Make Money Online

So I’ve spent the last two days exploring different blogging platforms that will suit my needs in moving forward. In the end, I ended up keeping this blog to what I hope is its long-term home at TypePad. It seems to be the blog platform of choice for many bloggers, and has a whole host of customization options that should suit me in moving forward.

In reviewing platform, I reviewed Blogger (Google’s platform), TypePad and WordPress. Here’s my run-down:

Blogger
This is where I started this blog in January. Fairly easy setup, and free. For the casual or non-professional user, I think this is a great place to start. Why? There just are not that many options for you, which means that it is simple and hard to get confused. You can also point your own domain to your blog for further customization. Blogger recently launched new improvements, but still seems to be a bit behind its competitors.

Pros
- Simple and Easy-to-use
- Not confusing
- Can point your own domain name to your blog

Cons
- Limited upgrade options or advanced features
- Limited number of stock themes/layouts

TypePad
I have run the blog for stashSpace and Online Video Sharing on TypePad, am currently subscribing to their Pro-level account, and have been quite happy with their service. Indeed, I plan on using their service for my projects moving forward. They have an abundance of themes available for selection, offer domain mapping, have widgets readily available for incorporation into your blog, and have overall been easy to use.

Pros
- Many available templates, easy to customize
- 1 GB of storage and 10 GB monthly bandwidth ($14.95/m)
- Unlimited blogs
- Domain mapping
- Guest authors

Cons
- Confusing dashboard navigation (small issue)

WordPress
This is the blogging platform of choice for Robert Scoble’s Scobleizer and Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch, and a quick glance at the feature set shows you why. Advanced features abound, and the process for posting is quick, clear and easy. Their free product is full-features, you can have multiple blogs and their credit-based purchase system for add-on features let’s you pick & choose to add features as and when you need them. I also look forward to comparing their built-in statistics tracking to what is available through Google’s free analytics.

However, their free product does not allow for any advertisement — Google AdSense, Amazon, or other — which is an obvious roadblock for my whole purpose being here.  There is not an upgrade option either to allow for advertising, without upgrading to their $250/month VIP program.  What was a very appealing platform is now a discarded option.

Pros
- Many available templates, easy to customize
- Pay for features as/when you want them
- Unlimited blogs
- Domain mapping
- Nice statistics tracking

Cons
- No advertising/affiliate upgrade option