So you’ve decided to start a blog! Get ready to join the millions who have chosen this method of promoting their business, showcasing their expertise, sharing their opinions, or keeping friends and family up to date. There are a number of blogging platforms available, but the most popular by far are Blogger and WordPress. For the purposes of today’s post, I will assume that you’ve decided to go with WordPress. (If you don’t know why I feel this is the better choice, please note that in the Comments, and I’ll be happy to cover that topic in the future.) After deciding upon WordPress, you may have noticed that there are two official WordPress websites and wondering which one you should be using. Today I will outline the differences.

WordPress.com can be described as an all-in-one solution. You can go to the site, sign up, and you’re set to go. Your blog will be hosted on their site with an address like yourusername.wordpress.com, and there are lots of themes to choose from, so you don’t have to worry about your blog looking like everyone else’s. All of this is free, but you will have to pay for the ability to customize your theme or use your own domain name, i.e., www.yourusername.com, if you require more than 3GB of storage, or if you want to block all advertising.

Because they’re hosting your blog on their server, WordPress has the right to determine the type of content you can have on your blog, and to delete it without warning if they consider it a “spam blog.” This happened to one of my clients who posted articles written by other experts in her field, even though she had permission from all of the authors to use their work.

Most people want more flexibility than is offered by WordPress.com, and that is where WordPress.org comes in. Where WordPress.com is a fully functional blogging website, WordPress.org offers blogging software that is installed on your own web hosting account. Many hosting services include WordPress as a click-to-install feature, so if you are purchasing a hosting service specifically for your WordPress blog, it’s a good idea to check that they offer this feature, and that the version they use is fairly current. For example, the latest version is 2.6.2 but there is at least one hosting company out there who is only running version 2.0. It’s important to keep up-to-date, not just because of new bells and whistles, but because of important security enhancements.

One advantage is that you can have your blog hosted in the same place as your business website, so instead of having to purchase an additional domain name, e.g., www.myblog.com, you can simply use www.mywebsite.com/blog. If you prefer, you can have your blog and website hosted together yet each have its own domain name, or of course, you can have your blog hosted somewhere else altogether.

Another advantage is that when you host your own WordPress blog, you’re not restricted in terms of your content, so if you want to set up an article directory like OrganizedArticles.com, you don’t have to worry about it being shut down.

The greatest benefit is that you’re not restricted to the 60 or so themes that are offered at WordPress.com. There are hundreds (or possibly thousands) of free themes available as well as premium themes that you can purchase. Most themes can be customized to suit your needs, and you can even design your own theme or have one designed for you. In addition, there are hundreds of plug-ins available to give your blog added features and functions.

Do you already have a blog? What blogging platform do you use, and why?