Best place to start a blog?

[DanHaynes]

Hi,

Thinking of starting a blog and was wondering some sites are better than others in terms of SEO and 'getting noticed'. Or is it really much better to roll your own as in Wordpress?

I am looking at blogger.com which is owned by Google and thinking maybe this will be better optimised for Google searches?

I'd rather just go with an existing blogging site unless the advantages of creating your own are really worth it. Is it worth creating your own?

thanks

 

[danielmeade]

Hi Dan,

In terms of SEO and blog value it's best you start off with a platform such as Wordpress and host it using your own domain. There are thousands of premium templates out there which are optimized specifically to integrate well with the search engines, there are also a ton of great plug-in's to make SEO a whole lot easier to. i.e 'All in one SEO' (Free).

Ideally you want to build a site which is 100% your own and can become an asset, if you were to use a platform on the web then the page may be your own but the site isn't and therefore has no value.

Hope this helps.

Daniel Meade
Smarta .com

 

[Faevilangel]

Hi Dan,

In terms of SEO and blog value it's best you start off with a platform such as Wordpress and host it using your own domain. There are thousands of premium templates out there which are optimized specifically to integrate well with the search engines, there are also a ton of great plug-in's to make SEO a whole lot easier to. i.e 'All in one SEO' (Free).

Ideally you want to build a site which is 100% your own and can become an asset, if you were to use a platform on the web then the page may be your own but the site isn't and therefore has no value.

Hope this helps.

Daniel Meade
Smarta .com

I would agree with the above, get it hosted on your own domain e.g. domain.com/blog/. You can then customise it to look like your current site. I find it slightly off putting when I am sent to a different site to read a blog, and wordpress.com puts adverts on the site and you need to pay for upgrades e.g. own domain, custom css etc.

You would be in control of your blog, and not relying on a external service to be online 24/7 (only a few months ago, wordpress.com went down for a few hours), Google is known for shutting down services (so blogger could go under at any time) and your not allowed adverts on your wordpress.com sites.

Going for your own allows you to have peace of mind, and the seo benefits can be much better e.g. linking from blog articles to products. Having a blog is a great way to get convert visitors to sales.

Good luck with what you choose.

 

[fisicx]

Why do you want a blog?

If it's just a fun site about your love of garden forks then blooger is fine.

If it's a serious long term project then host your own wordpress blog.

If it's just there to promote your main website then don't bother. Putting articles on the main site is far more effective.

 

[ecenica]

Another vote for self-hosted WordPress. Google's head SEO guy Matt Cutts even recommended using WordPress in a presentation last year.

I think you can even import your Blogger site into WordPress.

We use WordPress for our own sites. We launched a new WordPress site on Monday. By noon Tuesday it was already listed in Google.

Please feel free to PM me if you want info on our Linux shared-hosting plans. I would be happy to arrange for your new WordPress Blog to be setup for you for free.

 

[agar1]

Hi!
I use blogger.Well.. No matter where you go, you have to bring in your own traffic. But having a good blog site will help the appearance of your blog, and make it sound better.


------------------------------------------------------
logodesignswork. com

 

[DanHaynes]

Sounds like wordpress is the answer then

The only question now is, do I have enough to blog about and enough time to do the blog?

I see so many blogs out there that seem to start so well then after a few months the person concerned obviously gets bored of the whole thing and the blog just sits there like a half finished novel gathering dust..

 

[danielmeade]

I see so many blogs out there that seem to start so well then after a few months the person concerned obviously gets bored of the whole thing and the blog just sits there like a half finished novel gathering dust..

That's the hurdle where many, many people fall. It will always take a while for a blog to take off, for the first few months people are really eager and pump out plenty of content, but after not seeing much in the way of results it ends up being neglected. Those that do push on however will start to see increases in traffic, recognition and of course will start to gain a good number of 'natural' visits.

Blog's are harder top run then most people think, they key is to keep going.

 

[rendy]

Sounds like wordpress is the answer then

The only question now is, do I have enough to blog about and enough time to do the blog?

I see so many blogs out there that seem to start so well then after a few months the person concerned obviously gets bored of the whole thing and the blog just sits there like a half finished novel gathering dust..

I've used wordpress, tumblr, blogger and posterous

If you are worried about not posting, then I'd heartily recommend posterous, as you simply email to the account from your specified email address to make a post, really simple, some neat features and as it's hosted you don't have to worry about software upgrades etc, although it will limit you with regard to plugins etc.

 

[TSGMIMS]

Wordpress gets my vote!

As for having the time, well it's up to you, but it can become a black hole for time. Remember you will need to moderate comments and reply to any possible complaints. (Not sure on your business type, and not making accusations on your customer service, which i'm sure is fab, i'm just sayin' )