Picking a blog platform

Which blog platform is the best?

 
Blogger reminds me a lot of Windows. Completely customizable, but not for the average novice. It's made to look easy, with their Layout button. As if you can easily add and insert code and be done with it.

But it's not. In fact, it's completely overwritten by whichever blog template you use. Sometimes it'll work with your template, sometimes it won't, ending up conflicting with the code, turning it into an unusable mess. So you better hope & pray that you have some beginner's knowledge of HTML/ CSS.

I actually do have a Wordpress blog elsewhere, and that's far more easier to customize with the buttons and layout. It's pretty much the Apple of blogs, like they do everything for you. Easy squeezy. The only issue I take with it is that, you're stuck with whatever free layouts they provide. They won't allow you to change any code or add to it unless you pay for a subscription to their service. Forget about adding AdSense, 'cuz unless you pay for their service, it's a no-go. Suffice to say, I never monetized it.

Which is why I'm starting off on free Blogger.

Also, Blogger is owned by Google, so whatever you post on it gets easily picked up by their search engine. They also offer free tools to help ease the conversion rate of all your blog content. Why? Because you're  providing free content for their search engine to pick up on. More content = more revenue for them. Your success = their success.

Blogging Versatility

The ideal blog is the one you can customize easily. The one that allows for easy conversion. That allows you to post by mobile from anywhere. Has tight security features. Easy to apply ads of your choosing.

In truth, as time goes on, you will have to spend some money on these services as most charge some money. Once you make some good money on your free site, then you upgrade to a paid site like Wordpress.

Take note: blogs must be accommodating of SEO or else, it's all for nothing. I'm saying, if you have the cash to spare, definitely make your life easier and get a paid, premium blog service. Save yourself the countless hours spent on learning CSS tutorials because if you wanna make money soon, you're not gonna have that kind of time.

 Types of blog platforms

Here are all the other blog platforms that I know of:

1. Blogger
2. Wordpress
3. Tumblr 
4. Typepad
5. Livejournal
6. Weebly
7. Wix
8. Posterous  only now it is defunct
9. Medium started by Twitter founders; integrates with Twitter seamlessly
10. Blog the free version of wordpress, but covered in ads
11. Squarespace not free; lowest plan begins @ $8.-
12. Postach.io which is Evernote's blog service. Also not free
13. Ghost which was Kickstarter funded

 If I've missed any, lemme know. I'm always on the watch for new products. Which blogs have you guys worked with?

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Adjusting my free blog template

The look & feel of a website is integral to marketing. So I'm gonna customize the shit out of my blog.

I downloaded a free Blogger template. Because the one's Google provides kinda suck ass. I mean, they look exactly like the one's they provided when they first purchased Blogger back in the mid 2000's. You think a billion dollar company could offer better solutions, like their profitable rival Wordpress. Also, their free templates don't come preloaded with social buttons. (in this age, that's marketing suicide)

Here's the one I downloaded. This is what it looked like when I first got it:

And here it is after I got a hold of it and tweaked the CSS/HTML:

THANK GOD that I still remembered how to do light coding! As much as I hate it, it helped in this situation.
The problem with free templates is, that it takes a fair amount to adjust them and get them right, enough to accommodate your needs.Templates that you pay for generally don't have these problems, as they are already made for easy adjustments. Me, I don't have the ca$h for that, so I do this by hand.  No bells & whistles. I don't need flashy flare, just the basics.

Notice my social buttons aren't the same ones that came pre-loaded with the template. I had to create 2 additional buttons: the Goodreads and the Wattpad ones. And the buttons had to change the web addresses where they linked out to. I set it to the front page of each, as I have yet to set accounts to them. (too busy reformatting this template) I will talk more about that in a separate post.

The top template has the Header title tag image, that reads Bloggermint. (where I got the template from) In reality, the letters are opaque and the rest of it is transparent. But the image is only about 400+ pixels in length. They did that on purpose, in order to leave room for a clickable ad image to be placed on the right-hand side. Such ads bring in revenue. This is something I will do at some point, but not right away. So for now, I extended the pixel length to 900+ pixels to show my title image in full length.

The navbar had more clickable tabs, but I removed the excess for now. The top template ends with the 'How To' tab, while mine ends with the 'RSS Feed' tab.

So yea, on & off, it took about 4 days, including a trip down the coding memory lane. So far, so good.
I like to think it's Chuck approved ;-)

'Murrica!

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