Many times, I am asked for my advice on how a person or organization can start a blog. I know that there are many "How to blog" tutorials out there, but I thought I would write my own blogging basics series that way I will have all my "how to blog" info in a place that I can refer people.  

Blogging can be done on free blogging platforms such as WordPress.com and Blogger.com, however, I feel it is much better for a person or organization to begin blogging on a self hosted blog with a unique domain name, rather than on a free blogging platform.

Why Invest in a Self Hosted Blog vs a Free Blog.

 Many times the free blog platforms have limitation as to what you can and can not do with your free blog. Because you are relying on the free platform for your hosting, if their terms of service are changed, you can find your blog or rather not find your blog when the host site deems your blog to be breaking their terms of agreement. It has happened to me on more than one occasion. It is very frustrating when you have poured your self into your blog, and find it has been deleted because of a minor infraction of their rules.

Actions that might break terms of agreement.

• text link advertising
• paid blog posts banner ads.
• Linking to third party sites.
• Creating a blog for a business.

Other reasons to start with a self-hosted blog:

• Because a free blog requires nothing(free isn't always better), and you have very little invested in the blog, the blog is very likely to become ignored and forgotten about.
• Frequently, while using a free blogging platform, you will come up against a wall because access to the code is limited. Don't like your template, but want to tweak it a bit, sorry you don't usually have access.
• Fewer blog templates for free blogs.(templates determine how the blog looks, and also can determine certain functions that your blog will be capable.

Should you ever use a Wordpress.com or Blogger blog?

If you want to get your feet wet, you can start a free blog, as the WYSIWYG (What You See, Is What You Get)editor is much like using a word processor, and is great for getting your blogging feet wet. But I would not invest a lot of time in it. If you do choose to start a free blog, start a WordPress.com blog over any others(personal bias).

The Next post in the series will cover selecting a domain name and hosting.

If you have any questions about blogging, or would like to add any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment.