Thursday, April 30, 2009

Best Blogging Platform - 5 WordPress Secrets Most People Do Not Know

If you think that WordPress (best blogging platform) is hard to use or not worth it -- let me debunk the myth -- here are 5 secrets most folks do not know:

1. There is some BIG confusion between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.

The first one hosts your blog on their servers, while the org version is a downloadable platform that allows you choose your own host making your blog entirely under your control.

Isn't it wonderful to know that you own the blog and not Google?

2. WordPress is not really as complex as most people believe.

You are given two options that provide non techie users a no brainer blogging platform while giving the techie or adventurous ones the freedom to be creative.

Did I mention both are free?

3. Want to blog for profits? The best blogging platform gives plenty of plugins to maximize the use of AdSense and affiliate programs.

What most people do not know is that the .com version does NOT allow commercial blogs. If you want to make money blogging, the self-hosted platform is the only solution.

4. The .org platform requires little maintenance. You would not believe how easy it really is to install plugins, back-up your blog database, restore it, and even move your entire blog to another host.

5. The best thing about WordPress.org is that it can be a stand alone blog or it can be integrated into your existing website, eliminating the hassle of having to code one out entirely.

Criteria to Choosing Best Blogging Platform - Free Tips to Successful Blogging for Money or Hobby

For successful blogging its base - the blogging platform - is a vital contributor. A wisely chosen blog platform can save you time, money and nerves, and make your blogging successful for business, profit or personal hobby. A wrong platform - ruins this perfect picture.

Check these simple blogging criteria to choosing the best blogging platform for you.

#1. Success of other bloggers with this platform.

If no one in the world is in top of the list for at least some fair keywords in Google or other search engines - this is strange. The only excuse to this is maybe you are among the first 100 people on the planet to start using this platform.

Do some searches on basic keywords - celebrity, business. sports, etc - and check what blogging platforms are the closer to the top. If you see at least several bloggers in top 20 results in most lucrative niches - good sign.

#2. SEO-integrated modules and plugins.

Though the basic issue in blogging is the value of your content, still the SEO when done wisely and automatically is a real helper. Who would be against having the keywords in the URL, or have improved pinging? All these hopes can become true if your best blogging platform has basic SEO features implemented (at least meta for each post, smart pinging that prevents you from spamming ping services. SEO sexy URLs and other useful features).

#3. Usability of blogging platform.

Quite often there is an option to the test the platform for free for some time, or even free versions with just some features cut-off. Grab and give a try. Sometimes a hard interface can get nice and easy after you do some posts, and the advantages that this interface is doing worth the effort.

But never sacrifice hard interface for nothing. If this is just too hard without any real results, and you do everything by the book to make it a successful project - choose the platform that saves you more time.

Internet Marketing Tips - Does the Blogging Platform Matter?

Does the blogging platform that you use matter? I asked this question at the Warrior Forum and got some interesting answers. Of course I had my own opinions prior to asking and essentially wanted to see if most people agreed with me. Most did not. I'm still not convinced that I'm wrong, but I'm willing to listen to both sides. In the meantime, I'm going to share what I believe, based on my own experience, and what I've been told. You can make up your own mind.

Let's start with what I've been told. First of all, we're discussing the two main blogging platforms...WordPress and Blogger. I use them both. I have success with them both, but that's not the point. I've been told that for SEO purposes, WordPress has it hands down over Blogger. I can't really argue with that. Technically, it does, especially with all the plugins that it has. For that reason, they say, WordPress will outrank Blogger in the SEs. Some people didn't agree, saying Blogger can do just as well. As a matter of fact, one person pointed out that the two top blogs in the make money online niche are Blogger blogs.

Okay, so what do I think? Well, for me, and this has always been the case, it comes down to the content of your blog...period. I use Blogger blogs for all my affiliate product reviews and using them I finish close to the top of every affiliate contest that I enter. The last one, for Authority Blueprint X, I finished 3rd and won a nice $300 prize. My review was on a Blogger blog. It did as well as page 3 of the Google index. Not bad. Would I have done better with WordPress? Maybe, but certainly using Blogger didn't hurt me. The review itself (about 2000 words long) is what made the blog successful.

Point is this. I don't care what blogging platform you use. If the content of your blog is garbage, your blog isn't going to do the job. It doesn't matter if it's WordPress or Blogger or something else. Content is ultimately what will turn your blog into a winner.