Do You Know How To Choose The Right Blogging Platform

Do You Know How To Choose The Right Blogging Platform?

By Tom Lindstrom

As with everything on the internet, there are a number of options available to you when choosing a blogging platform.

A blogging platform can save you time, energy, and money if chosen correctly. You want to choose a platform that is going to further your business, not set it back. But do you know how to choose the right blogging platform?

There are some things you can do to help yourself out when trying to decipher the poor platforms from the legitimate. The first thing you will want to look into is whether the platform you are looking at offers a free trial. Many platforms do offer a free trial of some sort so you can give it a whirl and see what it is like. Not all platforms include every feature that comes with it, but you can get a basic idea of how it runs.

The next thing you want to look at is the search engine optimization modules and plugins. While blogging is a lot more basic and conversational, you can still use SEO techniques to better your business while still staying conversational. Some basic SEO features you should look to see if the blogging platform includes is Meta for each post, smart pinging to prevent you from spamming, and anything else you prefer.

You have to know that you are not the only person that has ever thought about or actually used the platform you are looking at. When choosing the right blogging platform, why not ask others around you online how it is? You can post in forums or blogs to find out what kinds of experiences other people had with the platform. While you are not guaranteed to get a truthful response, getting the reaction from several people can give you a general idea of how it went.

Lastly, you cannot consider something in life without money not being involved. There are several things you may have to potentially pay for depending on the platform you choose. You may have to pay for the blogging platform, hosting for your blog, and the domain name.

However, because there are so many choices to choose from there is a large price difference. There is everything from free to extremely expensive.

There is a lot that goes into choosing the right blogging platform, but it is well worth it once you have found the right platform for you. You want you and your business to better from the platform, not be set back. By following the tips in this article, you will be able to find the best one out there for you.

Also, choosing the right blogging platform takes a lot of consideration of what you are going to do with it. Personally, I think you cannot go wrong by choosing Wordpress. It is not the easiest blog platform to work with, but it has inbuilt features for SEO that cannot be found on other platforms. With a Wordpress blog you can truly become an authority online in any niche you choose!

Read My Views

There Are No Rules Only Exceptions

There Are No Rules Only Exceptions

by Jeff Chandler

Read enough blogs about blogging in your RSS reader and sooner or later, it will become apparent that there are some cardinal rules when it comes to blogging. However, I am here to say that there are no rules when it comes to blogging. Ethics? Yes. Rules? No. Instead, rules should be looked at as suggestions. It should be known that every blogger has their own handful of suggestions to give out to newer bloggers thanks in part to individuality. But these suggestions or guidelines should not be followed at face value. Instead, use these suggestions as building blocks and mold them into techniques or follow up suggestions that you can pass on to your fellow blogger. Here are three examples showcasing what I've learned based off the suggestions I took to heart when I started blogging seriously.

Suggestion #1

Don't quote other bloggers all the time. Strictly write unique content: This piece of advice is a slap in the face to the facet of blogging. Blogging is a form of communication and each individual should embrace the ability to be part of the larger conversation. Blogging is about linking to other bloggers, quoting them, expanding on another's thoughts, etc. Although writing unique content and keeping to yourself may be fine and dandy, all you're really doing is making yourself look like a snob who doesn't care less about what is going on outside of their sphere.

Suggestion #2

Being mentioned by an A-List blogger is all that matters: Yeah, right. While being granted access to the A-List crew is a dream come true for some, they are only a small part of the overall world of blogging despite how big their egos might be. There is more to blogging than writing content that is aimed at these high profile bloggers. Blog for yourself and not them. If you play your cards right, you'll develop your own A-List within your circle of friends.

Suggestion #3

Don't mix your personal blog with your business blog: Although this sounds good in theory, I believe this is a definite rule (suggestion) you can break. If you blog using WordPress, you can create categories and in my opinion, you can use categories as separate blogs. Because WordPress is so versatile, readers can subscribe to your content on a per category basis. Also, based on my own experience, it is much easier to publish content to one blog instead of two blogs or more.

5 Tips to Turn a Blog into a Business

5 Tips to Turn a Blog into a Business

By Hendry Lee

Some people start a blog purely as a hobby, but little do they know when they have gathered quite a few of loyal readers, they can turn the blog into a lucrative business. Either that, or the big corporations are going to take advantage of them.

Receiving a press release in your email is a sign that nowadays businesses realize the value and influence a blogger can bring to the table. From a mommy blogger to a guitarist who shares their rants and tips, all of them build the kind of relationship none of the big corporations have.

The problem is in finding the right approach to turn the blog into a business. Many people worry about that because as a personal brand, they may put their names at stake if the readers think they are too aggressive in selling and monetizing their blog.

Here are 5 tips that can help you start turning a blog into a business:

1. Adopt the right mindset

When you turn a blog into a business, it is easy to focus too closely on the money part and lose focus.

For instance, this is one of the reasons why affiliate marketing is getting a bad name.
People are recommending products with higher commissions, despite the quality, just to squeeze more money. Credibility and trust are two most important things for a blogger, so make sure you don't ruin it.

In the long run, you are going to make more money if you only promote products that you personally believe in.

And yes, now you know that box of diapers you received in the mail is only a sample, a small cost that they spend to tap into the relationship you've worked so hard to build.
You can turn that into a business deal... without sacrificing integrity.

2. Provide value in your offer

In certain niches, the audience is less Internet savvy. If it is possible to add value to your offer, it can be very helpful.

For instance, while promoting a product, you may do the work on their behalf first by hunting bargains and research on the reputation and service of the various online stores.

There are a lot of ways to add value to the offer.

3. Sell ad space

This is the easiest way to start monetizing your blog. If you partner with ad networks, it also becomes quick and easy. Securing sponsorship is also not uncommon for popular blogs. Once you get going with this approach, you may choose to manage this yourself though.

There are pros and cons related to ads on a blog, but in my opinion, you should never apologize for those ad checks. You take the time to share information and time is the single most limited asset. Only if you make money that you can spend more time on your blog.

4. Educate yourself about this business

A business is a business is a business. A lot of strategies in real world business can be applied online, but there are also specifics.

For instance, learning how to convert more prospects to customers through education and email autoresponder, placing ads strategically to increase value and result for the advertisers, and so on. Certainly you want the ads to be effective for them to keep running the ads.

5. Networking is key

Bloggers usually work alone, but they also need to network with other bloggers. Not only that makes them feel less isolated, but also to seek opportunities -- directly or indirectly -- to grow their traffic and business.

Once you get yourself out there, you will never know the opportunities that are coming your way. Let's not forget that bloggers are more likely to link to others who they already know and trust.