New year, new goal – you’re ready to try blogging but you don’t know where to start.
Starting a blog doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking or a stressful pursuit.
It can be as easy as writing a quick post and uploading it to the blogosphere with the click of a button or as complicated as choosing and purchasing a domain name, designing an entire website, and posting on a regular schedule.
Best Blogging Platform to Make Money
WordPress is the best blogging platform overall, especially when you want to make money because it is 100% customization.
However, when you’re getting started as a new blogger, it all comes down to what’s best for you. An important part of starting a blog, no matter which method you decide on, is figuring out where to blog. This article will break down the pros and cons of a few popular blogging platforms so you can decide which is the best fit for you and your level of involvement.
You Can Use Medium as a Blog Website
This platform is ideal for those who want a minimal-effort blog, a sort of set-it-and-forget-it experience. This is because Medium does a lot of the work for you, deciding on a layout and design for your website. The flipside of this ease of use is that you have relatively limited design agency or control. What you can decide is a lot of the design choices related to your individual publications. With each of those, you can choose a layout, background color, and header.
The ease of use and no-fuss experience of Medium makes it perfect for those who aren’t sure yet whether they want to become a serious blogger and just want to try blogging. However, since the focus of the platform is more on publications than individual blogs or websites, people often won’t pay attention to who the author is for a given piece, and they are likely to move on quickly to another, preventing you as the author from getting the traction and readership you might want.
You Can Use Blogger as a Blog Website
Although it’s a step up from Medium in that you actually have your own blog, Blogger is still a far cry from what the pros use. This isn’t to say that it’s a bad choice, rather that it gives you a little more control than Medium does, but not as much agency and independence as some other options might.
Blogger is a free blogging platform run by Google, so all you need to get started is a Gmail account. You get a (yourblogname).blogspot.com domain (rather than just “yourblogname.com”), which means your content is owned by Google rather than yourself. This isn’t necessarily a huge deal, but it’s the price you pay for a free platform. Blogger takes care of a lot of the more technical details of running a blog for you, freeing you up to focus on making the best content and website experience you can.
There is some customization available in terms of themes, layouts, etc., but the options are fairly limited. In summary, Blogger is a good option for “running your own website,” though it’s a little more barebones and minimal than some other options.
Most Bloggers Use the WordPress Blog
Before diving in, I should clarify that there are actually two WordPress options – wordpress.com and wordpress.org.
WordPress.com is very similar in function and scope to Blogger and thus will not be what this section is about. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is software for you to use on the self-hosted domain that allows you to have minute control over all of the details of your website. Essentially, this option requires you to purchase a domain name and find a host for that domain, after which you install the WordPress software in order to design your website.
It’s complicated, the benefits outweigh the costs because WordPress offers a plethora of professionally-designed themes, plug-ins, and hacks to completely customize your website. The main option for serious bloggers, there is a reason that almost 19% of the internet is powered by WordPress.
You Can Use Tumblr as a Blog Website
Tumblr is a great place for individuals who want to blog about whatever, however, whenever, without being noticed.
Use Tumblr to share those thoughts anonymously or with your trusted circle of friends. Users of this platform have created amazing works of art from short and long stories, massive photo journeys, GIF-only posts about TV and movies, random NSFW jokes, music, fashion, and just about anything you can think of from an unfiltered blogger.
Try using Tumblr if you don’t care about traditional blogging. Tumblr was made for people who aren’t focused on building a big brand (via organic methods) but have a desire to create content.
Conclusion
WordPress will always be our top choice around here, we simply wanted to list the other popular options available. WordPress is awesome but can be confusing for some people, so check out our blog post, Learn How To Start A Blog, if you’re interested in blogging on your own platform. This blog post has simple steps on choosing your domain name, and web host and installing your very own WordPress blog.
I’m Cartez Augustus, a content creator based in Houston, Texas. Recently, I’ve been delving into different content marketing niches to achieve significant website growth. I enjoy experimenting with AI, SEO, and PPC. Creating content has been an exciting journey, enabling me to connect with individuals who possess a wealth of knowledge in these fields.
