Five Best Blogging Platforms

It's not difficult to argue that blogging has done more to spread knowledge and ideas than any other publishing innovation since the printing press. Here's a look at the most popular blogging platforms to help you get your ideas out there.

Photo by Kevin Purdy.

Printer and photocopier salesmen of the late 20th century frequently peddled their wares with the pitch that a personal printing device could turn anyone—schools, neighborhood associations, churches, individuals with a message to get out—into small time publishers. The revolution they hinted at didn't come about on their watch, however. The personal printer simply didn't have the volume and the reach that a later innovation, the internet—and more specifically, blogging—would have. Blogs give anyone an inexpensive platform to promote their ideas to a potential audience of the entire world, not just a county in Idaho or a street corner in Manhattan.

Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite blogging platform. We tallied the votes, and now we're back to highlight the five most popular blogging platforms for your perusal.

Blogger (Web-Based, Free)


Blogger is a popular and free blogging service owned by Google. Blogger's big draw is ease of use and nearly instant setup. You can go from blog-less to publishing your first post in under 15 minutes thanks to its extremely easy setup process. Blogger supports drag-and-drop template editing, dynamic updating, geo-tagging for location-based blogging, and easy publication from editing tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Windows Live Writer. Blogger supports up to 100 users, so if you grow your blog beyond single editorship you can expand without any hassle.


Tumblr (Web-Based, Free)


While Blogger is an easy way to set up a full-fledged blog, Tumblr is an interesting fusion between a full-fledged blog and a Twitter feed. Known as short-form or micro blogging, the style of blogging on a Tumblr blog is focused on short and frequent posts that are normally longer (or more focused on media like images or video) than Twitter updates but not as involved and formal as a regular blog post. It's a style that appeals to a lot of people and the ease of setup coupled with the informality of Tumblr is a winning combination for people who aren't looking to commit to a blog as an involved and time-consuming project. If this is the first time you've come across the concept of micro blogging, make sure to check out Tumblr's About Us which provides an interesting picture of micro blogging.


WordPress (Web-Based, Free)


WordPress is a popular open source blogging platform along the lines of the venerable Swiss Army knife. As a WordPress user, you have the option of setting up a WordPress blog on your own server (for free) or creating a WordPress-hosted blog at WordPress.com. Thanks to an absolutely enormous community of followers and developers, WordPress has themes, plug-ins, and gadgets of all stripes. It isn't as simple to set up and configure as some of the other entries in this week's Hive, but once you get it up and running you're rewarded with a nearly limitless array of options, configurations, and plug-ins. Finding a customization tool or trick for WordPress is almost never more effort than a cursory Google search. WordPress is a scalable solution that allows you to do everything from maintain a single blog with a single user to an entire stable of blogs with multiple users all overseen by a primary administrator.


SquareSpace (Web-Based, From $8 per month)


SquareSpace is a commercial blogging platform with packages ranging from $8-50 per month. One of the nice things about their pricing schedule is that it's based almost entirely on volume and not on the idea that the lower tier members don't deserve all the cool toys the premium members get. Aside from a few features, mostly focused on volume and big site management, the user experience from the smallest users to the biggest power users is consistent. SquareSpace's strongest focus is on making good blog design easy for design/coding newbies. They've built their system around a modular design so building a brand new blog is as easy as snapping the pieces you want together.


Posterous (Web-Based, Free)


Posterous aims to be an absolutely no-fuss and zero-stress way to blog. You don't need to sign up, you don't need to know any code, you don't need to know how to do anything but send an email to set up your own Posterous blog and start sharing your ideas and media. Simply email post@posterous.com from any email account and Posterous will create a YourName.Posterous.com blog for you. They're quick to point out that they aren't a short-form or micro blogging service because there isn't anything short or micro about your Posterous blog. You can write posts and long as you want, attaching photos and media files. (You can use the site's rich text editor to create or edit posts, but its by-email updating is what its best known for.) The only micro part about Posterous is the amount of time you'll spend setting it up. While email-based blogging might not be for everyone, it's impressive how much you can do through the Posterous system with a single email. Check out their FAQ file to see how you can do everything from multimedia posts to tagging your entries right from your email subject line.


Now that you've had a chance to look over the five most popular blogging platforms as voted… it's time to cast a vote for your favorite:

Which Blogging Platform Is Best? (Poll Closed)

Blogger 16.6% (1,629 votes)

Tumblr 13.1% (1,286 votes)

WordPress 55.4% (5,429 votes)

SquareSpace 3.3% (325 votes)

Posterous 8.3% (814 votes)

Other 3.3% (319 votes)

Total Votes: 9,802

Have a favorite blogging platform that wasn't highlighted here? A tip or trick for setting up a blogging platform that was? Let's hear all about it in the comments. If you have a great idea for the next Hive Five shoot as an email at tips@lifehacker.com and we'll do our best to give you idea the limelight it deserves.


Blogger is a popular and free blogging service owned by Google. Blogger's big draw is ease of use and nearly instant setup. You can go from blog-less to publishing your first post in under 15 minutes thanks to its extremely easy setup process. Blogger supports drag-and-drop template editing, dynamic updating, geo-tagging for location-based blogging, and easy publication from editing tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Windows Live Writer. Blogger supports up to 100 users, so if you grow your blog beyond single editorship you can expand without any hassle.


Tumblr (Web-Based, Free)


While Blogger is an easy way to set up a full-fledged blog, Tumblr is an interesting fusion between a full-fledged blog and a Twitter feed. Known as short-form or micro blogging, the style of blogging on a Tumblr blog is focused on short and frequent posts that are normally longer (or more focused on media like images or video) than Twitter updates but not as involved and formal as a regular blog post. It's a style that appeals to a lot of people and the ease of setup coupled with the informality of Tumblr is a winning combination for people who aren't looking to commit to a blog as an involved and time-consuming project. If this is the first time you've come across the concept of micro blogging, make sure to check out Tumblr's About Us which provides an interesting picture of micro blogging.


WordPress (Web-Based, Free)


WordPress is a popular open source blogging platform along the lines of the venerable Swiss Army knife. As a WordPress user, you have the option of setting up a WordPress blog on your own server (for free) or creating a WordPress-hosted blog at WordPress.com. Thanks to an absolutely enormous community of followers and developers, WordPress has themes, plug-ins, and gadgets of all stripes. It isn't as simple to set up and configure as some of the other entries in this week's Hive, but once you get it up and running you're rewarded with a nearly limitless array of options, configurations, and plug-ins. Finding a customization tool or trick for WordPress is almost never more effort than a cursory Google search. WordPress is a scalable solution that allows you to do everything from maintain a single blog with a single user to an entire stable of blogs with multiple users all overseen by a primary administrator.


SquareSpace (Web-Based, From $8 per month)


SquareSpace is a commercial blogging platform with packages ranging from $8-50 per month. One of the nice things about their pricing schedule is that it's based almost entirely on volume and not on the idea that the lower tier members don't deserve all the cool toys the premium members get. Aside from a few features, mostly focused on volume and big site management, the user experience from the smallest users to the biggest power users is consistent. SquareSpace's strongest focus is on making good blog design easy for design/coding newbies. They've built their system around a modular design so building a brand new blog is as easy as snapping the pieces you want together.


Posterous (Web-Based, Free)


Posterous aims to be an absolutely no-fuss and zero-stress way to blog. You don't need to sign up, you don't need to know any code, you don't need to know how to do anything but send an email to set up your own Posterous blog and start sharing your ideas and media. Simply email post@posterous.com from any email account and Posterous will create a YourName.Posterous.com blog for you. They're quick to point out that they aren't a short-form or micro blogging service because there isn't anything short or micro about your Posterous blog. You can write posts and long as you want, attaching photos and media files. (You can use the site's rich text editor to create or edit posts, but its by-email updating is what its best known for.) The only micro part about Posterous is the amount of time you'll spend setting it up. While email-based blogging might not be for everyone, it's impressive how much you can do through the Posterous system with a single email. Check out their FAQ file to see how you can do everything from multimedia posts to tagging your entries right from your email subject line.


Now that you've had a chance to look over the five most popular blogging platforms as voted… it's time to cast a vote for your favorite:

Which Blogging Platform Is Best? (Poll Closed)

Blogger 16.6% (1,629 votes)

Tumblr 13.1% (1,286 votes)

WordPress 55.4% (5,429 votes)

SquareSpace 3.3% (325 votes)

Posterous 8.3% (814 votes)

Other 3.3% (319 votes)

Total Votes: 9,802

Have a favorite blogging platform that wasn't highlighted here? A tip or trick for setting up a blogging platform that was? Let's hear all about it in the comments. If you have a great idea for the next Hive Five shoot as an email at tips@lifehacker.com and we'll do our best to give you idea the limelight it deserves.

5 STEPS GUIDE TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING

Blogging is so popular now-a-days due to its flexibility and ease of use; it also has a lot of SEO advantages for big corporate Websites. Another great benefit of blogging is that it is one of the easy steps to make money online.

You don’t need to venture into some unethical marketing practices before making money blogging and this post will be talking about 5 great steps you can take to start making money blogging.

Blogger tips to make money:

1. Choose a Niche:

This is the first and most important step to take if you are trying to make money blogging, it is very important not to just jump into a niche because many other people are in it but you should take your time to think about the niche you want to go into. It is also very important to make sure you have passion for your niche, for example, if you are someone who loves watching football then you can start a blog in the football niche. Another great thing to do is to make sure you choose a highly profitable niche and that can be discovered if you effectively research your niche before venturing into it.

2. Target Some Top Keywords and Chose a Keyword Rich Domain Name:

One great way to get high quality targeted free traffic to your blog on autopilot is by focusing on SEO.
When trying to begin blogging it is very important to research your keywords effectively to know how much traffic and competitors they have before you start. After you have the right and highly profitable keyword you want to target you can now choose a keyword rich domain name. For example, if I want to target the keyword “guitar bass” I can now go for the domain name “guitarbass.com”. It is very important to choose keyword rich domain names because this will make it easier for you to rank well in the search engines.

Read: 3 Free online Keyword research tool

3. Write Valuable Blog Posts:

Your content is the foundation of your blog so it is very important not to take it with levity. It is very important to write valuable and high quality content because this will also help you gain more readers and backlinks thereby leading to more long-term traffic.
When writing it is also very important to update your blog regularly and not just be writing review posts now and then because this will discourage your readers and will affect how you get traffic.

4. Build Some Backlinks and Do some SEO:

After you have done the above 3 steps the next step is to begin to work on getting more backlinks to your blog. There are many ways by which you can get backlinks to your blog and some of the tops ways is by commenting on dofollow blogs, by guest posting, by doing forum posting, by doing article marketing and by submitting your blog to top directories.
It is also very important to optimize your blog for search engines by doing some SEO for your blog. You can optimize your blog for search engines by optimizing the on page SEO which includes making sure you include your keywords in your blog post and in your blog title.

5. Monetize our Blog With Affiliate Marketing:

All the above steps are not making you any money yet, right? Not to worry, this is the main step!
After you have chosen the right domain name and you have done some SEO for your blog, the next step is to start monetizing your blog with affiliate marketing, there are many affiliate marketing sites to start with but some of the top ones are clickbank.com, cj.com , shareasale.com and paydotcom.com
After registering with the affiliate networks of your choice and you have chosen the right product to promote you can then keep on building backlinks and doing some SEO for your blog and you will be surprised to see how easy it is to make money online.

GUIDE TO MAKE OPPOSITE SEX ATTRACT

Attracting the opposite sex is all in the attitude. When you are confident, witty, and charming, attracting the opposite sex is easy. There are ways to do this so that you truly feel and are all these things to the opposite sex, even if you think you are not. Here are some tips for attracting the opposite sex that will get you much attention and lots of dates when you may have had trouble in the past.



Be confident in who you are and you'll be more attractive to the opposite sex.

Hold yourself in a confident manner so that others know you feel good about yourself. Even if you don't always feel confident, fake it. Confidence comes from believing in yourself and that you can do almost anything possible. Know how good looking you are, how smart you are, how great of a person you are and project this to the opposite sex. Confidence is sexy and sexy makes the opposite sex notice you. Smile with confidence. Talk with confidence. Do most everything with confidence. The more you practice having confidence, the more you will actually find confidence and attract the opposite sex easily.



Try being witty by laughing at yourself and showing the opposite sex that you are not too serious.

Joke about yourself to the opposite sex and make fun of your flaws. Attractive people are those that can have fun at their own expense and do not take themselves too seriously. How attractive is a person who gets angry at everything and can never take a joke? Being witty comes from thinking quick and finding funny things to say, but if you mess up, make a joke about your goofiness and see how fast people laugh with you. You don't have to be a comedian to be witty. Just relax and have fun with yourself in front of the opposite sex and you'll see a quick attraction come to light.





Be charming by showing respect and kindness to the opposite sex. Chivalry is not dead if you are a woman and a man who is seeking the attraction of a lady should always be respectful and kind to her. Also, a woman who wants to attract a man should also be kind. Men don't want to attract a girl who is trashy, rude, or treats others ignorantly. Men want a girl who is sweet and acts like a lady. A lady is charming, so too is a man who is generous and has manners. Being charming in these ways can attract the opposite sex fairly easily. Anyone who is treated with kindness will usually respond in a positive way and be attracted to the opposite sex who behaves well.



Use little flirty gestures to attract the opposite sex.

 Harmless, sweet flirting can make you very attractive to the opposite sex. Throw a smile in his direction or tilt your head in a flirty way. A man can smile as well to create an attraction to himself. When you flirt in such a way that it gives attention to the opposite sex your interested in, it's noticed and often reciprocated. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see the response you get when you flirt with someone of the opposite sex. Not only will you be more attractive, but you'll also be more interesting making you more appealing to get to know better. So find anyway you can to be gently flirty (don't overdo it) and see how fast you can attract someone of the opposite sex.



Respect yourself to be more attractive to the opposite sex.

 People only want to seriously date those that they respect. This is pretty much a given. If you do not respect yourself, you will not be very attractive to the opposite sex. A woman who does not respect herself will not get very much respect from a man. In turn, a man who does not respect himself will definitely turn off a woman. Respecting yourself means acting tastefully and having manners most expected from society. Do not act trashy, rude, or vulgar in front of the opposite sex if you want to attract him or her. Instead, treat yourself well and show others that you are to be treated with respect also. Respecting yourself can make you very attractive to the opposite sex.

GUIDE TO MAKE A GOOD DATING

while dating there are a lot things that should be keep in mind.so below are mentioned few tips regarding dating.

Dating can be a tough pill to swallow, especially after many disappointing dinners, meetings, and conversations that just don't go anywhere. It always seems like the same old thing...you meet someone, talk or text for a little while, go out on a few dates (if it gets that far), then find either one or both of you just aren't feeling the chemistry, and it's over...just as quickly as it started. It can be challenging to keep this vicious cycle up and many of us choose to give up on dating altogether after enough failed meetings with the opposite sex. But, like anything else worth it in life...you have to stay determined and keep plugging away at it. Giving up on dating will only give you exactly what you don't want...a life of solitude and loneliness. Unless of course that's how you choose your life to be. But, chances are, if you have been reading this lens...not looking to be alone forever. While dating advice is not alway fool proof, there are some things you can do to attract love and happiness to you. You just have to be willing to put in the effort.

Here's a list of things to try for attracting positive dating and love experiences into your life...



Smile Often


                 
People are automatically drawn to others who are happy. Happiness makes us a joy to be around. Who wants to be in the company of someone who is always miserable and depressed? Smile a lot and you will attract the same type of person to you. Even if you are in the mood to smile, find something to be happy about (a good memory, something you want to do, the weekend...etc). Not only will you be more attractive to the opposite sex, but you'll also feel good about yourself, which is important when looking for love.



Be Positive



Don't carry the attitude that all "men" or "women" are the same. Try to be positive and open to the next person that comes into your life. Assuming that all people are the same is not only unfair to new people you meet, but also hurts you. When you carry a negativity about the opposite sex, you put a wall up and may shield you from heartache, but also keeps good people out. I guarantee you'll miss your opportunity for love if you shut down and have a negative attitude about anyone of the opposite sex.



Know You're Amazing



Realize how great you are! Right now...do it! Make a list of all your positive attributes, both physical and internal. Do you have a pretty smile, great legs, or an awesome sense of style? Are you intelligent, witty, kind-hearted? Everyone has amazing features that make them who they are and make them attractive to others of the opposite sex. Focus on these amazing qualities and build them up in your head. After all, others are looking at you in this wonderful way if you just pay attention.



Be Confident



Now that you know you have amazing features and traits...show them to the world. Flirt every chance you get, make cute conversation, walk with confidence into a room. Show others just how truly awesome you really are. Having confidence in yourself is very sexy to the opposite sex. When you feel good about yourself, others see it and this confidence attracts them to you. Confidence is like sticky paper to flies. People can't help but be drawn to it and sucked it. Try flaunting your stuff and see. You'll be pleasantly surprised.



Know What You Want



Realize what you want in the opposite sex before going on anymore dates. Don't just date to date. While the experience of dating is great, dating all the wrong people is not. It will only leave you feeling disappointed if you go out with people of the opposite sex that don't rate high on your love and relationship scale. Make a list of the qualities you want in a person so that you understand fully what it is you are looking for. Be sure you have a clear picture of what truly makes you happy.



Never Settle



Now that you have an idea of what makes you happy, don't settle for less! Only date people who deserve your love and offer the qualities you're looking for in a mate. Don't waste your time dating people that don't interest you completely. Even better, date only those people that excite you, make you want to be around them, and even share a connection with you. Yes, you might be left with less dates than usual, but remember, you are weaning out the wrong ones with good purpose...to find amazing love and happiness!