What are the best blog solutions for a website?

[skcin7]

Hello friends. I am getting ready to install a blog onto my personal website. However, I am unsure about the best solution and potential pitfalls. I want blog software where I can post tech related articles based on my own research, and share them for all to see. I would like for it to work well with SEO and allow readers to post comments. For the record, my website can be found here: http://www.nicholas-morgan.com/

I would greatly prefer to write my own software. Wouldn't be too difficult with PHP and JavaScript, but it would still take a lot of time to make sure it's perfect. However, I worry that this may not be the best solution, and it may just be a better idea to use an existing piece of software, such as a Wordpress. I was wondering what are the pros and cons of writing and using an existing blog software and what the best ones are for this type of thing, and if it would be worth it to create my own custom one.

I searched Google a little bit but I feel like many of the answers I receive have been "dumbed down" and I would rather ask a community such as this that knows what they are doing.

Thank you for reading and (hopefully) your input.

[embeebutterly]

personally i hate wordpress, i hate its restrictions, i hate that every blog i go on looks the same in a different colour, but just a few weeks ago i started using it!

Not for any other reason other than quick setup, and ease of use. my blog is not really designed for public viewing, but i must admit it has made a drastic improvement to my seo.

My blog is far from the main focal point of my site, its a tiny side thing that as i said was intended for Bots.

If it was me, and i was looking for something that i can have up and running in 5 mins. Wanted something that would easily connect with facebook etc, i would use wordpress

if the main point of my site was my blog, and wanted to seriously put my own stamp on it knowing i was able to, i would work on something of my own! I found meta tags, og for example etc were just a pain in the *** and i prefer the freedom and excitement of creating something from scratch!

II know i gave you know facts, just my opinion, but maybe it will hit home something with you.

Good luck!

[DanielD]

I wrote my own PHP site before, but in the end I went for wordpress for most of my blogs because it's just easier and hassle free. Unless your site requires more specific functions, I wouldn't waste my time coding my own. Besides, wordpress are pretty customizable.

[justjoshhere]

"personally i hate wordpress, i hate its restrictions, i hate that every blog i go on looks the same in a different colour"

I know what you mean embee but many people that use WP are boring and unimaginative hence the "seen one, seen em all" syndrome.

Truth is that WP is fairly customizable and with a little nouse, imagination and elbow grease you can come up with a lean, mean and original looking blog machine

Sounds like the OP definitely has what it takes if he decides to go that route, I encourage you to give it a try mate rather than reinventing the wheel so to speak...

[devonssmart]

I like Wordpress. Wordpress is User Friendly and also Search Engine Friendly.

You don’t really have to be experienced to use WP on your website. Nowadays most of the hosting companies provide the ability to install WP on your site at a single click of the mouse.

WP provides good search engine optimization (SEO) and Matt Cutts says WP is “made to do SEO well” in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gscFgaMTm48

[skcin7]

Thanks y'all for the suggestions. Yeah I am strongly considering a Wordpress. I kinda hate the idea of using a Wordpress but I know it is soooooooooo good with SEO which is extremely important to me. Perhaps it would be a bad idea to try and re-invent the wheel when my time could be better focused on creating great content.

One other solution I have been toying with is using github-pages. Somebody told me on another forum that you can create an account and add a repository that is the same as your username, then you set up a CNAME record (which you point your DNS to as well). According to him, "the beauty of it, is the pages are static, super-fast. No problems if you ever get HN'd, TechCrunched, Reddited."

I'm not sure. I really think Word Press would be best in terms of SEO, and I imagine there are numerous plugins to accept comments from people who have accounts on places like Twitter, Facebook, etc., so the users wouldn't be required to register for an account.

[dotnetmind]

Best blogger software

Most used softwares:

1. Wordpress
2. Blogger
3. Blogengine

[nicole_anderson]

SEO specialists mostly use Wordpress blog platform for it is search engine friendly and easy to navigate..

[homegyms]

Hi,

I use WP for all my sites. If you can make one site that you like, you can duplicate it many times using a program like wptwin. You can make a site look just like a sales page or limited sidebars. There are many wp templates to choose from.

Thanks,

Fern