WordPress? Blogger? Which is Best?

WordPress and Blogger are hands down the two most popular blogging platforms. I honestly see no reason to consider any of the others.

Blogger is great because it's super easy to use. However, WordPress has a lot more features and plug-ins that will allow you to enhance your blog.

And even though setting up a WordPress blog is slightly more involved, it's well worth it in the long run.

How to Create a Blog

Blogs are another kind of website. The content is usually organized by date and category with the most recent post/content displaying first.

Blogs are also easier to setup than websites, and because of this reason people are often lured into thinking blogs are a better option than websites.

That doesn't mean they are easier to promote, build traffic and generate a profit (if that's your goal).

Both websites and blogs require work, patience, an understanding of Internet marketing and SEO (the process of getting ranked high in Google, Yahoo, etc.)

So please don't go into this thinking that creating a blog is an easier way to make money online. Even bloggers making a lot of money have put in their share of time and effort.

Another thing you should know is that blogs can be somewhat limiting compared to a website (in terms of design and data manipulation) until you learn more about how blogs are coded.

However, if you use blogger, you'll have the flexibility to do so much with your blog's content and layout. (More on that in a sec.)

What is a "blog"?

"Blog" is an abbreviated version of "weblog," which is a term used to describe web sites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles on other Web sites. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.

Many blogs focus on a particular topic, such as web design, home staging, sports, or mobile technology. Some are more eclectic, presenting links to all types of other sites. And others are more like personal journals, presenting the author's daily life and thoughts.

Generally speaking (although there are exceptions), blogs tend to have a few things in common:

A main content area with articles listed chronologically, newest on top. Often, the articles are organized into categories.
An archive of older articles.
A way for people to leave comments about the articles.
A list of links to other related sites, sometimes called a "blogroll".
One or more "feeds" like RSS, Atom or RDF files.