Choosing the best platform is important if you want to build a successful blog. How do you know which blogging platform is best? What should one search for?
If you want to create your own blog, but don't know how to choose the best blogging platform of 2020 to fit you and your needs, please continue reading. I will do my best to help you and I hope you'll get some guidance picking the best blogging platform by taking a look at some of the platforms I believe to be the most popular ones.
Choosing the best platform is important if you want to achieve a successful blog. How do you know which blogging platform is best? What should one search for?
When you are at the beginning, it is essential to look for a blogging platform that doesn't need much experience and is comfortable to work with. With time, your blog will have its growth and at that moment there are some essential steps you need to do in order to grow your audience. In addition, these steps include updating the look of your site and adding more features. Therefore, it's crucial that you opt for a pliable platform with space for its ongoing growth.
Moreover, opting for the best platform is important because if you depart with an inappropriate platform you will have a hard time switching to a different one.
Here are some of the best blogging platforms of 2019 to use and make money for both beginners and advanced bloggers:
1. Wordpress
WordPress is actually one of the top blogging platforms that's generally used by most people, both beginners and experienced. It has two versions available, one of those versions is WordPress.com and the other is WordPress.org, which is a self hosted option. One of the best things about them is that they are both free with open-source content management systems (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. In order to function, it requires installation on a web server which is either part of an International hosting service or a network host in its own right.
Wordpress now "powers" over a fifth of the internet. The reason it is so successful is because, on WordPress.com you can easily create new blogs, free of charge at any time, which also includes a lot of customization.From my perspective, WordPress is one of the best free options for those who are eager to get power, customization and usability.
How famous and important is WordPress?
Well, 60% of the world's websites are based on it, which actually makes it the most famous blogging platform. Not only that it is a great free publishing tool and an easy content management system (CMS), it is also good for everyone from unskilled bloggers to successful ones because it offers a wide range of paid and free custom themes and plugins.Furthermore, as a user you can opt to build a blog at WordPress.com or you can create a self-hosted blog using your own server and domain at WordPress.org (which is highly recommended).
WordPress.org or WordPress.com?
If your goal is to make money blogging, offering freelance services, or turning your blog into a business, then you should be paying for web hosting. With a self-hosted WordPress blog, you can make money by setting up banner ads, selling products, creating online courses, or how ever you want to monetize your blog. Moreover, if you wish to become a successful blogger and have opportunity to earn a solid income blogging, the best way to do that is to start a self-hosted blog, only it needs some investment in hosting. The good news is that you may be able to get a special discount and a free domain.
Pros
- It is flexible, allowing you to run anything on it, from a make-up or fashion blog to an e-commerce store selling all kinds of products
- Has a vast range of customization tools, which means it is perfect for creating plugins and custom themes
- It's reliable because it receives constant updates for its software and security
- Last, but not least WordPress is free and you only have to pay for servers and domain hosts.
- You must host it on your own server and it requires a long term investment in domains and hosting, if you're planning to make money online
- There are times when customization needs some coding, which is a little inconvenient
Conclusion
If you wish to start a blog with a nice, professional design, WordPress offers the some of the best tools. However, there is a learning curve, but once you get used to it you'll be reaching success.Last, but not least, just remember that in order to start making money using WordPress you need to invest a little in hosting and create a self-hosted blog
2. Medium
Medium was set in motion in 2012 by Evan Williams, and is now one of the best online blogging platforms because it's easy to work with.
Furthermore, it is one of Twitter's founders achievements and it offers a full WYSIWYG user interface when editing online, with several options for formatting provided as the user redacts over rich text format.
This platform uses a system named "claps", which is resembled to the "likes" on Facebook, in order to vote articles and stories, named the Tag system, and splits stories into different categories so that the audience can choose the preferred version of the story.
Pros
- Simple to use and doesn't require any installation or coding skills_ Offers the possibility to reach an online community of people with common interests_ All you have to do is focus on writing instead of designing a website* It's free to use
- It owns the audience you have, so if you lose your blog, you lose your followers too_ Running ads to make money is not possible on this platform_ Has very limited features when it comes to design or building your own brand
3. Squarespace
Squarespace was set in motion in January 2004 by Anthony Casalena. It is a website building service that allows you to create nice websites by simply using easy drag and drop tools. Furthermore, it's an integrated website builder, blogging platform, hosting service, commerce platform, and domain name registrar.In addition, another important fact would be that it mainly concentrates on small business owners who are interested in an easy way to create an online presence.
Pros
- Simple and easy to work with, especially for newbies who aren't that tech savvy* It has beautiful professionally designed templates- Separately offers domain name with SSL/HTTPs and eCommerce stores
- It's limited to its built in features- The personal plan restrains you to 20 pages, a blog and 2 contributors* Its integrations are limited to a select few services and tools
4. Blogger
Blogger is a free blog-publishing service that was developed by Pyra Labs in 1999, and then bought by Google in 2003. It is simple to use and a very popular choice.
In addition, it's also a decent free service for blogging that only needs a sign in with your Google ID and you can have your blog up and running in no time. Furthermore, you can also customize it with new themes. The down side of it, is that it's a Google service and they are known for shutting down things that millions of people love using.
Pros
- Easy to use and manage without any technical skills needed_ Allows you to safely store thousands of posts, photos, and more with Google free_ Has the additional advantage of Google's large secure platform and reliability
- It's limited to basic blogging tools and it doesn't allow you to add new features as your blog's popularity grows
- Has limited design options, with fewer templates available and the third party templates are usually low quality
- Doesn't receive updates or new features
- Google is able to suspend your blog at any time or cancel your service altogether
5. Tumblr
Tumblr was made simple and basic so that people can easily create their blog and put what they want on it. For example, GIFs, links, photos, TV shows, stories, dumb jokes, smart jokes, videos, mp3, art, fashion, etc.
It is actually similar to hundreds million different blogs, packed with literally anything. Submitting content to a Tumblr blog from anywhere using decent mobile apps can actually be easily made and it's simple to customize your theme and make it your own. Furthermore, it is also a micro blogging platform with social networking features that include following other blogs, re-blogging, built-in sharing tools, and more.
Pros
- Has an integrated social media component_ Being a micro blogging tool, it make it simple to quickly blog videos, images, GIFs, and audio formats_ It is free and beginner friendly
- Comes with a limited series of features that you cannot expand once your blog grows_ Even though there are many themes available, they don't offer additional features_ It's difficult to back up your blog or import it to other platforms
6. Joomla
Joomla is an open source software content management system, just like WordPress.org, used for developing websites. Through Joomla, users are able to login to the back-end of their websites to manage the content where and when they please.
Moreover, when it comes to capabilities, it is placed in the middle, although it has more complex site development options than WordPress and it's also a self-hosted solution, which means you will need a domain name and web hosting to use it.
Pros
- It's an open-source platform, that allows you to modify and distribute code without worrying about licensing fee
- A compelling, powerful and flexible platform, that can be used to build any kind of website or blog
- Allows you to choose from hundreds of templates to customize your site's design
- It is a complex platform where you don't have to be a developer to use it
- You can add more features because it has extensions available.
- Support options are limited to community support, not to mention paid support is hard to find and can be costly
- Managing your backups, updates, and security is your responsibility
- A bit difficult to incorporate your own custom design without programming experience
7. Live Journal
LiveJournal is special because it blends blogging and social networking and is one of the oldest platforms, because it started in 1999. Therefor, due to its age, it blurs the lines between blogging and social networking.The result is similar to a community that offers you your own space, but that also encourages communal interaction.
Pros
- It is free and you also have the option to sign up for a paid version if you need more features
- It's available in several languages
- You you can blog anonymously on it.
- As a blogging platform, it lacks many features needed for business or professional blogs
- The free version contains adds
- It doesn't have any professional templates.
8. Weebly
Weebly is a web-hosting service, that has free blogging templates. It's a service of drag and drop components, that allows you to create new pages fast and easy.
Furthermore, blogging is also part of it, and it gives you access to various layouts that are customizable, some free themes, and of course, sharing features.
Pros
- It is easy to use and doesn't require any technical skills
- Gives you the option to test the services before buying them
- Contains various kinds of templates
- Its setup is fast and simple.
- Has limited features and no option of adding new ones
- The integration with third party platforms is limited
- The free version contains adds
- Exporting the site can be difficult
- Support over the phone is not available free, only for Pro plans and up.
9. Ghost
The foundation of Ghost was done in April in 2013, coded in Node.js. Also, administered under the MIT License, founded to simplify the operation of online publishing and online publications.
Furthermore, it is an open source platform that has limited features oriented on posts with blog writing. In addition, it has both options accessible, as a hosted platform and as a software that you can install and host.
Pros
- It is free if you download and install it yourself
- You can use the ghost site and only pay on the basis of traffic
- It's a fast platform
- Has limited features that are oriented on posts with blog writing
- You need to be tech savvy in order to work on this platform
10. Cloudfare
Cloudflare was founded in 2009 by Matthew Prince, Lee Holloway, and Michelle Zatlyn and it was launched in 2010.Moreover, it is a content delivery network (CDN), all requests are reverse proxied through Cloudflare with cached content served directly from it.
Pros
- Offers free domain name server (DNS) for all the members that are powered by an anycast network_ Has one of the fastest DNS lookup speeds worldwide
- It has the highest number of connections to Internet exchange points of any network worldwide* It's simple and flexible
- Has simplified user interface, which means the options are very limited
- It lacks plugins
- It's in its beta-testing phase
11. Wix
Wix is a cloud-based web development platform and was founded in 2006 by Israelis Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami and Giora Kaplan.
Furthermore, it provides customizable web site templates and a drag and drop HTML5 web site builder that includes apps, graphics, image galleries, fonts, and other options.
Pros
- Has drag and drop HTML5_ Offers 24/7 support
- It has over 500 site designs to choose from
- It's free of charge
- Easy to use and doesn't require any coding skills
- You are risking to have your site taken down at any moment
- It doesn't allow you to install new features and it requires authorization
- Changing the design of the site later on is not possible
12. Drupal
Drupal was founded in May 2000 and it was designed by Dries Buytaert as a free open source content-management framework written in PHP, using symphony and distributed under the GNU General Public License.Moreover, it has great standard features, like easy content authoring, reliable performance, and excellent security.
Pros
- It's a flexible easy to work with platform
- Perfect for help with structured content
- Has 39,000 free modules, over 2,500 free themes and 1,180 free distributions
- It has drag and drop functionality
- It's difficult to master, so it's not for new users
- Slower than other platforms
- Doesn't work well for custom applications
13. Jekyll
Jekyll was founded by Tom Preston-Werner, Nick Quaranto and Parker Moore, written in Ruby and first launched by Tom Preston-Werner in 2008.Furthermore, it is a simple, blog-aware, static site generator for personal, project, or organization sites, it is flexible and can be used in combination with front-end frameworks such as Bootstrap, Semantic UI and many others.
Pros
- It's simple and flexible
- Allows you to host your blog free on GitHub
- It is fast
- No server maintenance required
- Doesn't have any post scheduling
- Content cannot be dynamically presented
- Has limited plugins and themes
14. Svbtle
Svbtle was founded in 2012 by Denis Curtis and it is a writing and reading network designed from the ground up to work the same way your brain does.Moreover, it provides benefits that aren't usually associated with blogging, like copy-editing and fact-checking, to all members, free.
Pros
- Doesn't require any setup
- Offers markdown support
- Provides an audience
- Gives you a clean writing experience
- It isn't entirely free
- Has limited customization options
- Doesn't have a comments system, you can only communicate via email or Twitter
15. Pen.io
Pen.io was designed by Anthony Feint and it was launched in 2010. It is a fast online publishing platform that allows you to use drag and drop for imaged and all you have to do is choose a URL that no one has claimed, add a password, and start writing.
Pros
- It's effortless to use for writing blog posts* Doesn't require any technicall skills
- Doesn't give you any control over your page on SEO
- It doesn't offer any exposure to your blog
16. Postach.io
Postach.io was founded in 2013 by Shawn Adrian and Gavin Vickery. Moreover, it is a blog platform that uses the external note organizing program "Evernote" to create your blog posts and manage your content.
Pros
- It is free
- Offers markdown support
- Has good themes
- Multimedia support
- It's difficult to modify the order of blog posts once they're submitted
17. Contentful
Contentful was founded by Sascha Konietzke and Paolo Negri in 2012. It an online content management system and development platform, that gives you an API-first, cloud-based platform to power your sites and apps, allowing you to create first-class user experiences.
Pros
- Offers multilingual content support
- Has extensive query filters
- Allows you to create any kind of content template
- It has synchronization
Cons
- Copying entire pages is rather difficult and requires a lot of effort
- The changes you make can take up to a quarter of an hour to appear on the preview pages
Pricing
Contentful has a free plan for up to 3 users, 1000 content entries and 100,000 API requests/month. The premium plans are $99/month and $199/month.
18. Qards
Qards is a new blogging platform that focuses on creating an efficient way for both content publishers and developers to manage a blog.
The Qards blogging platform makes it easy for you to add interactive content to your articles as it focuses on the power of cards. With a single click, you can add features like images, references to other posts, callouts, and more. Qards is developing, meaning there are more features and cards to be added in the future.
Pros
- Easy to use for anyone, even for non-tech individuals as the user interface is straightforward and clutter free
- You can add interactive content with a single click
- You'll have a clean looking blog with a high loading speed
- Table of contents are generated automatically for each article based on the headings
- It uses Markdown, which is a cleaner and easier markup language alternative to HTML
- It is free
Cons
- It has limitations to customization and design
Pricing
Free.
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