The first step in creating a fantastic blog is selecting the best platform, and there are really just a few that are worth thinking about.
Here are the top five choices, together with a guide to assist you in selecting the one that is most suitable for you.
Use WordPress, Wix, or SquareSpace for your blog if you want to make money from it. Your site and everything on it will be completely under your control.
For connecting with people and starting a side blog, use Medium or LinkedIn. They are free, but you have little control over how your site appears and there isn’t much opportunity for earning money.
What is so fantastic about these blogging platforms? Where might they fit in better? We spoke with frequent users of each site to see where these platforms shine and where they fall short.
WordPress
WordPress is the most widely used blogging platform, and for good reason. You only need to pay for hosting; it is free.
Because Hostinger offers the greatest value for a straightforward setup, we suggest it for WordPress hosting. With Hostinger, you can have a WordPress site up and running quickly.
For bloggers who want to develop a website for their business, it’s a fully flexible content management system (CMS). It’s also excellent if you intend to grow your site to make money.
The cause? WordPress is available for free. That implies that they disclose their source code. WordPress blogs can be customized using widgets, plugins, and other tools made by developers, allowing you to create whatever kind of site you choose.
Nevertheless, there is a small learning curve. You’ll need to be more hands-on with the plugins and widgets you select and the backend management to get the most out of WordPress’ customizability.
WordPress is incredibly user-friendly, so if you run into a problem, all you need to do is Google it or look it up on YouTube.
The trade-off is certainly worth it because you can have a wonderful website that is completely tailored to your exact requirements. That is why it is ideal for building a website that is ready for audience expansion and financial success.
You can use WordPress to advertise products for other people in order to increase sales. Once the user’s readership grows sufficiently, one is able to monetize the site utilizing affiliate marketing in addition to information products like e-books and mini-courses.
You will be able to locate whatever option you want to include on your site thanks to the enormous number of plugins and the flexibility of your site’s customization. You can keep changing your website to fit your audience’s growth as your blog and readership do and the adaptability to make adjustments as necessary.
Wix
This is the best platform for newbies to create a professional blog. Wix provides newcomers with a solution to make their blogs appear professionally created without them having to learn any coding or web development.
In reality, the platform received great grades for usability. It is as simple as it can get for individuals without an experience in coding, one easily built their website without encountering any onerous limitations.
It has a drag-and-drop editor’s user-friendly interface (UI) and facilities for making custom layouts and designs.
They provide hundreds of templates for a wide range of website topics. For instance, they provide designs for photo galleries, straightforward portfolios, and vacation blogs. We adore the fact that moving elements around and building the blog of your dreams don’t require any coding expertise.
However, you may easily leave the bulk of the grunt work to Wix’s ADI builder. By simply responding to a few questions, this application uses artificial intelligence to assist you in creating the precise website you desire.
A staff of security experts is on duty 24/7 to monitor the Wix ecosystem for potential cyber threats, and whether security or dependability are issues, Wix nails both with a strong 99.98 percent uptime rating. With all of this protection, you can concentrate solely on producing excellent blog material.
Best Blog Builder for Artists and Designers: Squarespace
When I visit a Squarespace site, the first thing I notice is how attractive it usually is.
Graphic designs and photography appear to jump off the screen. The blog owners themselves always seem to have an artistic bent, including home decor specialists, graphic designers, illustrators, and photographers.
A website design specialist who teaches readers how to create beautiful websites, a gardening influencer who routinely publishes mouthwatering photographs of his homegrown vegetables, and an interior designer who enjoys showing off their room ideas in gallery postings made up this group. And they all selected Squarespace as their platform for a reason.
Best for Networking: LinkedIn
You may reach business professionals of all stripes on LinkedIn, including those in HR, digital marketing, finance, technology, and other fields.
Many of them are very active on the platform, constantly exchanging articles and thought leadership via their LinkedIn feeds.
Therefore, the LinkedIn audience is your main target if you’re interested in positioning yourself as an influencer or thought leader in your industry.
A business blogger would only dream of developing the platform’s culture and set of expectations on their own website. To gain a following, your challenge is to produce content that is interesting and worthy of sharing.
LinkedIn is a social network after all. In direct proportion to the size of your network, your influence increases. You’ll receive more connection requests and followers as you write more frequently.
Since it’s a social network for experts in the business, it’s a terrific way to connect with prospects and get quick feedback on your articles from colleagues. You have the chance to present your thought leadership to everyone, including potential clients and consumers, recruiters, and industry influencers.
Additionally, you can convert your viewers into clients and partners.
An individual can use LinkedIn blogging to build an audience and establish important networking connections.
Although it might be painfully obvious, few individuals are aware that the platform can be quite profitable if you’re in business. Most of the people on LinkedIn make six figures or more. They are members of the C-Suite. They are leaders in their fields who aspire to invent and create enduring companies.
And to the proper person who can lead them there, they are prepared to pay a premium.
Writing to a Built-In Audience: Medium Is Best
One of the most divisive platforms out there, and undoubtedly the most contentious on our list, is Medium. Bloggers who specialize in creating specialty content for readers call it home. Additionally, you can find some of the most provocative, enraging information there.
The built-in readerships of Medium are what really set it apart for writers. People may search through a huge library of publications and themes to find your blog, subscribe to it with just one click, and even choose to have new blog entries delivered directly to their email inbox. Writers have the option of publishing their work under their own names, the names of publications they own and operate, or by submitting it to publications for a chance to be published on other Medium blogs and reach a larger audience.
One user described it as “just plugging and chugging and going.” It’s simple to get started and attract an audience even if you have no prior writing expertise.
Many users find it appealing to be able to access a large readership, especially after having a less than ideal experience on another site on this list. Not needing to try to build traffic to your own independent website is one of Medium’s biggest draws.
Through the Medium Partner Program, Medium also provides you with the option to receive payment for your writing. As a result, authors can receive payment for their efforts based on how many people read and interact with their content.
Although Medium is keen to remind us that only 7% of bloggers make more than $100 each year, others regularly earn six figures from their writings. All of this makes it a wonderful platform if you want to find and grow a following of readers who enjoy your work while also earning some side money.
Medium Blogging
On Medium, there are primarily two ways to blog:
- To your own publication, first, publish. This entails making your own Medium publication page, which may be tailored to any topic you choose. After that, you create material that is intended only for that page. The quickest route to immediate publication is through here.
- Submit articles to other magazines. When you compose an essay with the intention of having it posted on another Medium blog, this is what you’re doing. While this is an excellent approach to reaching the readers of a well-known newspaper, it does require that you prepare a whole piece in advance with no assurance that it will be accepted for publication. However, keep in mind that you can still publish your post on your own page or publication if it is NOT accepted by a publisher.
You may start writing a Medium post right away by clicking “Write a Story.” The dashboard is fairly simple to use because it resembles WordPress’s Gutenberg editor. When you’re done, click “publish” and a few tags to make it public.
A smart strategy to reach audiences is through submitting to other magazines. You’ll be writing on spec, though. Additionally, there’s a potential they’ll completely reject your article.
Making your own Medium publication is a great substitute for it, in my opinion.
This provides you the choice to accept submissions and add additional authors and editors to your blog. With little work on your part, this can really assist in filling out your editorial calendar so you can access a stream of information for your audience.
One of the panelists really played a key role in founding The Writing Cooperative, one of Medium’s biggest and most well-known blogs. They actually boast over 226,000 site followers at the moment and post numerous times per day.
2014 saw the launch of The Writing Cooperative on Medium. In certain ways, we’ve developed with the platform, according to co-founder Justin Cox. In user feeds, The Writing Cooperative’s material is frequently recommended, which is a terrific method to expand an audience.
Justin continued by stating that although he and his co-founder do not make a living from the Writing Cooperative, they are able to do so by starting a coaching program for their community and creating a Patreon for the publication. He continued, “Everything we do is intended to assist and inspire writers.
When you start a publication, you also have the choice to accept submissions from other authors. That might be a really excellent way to expand your blog and interact with more readers.
How to Select the Products for Review?
By concentrating on four crucial characteristics, we selected our top five blogging platforms:
- Simple Learning Curve
- Customization that caters to niches
- Tools for building audiences
- Profitability
Using the four factors mentioned above as a standard, we looked into dozens of the most well-known and influential blog builders and platforms.
The “lighter” research used in this step varied depending on the platform. We made accounts and developed easy test blog pages. Additionally, if the site offered payment plans, we examined all of its features and functions.
The Best Blog Sites and Blogging Platforms in Brief
Your final decision on a blogging platform will be based on your particular demands. I can understand why Wix could appeal to certain people as the simplest drag-and-drop blogging platform. But if you want to make the most of your writing experience, WordPress provides everything you need.
In Summary
There are a variety of different blogging platforms and sites to choose from, but the best one for you will depend on your individual needs. In this article, we’ve outlined the pros and cons of some of the most popular platforms and given a brief overview of the best ones. So before making a decision, be sure to evaluate what’s important to you and then try out a few of the platforms to see which feels best.