Are you planning to start your own blog? You must be excited about starting a new blog, but you must be discombobulated about the platform for a blogging site.
You may have decided the niche, and you may have picked interesting, engaging and new topics to write on for your target audience, but what would be making a delay is the struggle in choosing the platform.
It is pretty essential to choose the right platforms for your blog. Each blogging platform has its own pros and cons, and they all come in different pricing models. You must carefully analyse their all features – after all, you are investing your money.
Finding the right platform is intrinsic whether you want to create a blog as your hobby or you want to make serious money out of it.
4 Top Platforms for Blogging Sites
There are some free blogging platforms, which you can use to test whether you can achieve your business goal. Once you take it in your stride, you can upgrade to the paid version.
Here are the platforms you can choose for your blogging sites:
WordPress.org
If you are a beginner and you do not know much about blogging platforms, this will be an ideal platform to set it off. This is an open-source content management system, which means you can start a blog from scratch free of cost.
All you need is a WordPress hosting plan and WordPress software. You will have access to several designs. You can pick out any of them that aligns with your business. However, note that this is a free platform, so you will not be able to use it independently.
It is always suggested to upgrade it so you can get complete control over it. Here are the key features of WordPress.org:
- It is a reliable platform because it helps keep your data safe.
- It offers mobile-responsive designs.
- It offers hundreds of free themes.
- It comes with SEO plugins that can help you rank in top search results.
This is an open-source tool, so you do not have to pay anything. Your out-of-pocket expenses will be your domain name and hosting services you choose.
WordPress.com
It is not an open-source tool, but it offers a free trial. If you do not know much about blogging or are a novice, you should choose this platform. The best thing about this platform is that you will have complete control over your blogging site after you upgrade to the premium plan.
When your blog performs well, you will likely earn commission from advertisements displayed on your blog. However, this will allows you to get that money if you switch to an upgraded version. Unless you upgrade to a premium version, the domain name of your blog will look like this: yourblogname.wordpress.com.
You can go to the WordPress site and create a free blogging site for yourself. Once you upgrade your plan, you will be able to use advanced features as well. Here are the free features:
- You can get a free domain for the first year.
- You can include images and videos.
- You can share your blogs on social media platforms.
- You will get access to comprehensive SEO tools.
- You will be able to leverage a variety of personalised themes.
- It helps you get mobile-responsive designs.
It comes with various plans. You will have to choose the plan according to your needs. The free version is also available, but that comes with limited features, and that cannot help you achieve your business goals. If you lack money, you can take out online loans with no guarantor to upgrade your plan.
Blogger.com
Although WordPress is an open-source platform for creating a blog, it still requires you to spend money. This is because the free version of this platform will not help you much to make revenues from your blog.
Considering this aspect, it becomes pretty hard to say that this is a free version. This is why some people, especially those who are entirely ignorant about running a blog, use an absolutely free platform. This reduces the fear of losing even little money.
Bloggers can help create a blog absolutely free of cost. Unlike WordPress, you do not need a hosting solution. You do not need to have a piece of technical knowledge to run the blog on this platform.
However, note that it has its own pros and cons. Here are the key features of using Blogger:
- You can either use a free subdomain or buy your own domain.
- You can get access to various templates. It offers various types of designs.
- It comes with analytics tools that can help you assess the traffic to your blog.
- It is reliable and secure. It can store your media files.
Although Blogger is free to use, many people are leaving it. Make sure that you do not find it frustrating to move your content from Blogger to any other platforms if you are using Blogger.
Weebly.com
It is generally suitable for ecommerce platforms, but you can create a blog using hundreds of given templates and themes. It is also available in a free version, but that comes with limited features.
After a certain point of time, you will have to switch to upgraded versions. Here are the key features:
- You can get access to customised templates free of cost.
- You can use SEO tools to optimise keywords to show up in top results.
- It comes with social media sharing features.
Weebly.com can help you create a blog that meets your goals without spending a lot of money. If you have to subscribe to a business plan and you do not have enough money, you can fund it with personal loans for people with poor credit.
The bottom line
If you are looking to pick out the best platform for your blogging site, you should carefully analyse the pros and cons of each, so you do not regret it later.
