This post is a part of PinoyBlogero’s “Starting out a New Blog” Series. The said series contains step by step tips and guides in helping bloggers create a new blog.

Yesterday, I have given a brief overview of the two types of blog platforms and their differences from one another. Today, I will be laying out the advantages and disadvantages of both blog platforms in order for you to have a better understanding of what to choose when thinking of building a new blog.

In the red corner, Hosted Blog Platform!
*applause*

Pros

• Easy on the pocket – Hosted blog platforms are known to be easy on a blogger’s budget because they offer their services for a small fee or at no cost at all.
• Easy setup – Hosted blogs are relatively easy to set up. All you have to do is to sign up, fill out a few details, after a few minutes, you are ready to blog!
• Worry free – The great thing about hosted blog platforms is that they really do justice to the term “easy blogging”. Everything is already taken care of, no need to worry about hosting issues or other stuffs.
• Easy to pick up – No use for help manuals here, managing a blog is made easy because of the user-friendly features that most hosted blog platforms have.
• Customer Service – If ever you get into trouble or in need of assistance, hosted blog platforms often have a help desk or a forum to help you with your problem.
• Automatic updates – Whenever a minor or a major update is released by a hosted blogging platform, all the blogs under it are updated automatically. No need to manually install anything.

Cons

• Less control – Because every aspect of your blog is handled by hosted blog platforms, bloggers find themselves having no full control over their blogs.
• Limited design customization features – Blog design customization is usually difficult on most hosted blog platforms. Some are forced to go with the default pre-designed layouts with limited design customization features. Because of this, it would be rather difficult to set your blog from the other blogs hosted on the same blog platform.
• Restrictions – Availing a service of a hosted blog platform often has a Terms of Agreement in which bloggers are presented with a set of rules and restrictions to follow. There are lots of restricionts with hosted blog platforms. One example is in Wordpress.com where blogs are not allowed to place ads or any money making schemes on their blog.
• Limited features – Most hosted blog platforms are not available for open source programming. It means that they do not allow people to create plugins or programs for the blog platform unless given permission. This is the reason why hosted blog platforms usually have limited features.
• Generic URL – Blogs under a hosted blog platform ends up having a subdomain or a directory name as their blog’s URL. Having a generic URL like http://yourblogname.blogspot.com is very long and hard to remember, making it seem unprofessional.

In the blue corner, Stand Alone Blog Platform!
*applause*

Pros

• Maximum control – The best thing about stand alone blog platforms is that you are in charge of everything. From the hosting, the domain, the look of your blog, the blog platform you are going to use, everything!
• No restrictions – Because the whole blog is under your control, you are not subjected to restrictions that hosted blog platforms has. This means, you can do anything that you want with your blog!
• Open sourced - Most stand alone blog platforms are often open source, meaning they allow programmers to create programs or plugins to the blog platforms. This opens up additional features and options that bloggers can use on their blogs.
• Personalized URL - Aside from getting your own host, you are also required to get your own domain name, which is a good thing. Your blog will be more professional and easier to remember.

Cons

• Very complicated – Because you’ll have full control over your blog, things get very complicated. Unless you are knowledgeable on advanced technical stuffs, things would be a little difficult.
• Difficult Set-up – Stand alone blogs are very difficult to set up because you are going to build it from the ground up. If a hosted blog platform only takes 5 minutes for you to blog, stand alone blog platforms usually takes months of planning and development.
• Expenses – Stand alone blog platforms requires users to look for their own webhost and domain that they have to pay on a timely basis. Sooner or later, users will be prompted to upgrade hosting plans to accommodate growing traffic.
• No customer service – If ever you get into trouble with your blog you don’t have any choice but to fix it yourself. Still, you could still ask for support or help from your webhost or on the help forum of the blog platform you are using.
• Manual Updates – Stand alone blogs usually update from time to time to further improve their products and to fix any bugs or security issues on a current version of the blog platform. It is a head-aching job because you need to install every update manually while making sure that every thing stays intact.

And the winner is…
Now that I have finished laying out the different pros and cons of the two types of blog platforms, I bet you are wondering which blog platform is best among the two.

Well, that decision is for you to decide.

You see, choosing a blog platform greatly depends upon your own preferences and the nature of the blog that you are planning to build.

If you are a newbie blogger who are looking for an easy way to engage into blogging without worrying about technical stuffs and such, I suggest signing up for a hosted blog platform. If you are an experienced blogger who are looking for a more professional type of blog that allows full control and hands on approach, then I suggest using a stand alone blog platform.

Either way, you should consider your choice carefully.

Hope this post helps! Happy blogging!

What type of blog platform are you using right now? What blog platform do you prefer? For more tips about blogging directed towards Pinoy bloggers don’t forget to sign up for my feeds!