Blog Beginners advice please?

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Hi all,
I'm planning on starting a blog to waffle about the sewing I do, techniques, tutorials, photos with a view to possibly selling some items further down the line.

I'd like to start a blog but I think I'm getting myself in a pickle with it all.

I'd like my blog to have its own domain name, can anyone recommend a domain host please? I'm scared of signing up with someone dodgy :eek:

And I've narrowed down the blog host to Blogger versus Wordpress, any thoughts between the two?
Blogger seems to be 'easy' and people say is better for generating cash from adverts, Word Press seems to be better with a view to building a website, but can it generate money from ads? I'm getting conflicting answers from t'web.

(Judging by the confusing way I've written this post....should I even be blogging at all.....?!)

bat191

Welcome to blogging!

There are tons of hosting companies out there, but I've always used TSOhost.

The rates are quite cheap and their tech support is second to none. I bought my domain and my web space from them.

I've not used Blogger much, but Wordpress is pretty great

You can include advertising, a lot of themes will include Google Adsense support, and for those that don't there are tons of plugins available.

The simplest thing to do is simply copy the ad code from your ad provider into a widget or the header, that way they always appear and they stay out of the way of your blog posts.

Another forum user recently commented on me putting a lot of links to my blog in my replies, so I'll refrain here, but if you'd like to see what a Wordpress blog can look like then Google "Tech Made Easy".

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Thanks so much Bat191, just what I needed to know.

Your blog looks great and I've liked on facebook

Glad to hear that Wordpress does allow adverts, not sure why people are saying it doesn't on the web?


Now for the big decision...what to call the damn thing!

robt_2

As a beginner I would recommend you use Blogger. It is very simple to use. You can also use your own domain name with it

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Thanks Robt, thats my dilemma, Blogger looks easier for non-techie types like me, but Wordpress seems better at supporting a full website if I ever decide to go down that route in the future.

Everytime I investigate either I get bogged down in looking at themes/styles:o

robt_2

Well you can signup for both and play around with them before deciding which to use

Wordpress is without a doubt more powerful and flexible though.

System

i use wordpress, hosted on my own domain, i only chose it as it seemed pretty straight forward, and it is quite easy to run/keep up to date - have no experience of using blogger so can't comment on what is easier!
I only ever use the online dashboard for seeing stats etc i write posts offline and upload them with blogdesk which is even easier!!

if you want a nosey at mine drop me a pm, it's a bit different to a standard blog tho, so might not appeal to you that much

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Thanks the_r_sole & Robt, yes think I'll sign up for both and see which suits me better. I seem to already have a blogger account because I have a google account.

I'll look at blogdesk too, was anticipating writing my blogs in Word and uploading them, but don't know if this is normal?

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OK I've just confused myself even more

I've just realised there's wordpress.org and wordpress.com
Are they the same thing as they look different? And which is the one to use?

Blogpress looks good but I'm adroid rather than I-phone, will see if there's a comparable app ta

System

blogdesk - a program for your pc - there is a wordpress app for android but can't imagine using my phone for writing posts...
http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/ i think you will probably want to use .org on your own server as i think .com won't support your own ads

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Ahhh that must be why I keep reading that Wordpress doesn't support ads, its the .com version, but the .org version does.

Thanks for the PC programme, no you're right I prob won't use my phone to write blogs