Choosing a blogging software can be confusing nowadays due to the many choices available. It pays to spend some effort to select the most suitable platform before your fist blog post. It is often not a straight forward process switching blogging platform down the road if you intend to migrate all your old posts and pictures. The following are some pointers and check list to get you started in making the best choice.

Type of blogging software

Blogging software can be largely categorized into three groups depending on how it is meant to be used. General purpose blogging software includes the typical products such as Blogger, WordPress, MovableType, TypePad, LiveJournal etc. These are for committed bloggers, blogging for business and for posts that are not mostly expression of 140 or less characters.

You might want to consider micro-blogging if you express mostly in short messages. Micro-blogging or ‘status updates’ in Twitter, Jaiku, Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed etc is all the rage at the moment. It requires less commitment when writing up a new post, but is not suitable for let say an article debating a certain cause.

In the middle ground are platforms that offer the traditional blogging features but also allow easy, quick and fun posting of short updates, links and media. Tumblr and Posterous are example of such service.

Starting a blog with the intend of growing viewership is a big commitment. You need a passion for writing and for the topic concerned. On the other end, some has turned their blog into a life journal, posting quick updates and views on life experience for the purpose of updating friends and family or whoever is interested. Asking the question ‘why blog?’ helps to narrow down the selection of your blogging platform.

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