A colleague at a local Convention & Visitor Bureau (CVB) recently mentioned that their office wanted to include a blog in their social media strategy, and she wanted my thoughts about which blogging platform they should use.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the most popular blogging platforms, as well as a few up-and-comers, along with some of the benefits and drawbacks of each platform. I’ll just cover free blogging platforms today, there are plenty of other paid platforms, including TypePad and Compendium.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a hosted blogging solution. That means that when you create a WordPress.com blog, your address will look like: YourBlogName.wordpress.com. I switched from Blogger to WordPress.com several years ago as I wanted more control over what my blog looked like.

Here are the WordPress.com features available for bloggers.

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What is a blog?

You’ve no doubt heard about blogs recently and some of you may even have personal blogs that you keep up with. For the uninitiated, blogs are basically websites that can be changed easily and frequently with the most recent content staying at the top of the page. Blogs began in the ‘90s and were officially called “blogs” in 1999. Wow, blogging was born less than 10 years ago!

When they first started, blogs were mainly a place where tech-savvy teens kept an online diary, divulging to the world – or anyone who would read – the intimate details of their lives. However, in the past several years, blogging has become much more mainstream. So much so, that even corporate CEOs (like Craigslist.org‘s Craig Newmark) and enormous companies (Delta Airline‘s – Beneath the Wing Blog) have their own blogs now.

Blogs have evolved into a medium where you can connect with your customers in a much more personal way than standard advertising or even your current website can. Blogs represent the opportunity for two-way communication between you and your customers. You begin by posting about a certain topic and your customers can respond back to you. This kind of open and honest conversation can give your customers a deeper knowledge of your organization and you might even walk away with a good idea or two that has come from your customers.

Below are some examples of travel-related blogs that you should check out:

• HoliBlog – A local example, this is Holiday World‘s blog
• American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) – they have integrated blogs into their website
• Travel 2.0 – Interactive Trend Report – Joint venture between Oregon and Arizona Tourism
• Marketing on the Smart Web – Owner of Buhlerworks, a Tourism Consulting company
• Destination Development Blog -Roger Brooks’ company blog

My next post will talk more about different blogging platforms as well as how and why YOU should be blogging!