The Marketing with Moxie Blog will soon be moving to a new hosted space using WordPress, so you may notice that my previous posts will soon be formatted a little funny and the original images are missing. That's what happens when you import content from one blog hosting service to another - the images won't migrate, but the text does. Drat!
I've been writing this blog using Squarespace since I started it, and it's been great to be here, but Moxie Marketing now has a brand new web site built in a premium WordPress theme (check it out at getmoxiemarketing.com) so I prefer to manage all my content using the same system.
If you're thinking about starting your own blog for your business, do your homework. There are lots of great blogging tools out there but it can be confusing. It's best not to migrate your stuff like I'm doing, so choose a platform that will grow with your business.
Here's a quick overview and some tips.
Free stuff
You can get started writing a blog free with built-in, customizable templates at dozens of places, but my favorites are TypePad Micro, Blogger, or Wordpress.com. These sites offer a free place to post your blog, but you'll have their names in your blog's web address, and there are ads inserted in your blog page. This is probably best for a personal blog or just seeing if you even like blogging. Your blog "lives" on their website, not your company or personal web hosting company (like GoDaddy, HostGator, etc.)
Better stuff
TypePad Pro, Squarespace and Wordpress.com Premium. Plunk down a little cash (as low as eight bucks a month) and you get more stuff, no ads, and you can customize the domain name (you'll have to buy that separately). There are more customizable template options available for these services. Squarespace is unique in that you can adapt any of their templates and make your blog truly customized, with colors, font and column sizes and more, and you don't need to know HTML code, and they offer built-in analysis.
Pro stuff
I have to go here with just one recommendation. WordPress.org. It is different than Wordpress.com above. To use this service, you upload the WordPress application to your host server (most of them have a quick tool to do this). The WordPress app is free, but you have to pay for a hosting service. You also need to pick a theme (basically a design template) and there are thousands of free themes you can upload to make your blog more than a blog - but a web site. You can also pay for premium themes, and get better quality and more choices. Wordpress.org is more complicated, but very powerful and flexible: It's possible to do it yourself if you find a simple theme (you have to upload those too), but I recommend that unless you've got some design skills, you seek professional help from a graphic artist. Ready to learn more? Check out WordPress 101 for some great training videos and tools.




Recent Comments