easy to use for beginners who aren't very tech-savvy. It is mainly used for small business owners who are looking for an easy way to get their business' website. Like some of the others previously mentioned in this list, you need to get a domain name and that may cost you a few bucks.  

Ghost :

Ghost is the final entry in this epic list, and it is slightly different that the rest. It was developed in the year 2013, and it is an open source platform that has limited features oriented on posts with blog writing but you get a preview of how your post would look like while you're still writing it. If you want to use Ghost for free, then you'd need to download and install it yourself, and you only pay on the basis of traffic. There is a paid hosted version too. One major downside is that you need to be a bit tech-savvy to work on this platform.

I know I have left out certain other platforms like Cloudflare, Drupal, Jekyll, Svbtle, Pen.io, Postach.io, Contentful, Typepad, Penzu , etc. But I have almost zero knowledge about them and I don't like giving made up, fictional informations, so I left them out. 

Take your time to decide which platform to use, once again I'll recommend blogger because of certain emotional attachment I have with it. Feel free to ask questions, I'll try my best to answer you and clear out the confusion. Come back again, on the next post we will be talking about something else. Please subscribe with your email so that you get an email whenever I post something and keep following the blog, don't worry you wont be getting any spams from me, you have my word.

Until next time...
Take care.