Welcome to part III in the “How to create a money making blog” series. In part I, we saw how to choose a blogging topic. In part II, we were looking at 10 tips to choose the right domain name and how to register it cheap. In this part III, we are looking at points to help us choose the more appropriate Content Managing System (CMS) or blogging platform from amongst the top 2.
It’s important you choose the right blogging script right from this beginning so as to avoid the hassle of moving from one platform to the other in the future. Each of these CMSs has its list of pros and cons. That means non is perfect. However, considering some points will help you in making the right choice.
WordPress.com Vs Blogger
These are the most widely used blogging script today. They are both free (But you have to buy domain name and pay for hosting) and offer an evidently simple and user-friendly interface. In any case, there are a few things that must be underlined about each of these blogging platforms before deciding where to go. Let’s begin with Blogger…
NB: I’m talking about self-hosted blogs not sub-domains!
– > Blogger blogging platform
Also called BlogSpot, is a Google owned blogging platform. It’s free and more reliable – unlikely to be hacked and virtually no downtime. It’s quite simple. Beginners can easily find their ways through. It has a decent selection of templates.
However, there are some downsides. Customizing it is not as flexible. Setting it on your own domain name is sometimes not easy to figure and moving your site from blogger to a different platform is a complicated task. There is a significant risk that you will loose your SEO.
Themes and design styles are relatively limited. There is very little community support in the form of plugins.
There are many bloggers that have moved from BlogSpot to WordPress
– > WordPress blogging platform
This is actually the most popular blogging platform in the world. With a huge library of plugins and themes, WordPress provides a full spectrum of blogging solutions for bloggers.
WordPress script is very flexible and can be made to run virtually everything – eCommerce, full-blown video shops, full-blown membership sites, etc. It has hundreds of thousands of plugins, through a vibrant open-source developer community. With a huge theme library, you can customize your blog’s appearance to the best you want.
The big issue I have with WordPress is vulnerability. Being the most widely used and open source, it also attracts the most in terms of attacks. The most attacked and most hacked blogs are running on WordPress.
That however should not cause fear. A lot has been provided in the community to maintain a minimum level of security.
WordPress quick security tips
1 – Host your site with a top and recommended host
2- Put in place an effective security plan : –
- Get tough security plugins.
- Do regular database backup.
- Do regular file backup.
- Keep some backup copies local.
- Frequently update your core scripts, themes and plugins.
- Backup before running an update.
- Avoid free themes and be very cautious with free plugins too
My choice … WordPress
I have been blogging on WordPress and that’s what I recommend. The rest of the series will be based on this platform. In part IV, we will proceed to choosing the right host. I’ll be giving you some tips on choosing the right host and I’ll also be telling you why I have chosen WPX Hosting to host my WordPress blog. I’ll show you some reasons why they are good to start with.
To further help you make the appropriate choice on what CMS to use, check out this WordPress Vs Blogger post by my friends of WpKube.
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