Blog Software Reviews - Business Blogging Software Explained

by Brandon Cornett

Over the last few years, blogs have become all the rage with Internet marketers, business, and other professionals involved with online communications.

In this article we will talk about the various blogging software programs that are available to bloggers today, and how to go about choosing the best blog software program for your needs.

Blog Creation Software Explained

So you've heard about blogging for business and marketing purposes, and now you're ready to create your own blog and become the newest member of the "blogosphere." That's great. But there are a few things to know before you begin. For one thing, you need to choose blogging software program to power your blog.

Basically, these programs are a type of content-management system that helps you publish information onto the web, usually in reverse-chronological fashion.

Different blogging software tools offer different features, but they all perform the same basic function. They convert your text into an HTML web page (known as a blog post) at the click of a button, and they organize the post by chronology and category.

Of course, you have control over all of this. For example, you can tell the blog software how many posts to show on the home page, what categories to use, etc. But the program handles all of the hard stuff for you, such as the conversion from text to HTML code, the category management, etc. This is why so many businesses use blogs in the first place -- they make web publishing extremely simple.

Which Blogging Program Should You Use?

Let me preface the rest of this article by saying this. Which blogging software product you choose is not nearly as important as the content you publish. As mentioned previously, all of these programs perform similar functions (albeit with different bells and whistles, pros and cons, etc.).

So my advice is to try each of the leading blog platforms and pick the one that suits you best. And then stick with that program. Instead of moving from one blogging program to another in order to have the latest bells and whistles, focus that energy on creating quality content for your blog.

The three most popular blog software platforms are Blogger, WordPress and TypePad. While each of these tools can help you get your blog up and running, they do have their differences. So let's talk about each one individually.

• Blogger -- This is one of the most popular blogging platforms. Google now owns Blogger. I have several blogs powered by Blogger, and I have never had any problems with them. While it lacks some of the features of WordPress and TypePad (see below), it is an excellent and stable blogging tool with many benefits. You can also adjust the publish settings within Blogger so that it publishes the blog onto your own website. To see this in action, you can check out my marketing blog powered by Blogger at http://www.austinseoguy.com/seo-tips/
• WordPress -- This is another blogging software program that you can install onto your own web domain (as a standalone content-management / blog tool). WordPress is one of the most frequently updated blog programs, which can be both good and bad. It's good that they are always advancing the program, but if you have it installed on your own web hosting account it can be a pain to upgrade all the time.
• TypePad -- At this point, it's worth noting that the two programs previously discussed (Blogger and WordPress) are both free to use. TypePad, on the other hand, will cost you money. At the time of this writing, TypePad costs $50 and up depending on what level you purchase. Many bloggers who use this program feel that it is well worth the price. The good news is that you can take a free trial below!

Experiment With Blogging Software

So which type of blog software is right for you? Obviously that's a question that only you can answer. But here's the good news. You can (and should) experiment with most blogging programs for free. Even TypePad, which costs money, allows you to take a free trial of their software tool.

I recommend that you experiment with the "big three" programs discussed in this article to see which one suits you the best. Sure, there are other platforms out there. But the three programs listed above can handle just about anything you can throw at them, so they are a good place to start.

Blog Hosting Options

Generally speaking, you can host your blog in two places. (And by way of definition, the "hosting" location refers to where your blog will be located on the web.)

• Option 1 - You can host your blog with the company who provides the blogging program. For example, if you use Blogger and you choose to host the blog on their domain, the web address would be something like www.YourBlogName.blogspot.com. Thus, your blog files would actually reside on the hosting server owned by the blog software company.
• Option 2 - You can also host your blog on your own web hosting account, if you have one. For example, if you already have a website online, you can make your blog an extension of that site by publishing it to a sub-directory on your site. Thus, the web address would be something like www.YourSiteName.com/blog. You can even publish a blog onto a domain all by itself, so that the blog becomes the web domain.

Personally, I will always use option #2. I prefer to publish my blogs onto hosting accounts that I own and control. I once had a blog hosted by Blogger, and it just up and disappeared one day. I got no response when I emailed Google (who now owns Blogger) to acquire about the missing blog. So I will always publish my blogs onto my own servers, where I can back them up for safe keeping.

Here's the good news. All of the major blogging software programs give you the option of where you want to publish:

With Blogger, you can host your blog with them or on your own hosting account. You'll always log in through Blogger.com, but the difference comes from where the actual blog resides — on the "blogspot" domain, or on your own domain.

With WordPress, you have the same two options, but the logistics are slightly different. If you want to host your WordPress blog on your own domain, you would actually download the WordPress blog software program and then upload / install it onto your own hosting account. In other words, WP is a standalone program that you will run from your own website. You can also host your blog on the WordPress domain, if you choose.

With TypePad, you get a hosted blogging program. This means that with most of their plans, your web hosting is included. So you get the blogging software program to power the blog, and the hosting location as well. TypePad also offers quite a few advanced features, and is therefore a good option for business bloggers who want more sophisticated options. Check out their free trial below to learn more.

The Bottom Line - Content Matter Most

Any of the blogging platforms discussed in this article can support a business blog. The important thing to remember is that what you put into your blog (the content, the ideas, the information and personality) is far more important than which software program you use to power it. Blogs are judged by the content they provide, not by which platform they are running on. And that's the way it should be.