A ‘blog’ is short for weblog. A weblog is a website, that is like a journal- sort of. Businesses can also use blogs. They can use blogs to easily publish their news, or advertise new products. Newspapers, and magazines also are using blogs.

Blogs are becoming more and more popular. Anyone can start a blog. Blogs can be very easy to create, if you are using the right tool. So many people are starting to turn to blogs to publish their news and advertise, because it is so easy. Also, so many people are just starting a personal blog, to share their thoughts, or showcase things like web templates, music, or other graphics or downloads.

Blogging is so easy. Anyone can start blogging right now. There are tonnes of free blogging services, and web hosts deticated just to blogs.

Also, if you want to purchase webhosting, like I am for both my blogs/sites, you can. But, when you buy webhosting, and a domain name, your server does not come with a blog already on it. You need to find the right blogging platform/publishing system that is right for you.

I can help a little bit with the stuff above. First, if you want to start blogging right away, with no domain, and want a free service, here are some:

• Blogger- a google run free blogging service, great for beginners.
• Yahoo 360- a yahoo run free blogging service. Very basic.
• WordPress.com- The #1 best free blogging service, tonnes of great features, just like WordPress. WordPress.com also has a domain name mapping feature, so you can use your own domain on your free blog. NO ADS, POPUPS or anything!
• Vox- a free blogging service- Personal blogging taken to the next level.
• Live Journal- A diverse community of independent bloggers.
• …And a whole lot more!

Now, here are some payed blogging tools.

• Typepad- run by Sixapart. Typepad is like the fully set up and ready version of Movabletype. Choose from Three plans. You can also use your own domain name. 30 day trial available.
• Live Journal- Live Journal can be free, and you can also have payed upgrades.

Here now are some web hosting services, that I think are great for hosting a personal site/blog, or two. These are payed hosting services, and if you want to buy them and set up a personal site, or a small buisiness site, these would be great for that too. If you are focusing on a blog, you will have to find the blogging platform that is right for you, which I will also help you with.

Small Business, and Personal site hosting services:

• Freehostia- great webhost! Free plan is available, but if you want to host more than one blog, you should definately upgrade to a payed service, but free plan is good too. Hosting for one domain name of free account, or up to ten domains hosted on their Xtra pack. Xtra is $9.95/mo, 10, 000 MB space. MySQL Database (database required for all blog publishing systems- you will need that), you get a free domain with this pack. I use the $5.95/mo for my Movabletype powered blog/site officiallyshane.org. Great service, and is affordable.
• Geekhosting- Geekhosting is also a really good host- Cpanel hosting. I use the Mini Geek Plus ($ 3.95/mo) great service, fast, almost no downtime. Supports platforms: WordPress, Pmachine, and B2Evolution. Does not support Movable Type or Greymatter.
• Blogs About- Blogs About is a hosting service dedicated to blogs. Free WordPress installation- and hosting for other platforms. Ewebscapes is the Blog design division of Blogs About. Hosting starting at $10.00/mo
• Siteground- Site ground offers hosting for all blog platforms! unlimited my sql and subdomains. Free Domain name included- all starting at $4.95/mo. Great Support.
• AN Hosting- A great webhost. On the WordPress hosting list. Starting at $6.95/mo

Okay, now that I have given you some affordable, and really good (in my opinion) web hosting services, it’s time to actually pick the Blogging/Publishing Platform that you are going to use to power and maintain your Weblog.

I’m going to help you choose some.

Publishing and Blogging Platforms: (all Free- except Movable Type with Multi Users and Extra Support)

• Movable Type is a Publishing Platform for bloggers who want to have Multiple Blogs on one installation of Movable Type. Movabletype is also the #1 choice for buisnesses. Movable Type is quite easy to Learn. I Have a Movable Type blog- Officiallyshane.org, and I also have another blog on the same installation- my Travel Journal. You can add unlimited blogs with the click of a mouse. Installation is pretty easy- it may be harder for some, but there are so many tutorials out there on how to install it. I will be posting a tutorial about that too, sometime in the future. For now, here is some instructions on how to install it on your web host. It was easy for me, with a lot of times trying over and over again, I finally got it. It can run on four different databases: BerkeleyDB, MySQL, SQLit, and PostgreSQL. Most webhosts offer MySQL. Movable Type enterprise is also available for big company blogs. For full support, for a year, and 10 users on your blog it costs $279.95. If cut down the number of users, it gets less and less expensive. Click Here to see the price List. If you only want one user, and want MT for personal blogging, but no support, it is free, which is good, but you don’t get any support from Six Apart. Movable Type is a great blogging tool.
• WordPress is another really good blogging tool. It’s what is powering this site right now. With a static frontpage plugin, or a special template wordpress can be used as a full Content Management system. Add new webpages with a single click. Visual Rich text editor. Resize images, and upload right in the posting panel. It’s super easy to post, write webpages, and add categories. Comment moderation, Private posts and more. There are so many plugins and themes for WordPress. WordPress is more than a blog tool. It’s a little bit easier to install than Movable Type. I really like WordPress, it’s great for beginners, or anyone!
• I don’t have experience with Greymatter, but I hear it’s a good blogging tool. Easy to use. It’s uses a template based design. To customize templates, all you need to know is CSS, and HTML. Greymatter is another great tool, and I will be sure to try it out one day on one of my test websites.
• B2 Evolution is another great blogging tool. I don’t have much experience with this, but It’s really good. Create multiple blogs on one installation.

Okay!! I think that’s enough for now! (This is the longest post I’ve written on Shanebellinger.com!!) I hope you consider blogging! It’s really good to share your thoughts with the world… Instantly. Please consider it.

I will be back another day with some more info on blogging, and hosting. I will be writing some tutorials on how to use some of the blogging platforms, and install them on your hosting account. I hope to make it easier for you!

I will also help you a bit more on choosing a free blogging service, a payed blogging service, or if you should buy web site hosting and start a personal website or install a blogging platform, and start a blog that way. I will also put out some tutorials on how to customize, or even make your own templates/themes in WordPress and Movable Type.

That’s all for today! More coming soon!