The Three Best Hosted Blog Platforms

After all that we've discussed, weighing the pros and cons of each, perhaps you've decided to go with a free/cheaper Hosted option for your new Blog.  Once that decision is made, who do you use?  It's helpful to compare some of the most popular platforms and see which might be a better fit for you and your new blog.

/READ MORE// Why Should You Use WordPress?

These blogging software platforms have all been around for a long time, and many bloggers use them and they are regarded as best that the internet has to offer

Blogger

Blogger is pretty much the quintessential blogging platform.  Launched in 1999 by Pyra Labs, Blogger withstood the weird, early days of the internet and has become the most well-known blogging platform around.  Blogger was so popular it was eventually acquired and merged with Google.  Since that time, many new services and features have been added and Blogger remains one of the premier blogging platforms for bloggers.  Full Disclosure: The Art of Blogging is, as of this writing, currently hosted on Blogger.  We use it because we love it, and no one payed us to say that.  Blogger has a load of feats that let blogger publish multiple blogs:

• All Blogs are hosted for free with no mess or fuss.
• Blogger offers a ton of free templates to help you get started, all of which can be endlessly customized.  So much so, we run a feature about it, which you can check out here
• Helpful Google Elements, such as AdSesne and Analytics have been integrated into Blogger, letting you ad functionality as needed.
• If you don't want to use Google to host your stuff, you can use your own server

The Art of Blogging was meant to show you how to set up and write your own blog, and we use Blogger to do that, mostly because it's so easy to set up and use, and because it is free.  If you are a new blogger, The Art of Blogging encourages you to use Blogger at first, because it's the best way to get started, even if you have to change your set up one day.

Wordpress

Wordpress launched a hosted service in 2005, in addition to it's software you can install on your own server.  Wordpress.com is an easy, clean, easy-to-use service and it usually regarded as more flexible that anything else around.  Part of what makes it great is that developers and users are always adding new function and themes.  Semi-disclosure: The Art of Blogging is part of the Human Element family, which has blogs that use Wordpress heavily.  They love it, it's great, and it's so good, we've considered moving from Blogger.  Wordpress is also quite easy to get started with.

Wordpress.com is:

• Free
• Has lots of options of templates.
• Includes Tags and Categories, letting you organize your posts easily.
• Built-in Spellchek, Photo uploading, and rich-text editor.
• Built-in stats to measure traffic and traffic sources.
• Has recently integrated Akismet, a great spam-fighting tool.

TypePad

TypePad is probably the least well-known of the three big options.  It was started in 2003 with a lot o hype.  TypePad is more than a blogging platform: it was the first to allow users to create static pages of content.  TypePad starts at $4.95 a month and can range upward, depending on what services you want to add.

TypePad offers:

• Visual composer for writing, meaning you don't have to know HTML to get started.
• Simple tools for adding photos, and automatically making the size and shape great.
• Simple tools for adding video and podcasts into your posts

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for our Blogger and WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.