So you want to start blogging but should you go with a hosted or standalone blogging platform? In this post I will explain these two options and the upsides and downsides of them. Please share your thoughts and ideas by making a comment.

First of all: What are a hosted and a standalone blogging platform?

Hosted Blogging Platform

A hosted blogging platform can be Blogger, TypePad or WordPress.com. They are all free blogging tools that is hosted on the said tools own servers. That means these tools don’t cost you any hosting, bandwidth or domain name fees.

Standalone Blogging Platform

A standalone blogging platform can be WordPress.org, Drupal or Movable Type (Don’t mix WordPress.com and WordPress.org. They are based on the same blog software but offer completely different services). If you want to use any one these you must host them on your own server and you must pay for all the hosting costs and domain names.

Respect

So if you choose a hosted blogging platform it won’t cost you anything. Those sounds good but understand that you will have it a bit harder to gain respect as a blogger if you write on a free hosted blog than a blogger that writes on his own server and domain name. Sure it’s all about your content but having your own domain helps a lot.

Most hosted blogging platforms today let’s you customize your blog template. Some even let’s you make your very own template. Making your own template is a great way to make your blog stand out from all the other free blogs and to gain more respect.

General Downsides and Upsides

A hosted blogging platform is free and easy to start and use. They are also more stable and secured. Hosted blogging platforms are also very useful if you get massive traffic from Digg now and then. But you need to do and keep your own backups up to date and save them on a secured place. You will also have a less features and options. You can’t customize your blog the way you want to.

A standalone blogging platform let’s you customize your blog the way you want with no limits. The blog is more personal with your own domain name. More options and features but less stable and secured. You need to do and keep your own backups up to date. It is also harder to set up and maintain the blog software. You need at least basic knowledge in HTML. You must pay for the hosting and domain name.