The following table lists the best blog hosts available to date. If you haven't visited these sites yet, surf over and examine their features; then step through the process of building a blog. Features of note for each blog host also appear in the table.
You may encounter terms in the table you've never seen or heard before, such as RSS. These terms are explained in the glossary.
The Best Blog Hosting Sites | | |
|---|
Name | URL | Best Features |
|---|
Blogger | http://www.blogger.com | Blog by email.
create audio blogs by calling Blogger.com.
Upload photos from the road using Blogger's Mobile Blogging feature.
Post from Microsoft Word using a Blogger.com plug-in.
Post from Picasa (Google's free image editing program) or from Flickr.com.
Post in your native language and character set. |
TypePad | http://www.typepad.com/splash | Leverage RSS and Atom feeds.
Full podcasting compatibility.
Mobile blogging by cell phone.
Categorize archived posts. |
LiveJournal | http://www.livejournal.com | View your friends' blogs from the Friends page (built-in aggregator).
Join or create a community for public posting.
Search blogs by city, state, country, and age.
Text message your LiveJournal friends without knowing their number.
Create subgroups of friends for private blog access.
Tag posts with keywords.
Archive and export your journal (blog). |
Yahoo! 360 | http://www.360.yahoo.com | "Blast" feature allows quick communication.
Attach Yahoo! Photo albums directly to your blog.
Review local businesses.
Linked friends appear with images.
Create lists of favorite movies, countries, eventsall linked.
Show your Yahoo! Groups memberships. |
MSN Spaces | http://www.spaces.msn.com | MSN Filter aggregates decent blogs for you.
Mobile blogging by cell phone.
MSN screensaver.
Integrated MSN Messenger and Hotmail. |
Weblogs.us | http://www.weblogs.us | Free 2GB database space.
Free WordPress.org software hosting. |
BlogHarbor | http://www.blogharbor.com | 1GB disk space and 2GB bandwidth.
Slideshow feature for your photos.
Built-in Webstats for monitoring visitors.
RSS & Secure RSS.
Trackbacks.
Organize posts by category.
Import/Export from Blogger or Movable Type/Typepad.
Create and add polls and surveys to your site. |
supersized.org | http://www.supersized.org | WYSIWYG editor.
Visual Category editor.
Search for and filter media.
Resize and rename images.
Create directories for and upload media.
Antispam plug-in and other sidebar plug-ins available. |
BlogSpirit | http://www.blogspirit.com/en/index.php | Email blogging.
Private (password-protected) areas for family, events.
Public/Private file manager.
Contact lists and photo albums.
Online stats and traffic monitoring. |
xanga.com | http://www.xanga.com | Search xanga blogs.
"eprops"a quick way to comment and connect.
xTools editing button that attaches to your browser.
Protected posts for other Xanga members.
Instant updates by subscription from other Xanga blogs. |
Bloxster | http://www.bloxster.net/portal.php | Friends only access.
RSS feeds.
Mailing lists.
Permanent links (permalinks).
Time zone support.
Attach keywords to posts. |
Blogexplosion | http://www.blogexplosion.com | Add multiple blogs.
Promote your blog with banners.
Blog reviews and blog traffic statistics.
Real-time chat with BlogExplosion Shoutbox.
Add your podcast.
Post a question to the Knowledge Directory. |
MySpace | http://www.myspace.com/ | Invite friends to your personal network.
Create a community of friends.
Family tree map for your blog.
Classmate finder.
Professional networking (search) feature using arts-related categories. |
faces.com | http://www.faces.com | Upload photos by email, by cell phone, or with QuickUpload.
Software to create online scrapbooks and print layouts.
Create slideshows.
Free chat service. |
easyjournal | http://www.easyjournal.com | Private messaging.
Password-protect blog posts.
Comment management.
RSS and Atom support.
Advanced support for style-conscious bloggers.
Visitor statistics. |
blog.co.uk | http://www.blog.co.uk/main | Spam filter included.
Income potential for high-traffic sites.
Trackbacks.
Mobile blogging.
Up to five authors.
Rights individually assignable.
Search engine optimized HTML. |
Blog-City | http://www.blog-city.com/bc | Responsive support.
Large community of bloggers.
Detailed search engine: Search by specific criteria in a blogger's profile.
Create a detailed profile; then join others with similar interests. |
Blogigo | http://www.blogigo.co.uk | Categorize blogrolls.
Create polls and surveys.
Modify HTML/CSS template.
Link to audio/video.
Blogigo guestbook available. |
we::blog | http://www.danchan.com/weblog | Syndicate your blog.
Advanced comment features such as comments of comments (parent/children/grandchildren). |
eBloggy | http://www.ebloggy.com | Point and click link management.
Point and click template editor.
Group blogs.
Blogger template support. |
Blogdrive | http://www.blogdrive.com | Real-time interaction with other bloggers.
Multiple blogs allowed.
Create quizzes for your readers.
Multiple authors with different levels of access.
Tag board for readers to leave URLs and email addresses.
Remove comment capability by post.
Archive calendar for older posts.
Mini-Meditor allows posting while on other pages. |
tBLOG | http://www.tblog.com | Earn tbucks to spend in the tstore.
tblog calendar provides easy Google/search engine indexing.
Add real-time chat to your blog with chatterbox. |
DiaryLand | http://www.diaryland.com | Password-protect blog option.
Free email address (yourusername@diaryland.com) that forwards to your real email (provides privacy).
Add a guestbook.
Notify a number of users when a post occurs.
Real-time chat. |
BlogHI | http://bloghi.com | WYSIWYG editor for posting.
Easy setup.
Change language and time zone.
RSS feed/syndicate your site.
Trackbacks.
Archive posts by category.
Ping major blog sites whenever you post. |
blogsource | http://www.blogsource.com | Comment spam filtering.
Add tags to posts.
Multiple authors on one blog.
RSS and Atom support. |
Finished! Yes, it is that simple. Now you just need to post from your blog.
If you see a lot of lingo that doesn't make any sense during the blog building process, do not worry. Terms will be explained in this chapter.
Most of the best blog hosts are free, and they're easy to work with. This is why blogs have become so popular. You can create a web "site" with zero knowledge of HTML or programming. The hard part is filling it with interesting ideas, which is discussed a little later in the section "Writing Your Posts."
