Where and how to start blogging? Our Top 10 Blog Hosts
Written by Angie Palmer, Mar 6, 2009
There are many blog hosts and platforms you can use to start blogging. Many weblog or blog software are operated by developers and you do not need to install any software or know any HTML or CSS to start a blog. Most of them are free too, so you can try them out before you decide which one works better for you. Here is our top 10 blog hosts for you to consider:- Blogger -Blogger or Blogspot is a Google product that can be added easily with your Google user name.
- LiveJournal - LiveJournal is a blogging platform and online community built around personal journals and was started in April 1999.
- MySpace - MySpace is a major social network in the United States and users can start a blog within their page easily.
- Open Diary - Open Diary is the oldest interactive diary community that was founded in October 1998.
- Skyrock - Skyrock is relatively unknown in the United States, but it is a leading social network in France. Skyrock started as a blog in 2002 and was changed into a social network in 2007.
- TypePad - TypePad provides a wide range of functions but it is not free. A basic package starts from $4.95 per month and the most expensive package goes up to $89.95, which allows companies to include additional bloggers, administrators or have total control of the design of the blog.
- Windows Live Spaces - Windows Live Spaces is a Microsoft product that can be added easily if you have a Windows Live ID. If you have a Hotmail or MSN Messenger Account, you can use it as a Windows Live ID and do not need to create a new one.
- WordPress
- One of my favorites. WordPress has good statistics reports and nice
templates. But you may need to know some simple HTML codes to get the
widgets and posts work the way you want.
- Vox -
Vox is a personal blogging service that allows you to control
exactly who gets to see each of your posts and photos and bring in
content from other web service you are already using, e.g. Amazon,
YouTube.
- Xanga - Xanga is a community of online diaries and journals and is among the popular ones for bloggers.
Before you start your own blog, you may want to look around and see how people design their blogs and what they write about. I recommend blogs.com, which helps people find the best blog content from around the web. Featured blogs are chosen and updated by a team of editors for their quality, popularity and the relevancy of posts. There are many "top 10 lists" for people who want to find resources, though they are mainly the opinions of the editors and bloggers. Technorati Media is also a good place to start getting a feel of what people are writing. It is a leading blog search engine that indexes more than 1.5 million new blog posts in real time.
Blogging is about combining the writing skills and the knowledge of the web together. You can contact Skye Public Relations for more details about how to blog effectively to get the traffic and audience you want to attract.