Best Blogging Platform - Gurus Do Not Teach This

[CodrutTurcanu]

Everybody say Blogger, or WordPress.

But they forget to tell you the facts.

None of them work for professional blogers; ok, if you want just to blog for fun, you could probably start with blogger.

If you want to blog for profits and make money online (and within a few months a real living off blogging), then you have to use WP -- this is not an option.

Now, Gurus forget to tell you that there's a BIG difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com -- do you know what that would be?

The first answer would get a nice gift from me ($250 value):

a "blog review" post on my IM or Blogging blog where I feature/showcase your blog - the only requirement is that your blog is targetted to my blog topic, and you're using WordPress.org.

Let's see what happens

[Mark Brian]

wordpress.com is almost just like blogger.com, you don't completely own it and it's just a subdomain.

wordpress.org is a platform that you can customize, do whatever you want, add plugins, themes, etc in your own domain and hosting.

[Andyhenry]

Codrut,

"If you want to blog for profits and make money online (and within a few months a real living off blogging), then you have to use WP -- this is not an option."


That's not true......

There are many platforms that are perfect for professional blogging, Wordpress is NOT the only one. Whoever told you that needs to update their knowledge of what's available.

Why are you talking like there is some big secret to this?

It's simple - Like Mark said - Wordpress.com is like blogger.

Wordpress.org is where you get the software to load onto your own server.

If you're a newbie you probably want .com since there is no installing, hosting etc required.

If you're into doing your own thing and need more - download the software and install it yourself so you have full control.

For newbies it's often MUCH better to just use the hosted (.com) version as once you use your own server you take on the responsibility for upgrades, backups etc... which is too much for non-technical newbies.

Andy

[Alexa Smith]

You can have blogger on your own site just like you can have wordpress on your own site. Saying that wordpress.com is "like blogger" in this regard slightly misses the point. Both are free blogging tools that you can use either on their proprietors' sites or on your own.

You can get more support and help for wordpress and perhaps do more different things with it, more flexibly, but it's still hard to learn and use.

Anyway, the best blogging facilities are probably Moveable Type and its little sister, Typepad.

[David_Thompson]

One of the best or voted the best blogging platform of 2007
was or is Wordpress.

Now the reason why I believe most people find wordpress
a huge learning curve is because they get caught up in
all the tech talk and SEO BS, before they even begin.

We all know it is an amazing platform if you host it on your
own domain which gives the user more control of what they
can do and limited to having ghost account on blogger or
wordpress.com.

There are so many videos online about installing and making your
first post it's crazy that people still thinks it's hard to setup and
maintained, if you go to http://weblogtoolscollection.com there
are tons of videos there.

Hosting your own blog gives you the owner control...

--David

[rapidscc]

______________________
Hi alexa
______________________

What's a moveable type. Also, I know the difference between the two wordpress but I didn't new that blogger also have an installable platform.

Could you please discuss further moveable types and where to find the installable blogger.

Im into blogging very much..

____________________________________________

To everybody using guru banging as their sales pitch
____________________________________________

what's this with all of the "Guru don't tell", "Guru secrets", guru banging in general. Do we really know better? If we do then why do some of these guys earn millions selling stuff that we declare horse sh*t.

______________________
To the guy who posted.
______________________

seeing you haven't posted a lot yet, maybe it will be a nice advice to be careful next time when you are posting in such a challenging tone.

There are a lot of experts here :-)

~RapidScc

[David_Thompson]

moveable type is a blogging and cms type platform
with a huge learning curve compare to wordpress,
it is powerful but you won't find much IM'ers or
none techie using it just because it has this steep
learning curve.

--David

[Quentin]

The truth is there are a lot of different blogging platforms and each have their devotees and success stories.

Once you get into absolutes about anything on the Internet you are limiting your influence and possibilities.

Each style has its own merits.

Quentin

[grumpyjacksa]

2 differences.....

besides .org being just a place to download your script, which you install yourself, and .com being hosted for you -

(a) at .com you can't include advertising . strict TOS

on your own you can go crazy.

(b) at .com you are stuck with what they offer you.

on your own you can usa any of a few thousand plugins and themes to make it do exactly as you wish.

[evolvingpublishing]

I would think one of the major differences it that I believe I heard somewhere that under a new policy for wordpress.com that you are no longer allowed to engage in any activity that would allow you to profit off of your blogs hosted with wordpress.com. With installing Wordpress on your own host & domain name you have the ability to do activities that bring you a profit. I could be wrong I'm just wondering if that is what you were looking for?

[rosan9]

The truth is from a marketing and traffic standpoint being able to use the the PR value of wordpress.com is way more beneficial than sticking wordpress on your domain. As is blogger.

I've ranked for keywords in less than a week using the free blog platforms.

Long term you obviously want it on your own domain, but linking to your domain from the WP authority site carries weight with Google and will get your site ranked sooner.

[Eric Lorence]

A Wordpress.com, Blogspot, or any "free" blog is simply NOT a viable option for ANYone seriously considering an income from blogging, forget about that.

Spring the $6 per month for hosting, install or pay someone to install the software from Wordpress.org, B2evolution, BlogPHP, or any one of a number of platforms.

Do not waste you're time with a free blog, do it and learn it right from the start.

Just my op.

Best!

[Fendi Salim]

Perhaps you are focused more on the European market?

Apologies for the assumptions.

Google "Make Money Online" using Google US and tell us how many blogspots you can find on page 1.

The secret is... L__k B______g

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by David_Thompson

moveable type is a blogging and cms type platform
with a huge learning curve compare to wordpress,
it is powerful but you won't find much IM'ers or
none techie using it just because it has this steep
learning curve.

--David

David, I've used both. In fact, I started by using Movable Type (yes, that's the correct spelling).

If you're talking about getting into the guts of the software and hacking the script itself, you're correct. MT is based on Perl, with a heavy dose of javascript.

If you stick to modifying the templates, it's not that tough. Roughly the same as WP. At least, that was my experience...

That said, I'll admit I've moved exclusively to Wordpress for all my self-hosted blogs. As I work with it more and more, the learning curve is flattening out and I'm doing things I didn't even think about attempting with MT.

Of course, the facts that WP is free and has about a bazillion plug-ins and add-ons helps. As does the PHP base, with an abundance of competent PHP programmers available. Movable Type has an annual software license per installation, or a higher enterprise option. I didn't find enough advantage to the platform to continue paying the fees.

I think services like Blogger, Wordpress.com and even Typepad have their place in the grand scheme of things. That place is just not as the base for an entire business.

And then there's the fact that I'm a bit of a control freak, which makes me very nervous and reluctant to put vital parts of my business in the hands of others...

[John Hillage]

One issue I've found with WP is that their security is not great and they can be an easy target for hackers (I found to my cost!), so worth bearing in mind.

[Monetize]

No one ever mentions that you can host on WordPress and
do whatever you want if you upgrade to a VIP account
and pay them $500 a month

VIP Hosting on WordPress

[shrinagesh]

I always preferred to have total control over my blog and own my content. I found wordpress.org excellent.

With wordpress.com blogs, you can't install google analytics, not as many plug-ins as there are for wp.

[cypherslock]

yup installing wp on your own domain is the way to go FWIW. And don't bash the gurus. Heck, its how many of us learned. And are still learning. If this site ever dies, I'll hold a week of mourning as it is worth 10x the price of any ebook or course.

[Alexa Smith]

Hi Rapidscc

Originally Posted by rapidscc

Hi alexa

What's a moveable type. Also, I know the difference between the two wordpress but I didn't new that blogger also have an installable platform.

Could you please discuss further moveable types and where to find the installable blogger.

"Moveable Type" and its little sister "Typepad" are both owned by "Six Apart" and are brilliant blogging platforms. Moveable Type has a real learning curve, as someone above said, but so does Wordpress. Typepad is dead easy, just like Blogger.

As explained in the book "Blogging For Dummies", comparing Blogger with Wordpress is one big fallacy. Blogger should be compared with Typepad, and Wordpress should be compared with Moveable Type. Blogger and Wordpress are worlds apart in so many respects.

Typepad has to be hosted at Typepad (Six Apart) but it's really cheap. You can use domain pointing or domain mapping, of course. For (I think) about $8 per month you can have as many different blogs as you want and you don't need to pay hosting fees elsewhere for any of them. Bargain.

Every Blogger blog you do gives you the option to host it at Blogger or on your own site. Either when you start or you can change it later (go to your blog, log in, go to "customize" on the toolbar, then "settings", then "publishing". It's all explained on that page).

[Alice Seba]

Originally Posted by CodrutTurcanu

If you want to blog for profits and make money online (and within a few months a real living off blogging), then you have to use WP -- this is not an option.

Making money online rarely has much to do with what you used to build your website. Could you explain why you think using anything other than WordPress precludes a blogger from making money?

Alice

[JonMills]

wordpress all the way baby..

but neither determines whether your going to make money

[jjpmarketing]

Avoid the wordpress.com hosted blogs if you plan on making money. There is something stated in their TOS along the lines of, "you can't use it for commercial purposes"...

With that being said if you monetize it with affiliate links then you will get your blog shut down. I have experienced this first hand. Save your self the headache and get your own hosting for your blog. I don't know if blogger's TOS is the same.

Like it has already been said... wordpress.com is for the free hosting blogs like blogger. Wordpress.org is where you get your plugins, themes, and the primary software to install on your own server.

Although I prefer Wordpress, there are other alternatives out there not limited to just blogs. You can use Joomla, Drupal, Typepad, Moveable Type, etc.

Maybe this link will enlighten you on the alternatives.

Blog Platforms - Poll Results

Because really when it comes down to it, all you really need is url to drive traffic to, in order to make money. If you wanted to you could use a domain name with no hosting... put a sales page for the parked page and monetize it that way with your own product. While not the most ideal solution, it will still make you money if you drive qualified traffic to the site.

Guru's don't teach this? Most will tell you Wordpress without even blinking an eye. It is practically the industry standard for internet marketers.

[Eric Lorence]

Originally Posted by Fendi Salim

Perhaps you are focused more on the European market?

Apologies for the assumptions.

Google "Make Money Online" using Google US and tell us how many blogspots you can find on page 1.

The secret is... L__k B______g

Yes, and that is exactly what the free sites are good for, but building to your own hosted sites.

Best!

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by Mark Brian

wordpress.com is almost just like blogger.com, you don't completely own it and it's just a subdomain.

wordpress.org is a platform that you can customize, do whatever you want, add plugins, themes, etc in your own domain and hosting.

You were the first one with the correct answer

Send me your blog url , and as long as it's targeting my blog's niche (blogging, and/or IM), and it's a self-hosted WP blog, I'll write a review about it and publish next week

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by Andyhenry

Codrut,

"If you want to blog for profits and make money online (and within a few months a real living off blogging), then you have to use WP -- this is not an option."


That's not true......

There are many platforms that are perfect for professional blogging, Wordpress is NOT the only one. Whoever told you that needs to update their knowledge of what's available.

Why are you talking like there is some big secret to this?

It's simple - Like Mark said - Wordpress.com is like blogger.

Wordpress.org is where you get the software to load onto your own server.

If you're a newbie you probably want .com since there is no installing, hosting etc required.

If you're into doing your own thing and need more - download the software and install it yourself so you have full control.

For newbies it's often MUCH better to just use the hosted (.com) version as once you use your own server you take on the responsibility for upgrades, backups etc... which is too much for non-technical newbies.

Andy

Andy - you're wrong! There's a BIG secret, just look around in forums and talk with your subscribers -- they don't know the difference, at least not the newbies.

Maybe those who've been blogging for months already.

Look around -- ask others -- they'll tell you that newbies are not gurus. And they don't know these differences.

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by alexa_s

You can have blogger on your own site just like you can have wordpress on your own site. Saying that wordpress.com is "like blogger" in this regard slightly misses the point. Both are free blogging tools that you can use either on their proprietors' sites or on your own.

You can get more support and help for wordpress and perhaps do more different things with it, more flexibly, but it's still hard to learn and use.

Anyway, the best blogging facilities are probably Moveable Type and its little sister, Typepad.

Alexa, and did you use Moveable Type or Typepad yourself?

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by rapidscc

______________________
Hi alexa
______________________

What's a moveable type. Also, I know the difference between the two wordpress but I didn't new that blogger also have an installable platform.

Could you please discuss further moveable types and where to find the installable blogger.

Im into blogging very much..

____________________________________________

To everybody using guru banging as their sales pitch
____________________________________________

what's this with all of the "Guru don't tell", "Guru secrets", guru banging in general. Do we really know better? If we do then why do some of these guys earn millions selling stuff that we declare horse sh*t.

______________________
To the guy who posted.
______________________

seeing you haven't posted a lot yet, maybe it will be a nice advice to be careful next time when you are posting in such a challenging tone.

There are a lot of experts here :-)

~RapidScc

When I say "Gurus" I'm NOT talking about real experts like us, warriors

I'm talking about those folks claiming they're earning tens of thousands or millions online -- when in fact, they do very little -- or sell just "MMO" stuff...

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by Quentin

The truth is there are a lot of different blogging platforms and each have their devotees and success stories.

Once you get into absolutes about anything on the Internet you are limiting your influence and possibilities.

Each style has its own merits.

Quentin

Between just the two of us -- I have to use absolutes when comparing WP with Blogger -- definitely WP is my fave one. And I recommend it to my clients and NOT to my competitors.

Who are you -- a client or a competitor of mine?

Maybe none... lol

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by grumpyjacksa

2 differences.....

besides .org being just a place to download your script, which you install yourself, and .com being hosted for you -

(a) at .com you can't include advertising . strict TOS

on your own you can go crazy.

(b) at .com you are stuck with what they offer you.

on your own you can usa any of a few thousand plugins and themes to make it do exactly as you wish.

Exactly you've said the BIG secret. I wished you were the first one posting this -- Andy don't know this yet I guess! lol

Select the wordpress.com and you're not going to make money off it.

They're not allowing commercial blogs on their platform.

Not all warriors knew this, until now! Congratulations...

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by rosan9

The truth is from a marketing and traffic standpoint being able to use the the PR value of wordpress.com is way more beneficial than sticking wordpress on your domain. As is blogger.

I've ranked for keywords in less than a week using the free blog platforms.

Long term you obviously want it on your own domain, but linking to your domain from the WP authority site carries weight with Google and will get your site ranked sooner.

I guess you should read how folks are getting ranked on 1st page in Google with EZA (ezinearticles.com article marketing) - there are quite a few threads here at warrior forum.

Update - I get ranked with self-hosted blogs on my domains in less than 24h (nothing to boast here though!) - long-tail keywords

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by Fendi Salim

Perhaps you are focused more on the European market?

Apologies for the assumptions.

Google "Make Money Online" using Google US and tell us how many blogspots you can find on page 1.

The secret is... L__k B______g

Just one, on the second spot, and the remaining 10+ are sites and WP self-hosted blogs I guess...

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by John Hillage

One issue I've found with WP is that their security is not great and they can be an easy target for hackers (I found to my cost!), so worth bearing in mind.

I guess you 've not read anti-hacking tips or watched videos that teach the topic yet?

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by Monetize

No one ever mentions that you can host on WordPress and
do whatever you want if you upgrade to a VIP account
and pay them $500 a month

VIP Hosting on WordPress

Wow, from free to $500/month? They got pretty greedy here

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by CodrutTurcanu

Alexa, and did you use Moveable Type or Typepad yourself?

The only blogs for which I don't use Typepad are one-page ones which I want to use as a static page and have done in 10 minutes, and I still use Blogger for those. Some time I'll graduate from Typepad to Moveable Type, but doing that is probably nearly as big of a job as moving from Blogger to Wordpress, and Typepad is so brilliant I'm in no great hurry to do it anyway.

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by Alice Seba

Making money online rarely has much to do with what you used to build your website. Could you explain why you think using anything other than WordPress precludes a blogger from making money?

Alice

Maybe my English is not perfect and the meaning of my argument was not understood.

I'm not saying that "blogger" bloggers or other blogging platform owners won't make any money online.

I should re-phrase this into something like.

I'm using self-hosted wordpress version. I used blogger too. And I've found that if you want to make "big" money online, wordpress.org is the way to go because you control it entirely and you could even sell it later on for quick profits.

Can't do that with Blogger.

I guess this doesn't sound too "absolute" like my first post... lol

[CodrutTurcanu]

Originally Posted by alexa_s

The only blogs for which I don't use Typepad are one-page ones which I want to use as a static page and have done in 10 minutes, and I still use Blogger for those. Some time I'll graduate from Typepad to Moveable Type, but doing that is probably nearly as big of a job as moving from Blogger to Wordpress, and Typepad is so brilliant I'm in no great hurry to do it anyway.

why not show us some examples? Unless they're big money makers for you, and afraid of copy-cats.. lol

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by CodrutTurcanu

why not show us some examples?

Because they have no connection with money or internet marketing at all, and I prefer to keep them entirely separate from my IM career, thanks. You can see any number of great examples of Typepad blogs at Typepad's own site, though.

Apart from the ease of learning to use them, the great advantage is the cost, because hosting is included but without any of the downsides of using Wordpress or Blogger "free" hosting.

The ownership of Typepad by Six Apart is also a huge plus, full of future potential for its users, because they're gradually "importing" into Typepade a whole range of tricks, facilities, gadgets and gizmos from their other companies, Vox, Moveable Type, LiveJournal and others. It's all looking even more promising and better value than ever. No wonder some major institutions like government departments, Sky TV and others are now using Typepad as their blog of choice for public display.

And no - I don't work for them. I'm just someone who was willing to look beyond the "obvious" in my search for the best.

[Chri5123]

I personally use Wordpress.org and since moving accross I love it!

I guess it is down to what you want from your content. I like the idea of having it self hosted as then all the content I have is mine and I am helping my own site.

That said I have has good results with other platforms and no real problems with them.

I have used Blogger.com and Wordpress.com and I have found that as long as you have another links and relavent articles linking through to the blog then it is not really to do with what platform you pick for search engine listings but more to do with how you promote it.

Just my 2 pence.

Chris

[chemmyvick]

hmm, this is eye opening thread. i think i get this message.

Thanks Guys

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by CodrutTurcanu

I've found that if you want to make "big" money online, wordpress.org is the way to go because you control it entirely and you could even sell it later on for quick profits.

Can't do that with Blogger.

Again, you're entirely mistaken about that. You can do exactly that with Blogger. There's absolutely nothing to stop you from hosting Blogger on your own site, just as with a Wordpress blog.

Every time you sign up for a new Blogger blog, you get asked whether you want to publish it at blogspot.com or on your own site.

How is it that so many people here are unaware of this?!

[lpezzini]

thanks for the info

Originally Posted by Mark Brian

wordpress.com is almost just like blogger.com, you don't completely own it and it's just a subdomain.

wordpress.org is a platform that you can customize, do whatever you want, add plugins, themes, etc in your own domain and hosting.

[Andyhenry]

Originally Posted by alexa_s

Again, you're entirely mistaken about that. You can do exactly that with Blogger. There's absolutely nothing to stop you from hosting Blogger on your own site, just as with a Wordpress blog.

Every time you sign up for a new Blogger blog, you get asked whether you want to publish it at blogspot.com or on your own site.

How is it that so many people here are unaware of this?!

You're right of course, I think the thing that people are alluding to is that for Blogger you're stilling doing everything by logging in to their service but the posts are FTPd onto your server so the resulting blog pages are on your host. However, you don't control the blog - you can't add plugins, do upgrades etc..... which you can with Wordpress because the whole thing CMS and all files are on your host.

But you're right to make the distinction because that is a difference between the hosted wordpress and blogger.

Andy