This week I decided to ask all artists who have their own art blogs what blogging program they use. Now, I personally use the Wordpress blogging platform (which means paying a small monthly hosting fee) but I know that’s not the case for most art bloggers and I was curious to find out what you all used.
So far, there’s one clear winner—Blogger, Google’s free blogging service.
Here’s the poll as it stands now (feel free to vote if you haven’t yet, or just click “show results” near the bottom.)
Let me do a quick rundown of why I’d guess Blogger is so popular:
1. Blogger is easy to set up, and very quick to get started. You can literally be writing or uploading artwork to your blog within minutes of signing up for your account.
2. No hosting fees. (And no unwanted ads on the sidebar or top of the screen like some “free” blogging services have.) It really is completely free.
3. You can change the template around to personalize your blog. It’s not as customizable as Wordpress or some of the other blogging platforms, but it makes up for that in its ease of use.
I actually tried out Blogger a few years ago myself, but ended up not using it for EmptyEasel because I really wanted to push the envelope with my blog. Wordpress allowed me to do that. (I’d highly suggest Wordpress, by the way, if you’re a compulsive tinkerer or DIY personality—that’s me in a nutshell).
Ultimately, however, I’m just glad artists are blogging, no matter which program they use. I’ve seen firsthand how effective blogs can be and I feel that artists especially can make use of this medium to reach potential art buyers for their work.
And if you just found this post because you’re thinking about starting an art blog yourself, go read 9 reasons every artist should have an art blog or take a look at this list of great art blogs to see what can be accomplished through blogging.