3 Questions to Ask Before You Choose a Blogging Platform

Yesterday a client called me and his story is not unfamiliar to The Blog Squad...in fact, we hear this tale of woe more often than we'd like!

Let's call him Jerry. He's a pretty savvy guy, and like many professionals, busy with his clients. So he asks his web designer about blogs. Web-guy agrees, he should be blogging to promote his speaking and book events. Web-guy says, "no problem, I'll set it up for you."

Next thing Jerry knows, he's got a blog, all ready to go, set up on a WordPress platform. Only thing is, he can't use it. He can't change anything on it without going through Web-guy, being charged for it, and having the usual delays. Neither can he post on it, although Web-guy did offer to show him how for a fee.

Jerry thought he would have the blog set up and all he'd have to do is  write on it 2-3 times a week. He doesn't have any tech skills, and at this point in his career, doesn't want to learn about Wordpress, unless it's how to post on it. He wants to be able to maintain his blog himself without having to wait on Web-guy.

So when he called, I explained how Typepad works, and how it's more user-friendly for non-techie people like him.

If you're a business person like Jerry, here are 3 questions to ask before you decide on a blogging platform/provider:

1. Is the blogging platform easy for non-tech savvy people to use on their own?
2. Are there tutorials available to explain how to set up and maintain the blog?
3. Is there tech-support if you have questions?

Now Jerry is starting over with Typepad, because it will suit his needs better.

I hate to see people rush into a choosing a blogging platform because their web person uses and likes WordPress. Web savvy people love WordPress, but they may not appreciate that everybody's not as comfortable with software and plugins and HTML as they are.

Related Post:
Typepad, We Love You! Here's why...
(be sure to read the comments on this post to get a balanced perspective)

Comments

[Bruce]

I like typepad and have a blog on it. I don't like the fact that if you have more than one you can't map each one, only the first one. Am I wrong on this?

[Denise aka The Blog Squad]

For Bruce: this is not correct. I did answer this question for you on the Blogging and Beyond Forum, but here it is for others:

All of my blogs (10) are on the same account and they're all mapped to different domains through godaddy.

You map on godaddy to the main Typepad URL: myblog.typepad.com

Then on TypePad, you select the specific blog on your account you want to map. See step 4 on the tutorial. You map a blog, NOT your site.

In the left sidebar of this blog there is a link to our free tutorial on domain mapping a TypePad blog.

[Jeanne May]

I began posting comments on blogs long before I decided on typepad -- and trying to post on different kinds platforms made the choice easier for me as to which platform I would finally choose to house my blog. I am so not techie (I can identify with you Patsi on that one!)... but leaving comments on some platforms -- you needed to be a rocket scientist! I don't want that for me nor my readers!

hmmmm

Jeanne