Blogging platforms are the most important concern for budding bloggers. Blogging is an excellent way for the world to stay connected. People blog about different topics. Blogs can be used to express your passion for hobbies, for personal level connections, business promotions, etc. There are various blogging platforms where people can begin their blogging experience. Here, we are listing a few of those widely used platforms.
Blogging includes text content and image post. However, the content matter more as far as blogs are concerned. Any infographic or image content should be explained with brief content.
The first step towards blogging is choosing the right platform to highlight it. You would need a platform that is easy to use with enough customization tools available within it. Customizations help you to connect with your audience on personal levels and hence have better interactions with your blog.
If you were a beginner with no prior coding knowledge, you would like to choose a platform that keeps the HTML and CSS codes at bay. You should definitely choose a platform that caters to the beginners. However, if you have experimented with blogging, then options with coding would be best for you.
In addition, it is your duty as a blogger to choose if you want the paid versions (plugins) available with the chosen platforms or just go with the free basic version. It all depends on what you intend to deliver through your blog to your targeted audience and monetization returns expected from the blog.
However, there are platforms that support free and paid versions that you can use and switch between when your audience starts adopting your blog as you like. The evaluation criterion for blogging is based on your skill levels as a coder or as a blogger. Here we list some of the pros and cons of a few blogging platforms people have readily adopted.
WordPress.org is the world’s most popular open source blogging platform. It powers more than 40% of websites currently on the internet. Introduced in 2003 and continues to run as a favorite among the bloggers as it can be easily integrated with their websites. WordPress.org being an open-source platform allows one to set up sites and blogs in minutes.
WordPress.org allows you to install your own custom plugins and themes to make your blog look just as you like. You will need to find your own web host, perform routine backups, and maintain the blog on your own to use this platform for your blog.
For business related blogs, Drupal is a great option because it is not just a blogging platform, but also a complete content management system. This means that within this platform you can create and organize web pages and other online content along with your blog.
Drupal does not host user blogs, so bloggers using this platform will have to find their own host somewhere else. In addition, Drupal is not a platform that accommodates beginners readily, so it is better for those upgrading from a free blogging platform than just starting out with Drupal.
Ghost is an open source blogging platform providing an excellent easy to use, simple and clean user experience. It also provides a live preview of your post as you write it so that you can easily correct any errors in writing or coding as you go along. Because of its ease of use, this platform can be great for beginners, but expert bloggers may prefer it because of its interface to other blogging services as well. Ghost’s drawback is that it can be hard to install at first, but once it is done, it can be a great tool for any blogger.
WordPress is one of the Internet’s most popular free blogging platforms. Millions of users like the options it offers to create and maintain simple, free blogs. The platform is free and offers services such as hosting; the ability to have a custom domain, the integration of your blog with social media, and popular features such as comments and polls without plugins being installed. There are also a number of paid upgrades.
The biggest issue with this WordPress release is that there are no options available like custom themes, plugins, and HTML editing. WordPress.com also has a sister site, WordPress.org explained above, which offers many more options for customization.
WordPress.com and WordPress.org are both known for the detailed support provided. Not only do these sites have the standard tutorials to get you started building on these platforms, but WordPress also has a large user community that is more than willing to help a fellow user with common questions and concerns about different aspects of WordPress blogging.
It can be easy to learn this platform quickly with all the information available so you can start customizing your site without too much trouble.
Joomla is another great option for bloggers if you are looking for a full content management system. Though Joomla may have more of a learning curve than WordPress in terms of ease of use, it may be much easier to use than Drupal. Many businesses and large corporations prefer this kind of platform because with a wide range of content options it can give you flexibility.
However, Joomla can be expensive. While the first month is free, depending on the options and upgrades they want, a blogger can be charged anywhere from $ 20-$100 per month. This can be a high cost for many novice bloggers unless the blog is attached to an existing business that generates a profit already.
Medium is one great platform for starting your own blog. It is a place to share thoughts and writings for a wider audience. Medium contains site templates with HTML and CSS customization features that are intended for those who require advanced skills. However, unlike other platforms, Medium has a built-in audience, which makes it feel like both a publisher and a platform.
Medium is a highly recommended free blogging platform for beginners, freelance professionals, and startup owners. It proves to be the best starting point for beginners to the world of blogging. It is easy to use and does not require any prior coding knowledge to start with.
If there is an easy to use platform for beginners, it is Blogger. It’s the best platform for anyone to begin their blogging passion. A user can simply type their content, add photos and publish them with this platform. Blogger also allows users to edit HTML and add blog widgets that are not offered by many beginner blogging sites.
Blogger is a service provided by Google, so users will need a Google account and may find the add ons associated with Google redundant or useless for their blog. It is also one of the blogging platforms from which many budding bloggers begin their blogging passion. However, unfortunately, there are no upgrade options available.
Another great blogging platform for companies that want to keep a blog on their website is Weebly. This platform provides a wide range of user-friendly features including drag and drop options, for those who do not want to learn to code to make minor changes. Since Weebly can be used to blog and build websites, business owners find this platform much easier to use than other platforms where blogs and websites are created separately.
Expert coding options on this platform are also not available. If you are a blogger who wants to change and customize the blog’s HTML or CSS, Weebly makes it difficult to do so because it focuses its services on those who want to create and update a blog quickly without much trouble.
Typepad is a blogging platform that provides a user-friendly interface for bloggers to start and experience blogging. The platform offers a wide range of topics to choose from as well as plugins to make your own blog.
A key drawback to using Typepad is that they host all blogs on their server, so you do not have the option to use your own blog host with the platform. It’s a platform that makes it difficult to edit code because it is aimed at bloggers who, for example, may not be confident in editing HTML code.
Tumblr is a highly popular blogging option for younger audiences. It is easy to use the platform itself. One of Tumblr’s best features is that it focuses on the blogger community. It provides a variety of content sharing and reblogging options.
The downside of blogging on Tumblr is that it is not about text content, but about pictures and GIFs. Visual bloggers are going to love it, but writers might want to use another platform. Bloggers may also lack the idea of reblogging content. Especially if you are blogging material that you want to have full control over copyright and other such protections.
Squarespace is a platform that offers a wide range of options when it comes to customization. The best part of customization is that without knowing how to code, you can change everything. Additionally, it allows your services to be expanded, which is a great option if you use your blog for business.
The downside to Squarespace is that support for theme and plugin is not as great as it might be. Knowledge of code is required if you want these options on Squarespace.
Wix is a platform for building websites, but it can also be used to start a blog. The key feature of Wix is that portable devices support the web pages or blogs you create with the platform. So your readers can easily view your work on their smartphone or tablet.
Wix also provides users a good amount of information and support. It includes email and telephone support for tailored responses to your questions. While Wix offers an easy to use solution, from an SEO perspective it has many negatives.
If you have any blogging requirements, please feel free to contact us.
