Blogging Platorms: Hosted vs Stand Alone in 2015

When it comes to choosing a blogging platform, there are options like Blogger or Wordpress or Typepad. And then there is the decision as to whether you want to host the blog yourself on your own domain, point your domain to a free solution, or some other option. Here is what you should consider when making the choice:

Budget: If you don't want to put any money into your blog, go with a free blog hosted at wordpress.com or blogger.com. The advantage of this is that in the future, you can easily purchase any domain of your choice and point it in the direction of the free blog.

When it comes to costs, there are three main expenses to keep in mind:

• The blog platform itself
• Hosting for your blog
• Domain Name

Technical skill: If you have little or no technical skills in terms of design, purchasing a domain, etc. you'll either need to buy a book, do a lot of research, or hire someone to do it for you. That may also mean something like Blogger is better since it is quite a bit more intuitive than Wordpress. 

Goals: Try to answer the following questions to the best of your ability:

• Is blogging something I see myself doing long term?
• What will the main purpose of my blog be?
• Is my blogging more of a hobby or does it have some professional application?
• Do I foresee putting ads on my blog?