Are you looking to start a blog, but confused about what to choose?
Well, you are in the right place.
Over the past 5 years, I have created multiple blogs on different blogging platforms.
And Since I also run a web design agency, I had the opportunity to work on blogging platforms that I would have otherwise not chosen.
This is going to be my completely unbiased opinion on the best blogging sites, that we have today.
For the sake of your convenience, I’m including only the top 6 blogging platforms that are ideal to start a blog.
There is no shortage of blogging sites looking to grab your attention.
But today we will see, which are the ones worth your time.
Let’s get started.
First Things First, What is a Blogging Platform?
Blogging Platforms can be simply defined as a service or web-application which allows you to publish content easily on the Internet.
There are all sorts of blogging platforms from free to paid which offer you an easy way to publish different types of content like Blog Posts, Images, Gifs etc.
It’s important to choose a right platform so that your content reaches the right audience.
There are 2 key things you should know before choosing a blogging platform and that is Domain and Hosting.
A domain is the address or URL of your site (ex. www.blogfundas.com) and Hosting is where your blog is stored on the Internet.
Many Blogging platforms offer you a free Domain (like yourblog.blogspot.com etc.) and also offer free hosting.
While some blogging platforms give you a choice to own a custom domain name and hosting.
Important Things to look for in a Blogging Platform
1. Simplicity and Ease of Use
2. Flexibility to customize and add additional features to your site easily
3. Security and Reliability
4. Ability to scale and grow with your needs, as your blog gets bigger.
5. Ownership and Autonomy
6. Ease of Making Money if you choose to monetize it.
1. Blogger
Blogger is the grandfather of Blogging, probably one of the oldest blogging sites that are still going strong.
The best part is that it’s owned by Google and absolutely free.
The setup process hardly takes a few minutes and you just need a Gmail account to start your own blog.
The Themes or design templates look simple and clean and work right out of the box.
There are not enough options to customize and add features which are essential if you plan to make money from your blogs.
One major disadvantage of using Blogger is that it’s not really SEO friendly despite being a Google product.
It’s very rare to find a .blogspot.com blog ranking in the search results page of Google.
This is a bummer if you are serious about blogging.
It still remains a great choice for casual or hobby blogging.
Ease of Making Money
Blogger gives you the freedom to choose whether you want to show ads on your blogs or not.
You can enable Google Adsense to start showing ads to your visitors and make some passive income.
Other ways of monetizing your blog are limited on Blogger, because of the limitations of Blogger Platform.
Simply put, it’s not suitable if you are serious about generating income from your blog.
Pros
1. Free and easy to set up.
2. Your data is stored on reliable and secure Google servers.
3. Can handle lots of visitors
4. You get to choose whether to show ads on your blog or not
Cons
1. Limited Design and Customization Options
2. Not enough options to add and extend the functionality of a blog.
3. Not suitable for Monetization other than display ads.
4. It is very rare to find Blogger Blogs ranking in search results pages.
2. Medium
Medium has emerged as a really great choice for Blogging.
There are millions of visitors that visit Medium each month.
This large readership gives you an opportunity to get more exposure for your content.
Some of the top content gets featured on the front page of Medium, which brings it in front of the eyes of a wide audience that visits Medium daily.
You can find some top-quality content from experts in their respective fields on this platform.
The interface is minimalistic and the setup takes just a few minutes.
Ease of Making Money
Medium has a partner program which allows users to make income from their articles, depending on the quality of the article and the response it gets.
It’s basically a voting system in which a reader upvotes or claps for an article and that increases its visibility and chances of earning.
But the flip-side of the story is, that your article needs to be really good to stand a chance to make money.
Moreover, Medium has a complete monopoly over the platform, algorithm, articles that get featured and the payment of writers.
Because of this only 10% of the writers are able to make more than 100 dollars each month.
Many pro bloggers and experts use Medium as a secondary lead-generation platform by placing links to their blog in the articles and diverting traffic to their main blog or website.
Pros:
1. Easy to Setup.
2. Simple Interface.
3. Wide Audience for your Content
Cons
1. No options to customize and extend the functionality of your blog.
2. Offers Limited Ownership, Autonomy, and Control over your content and blog.
3. No options to add additional monetization options other than what they offer.
3. WordPress.com
If you have heard about WordPress before, chances are this is not the one they were talking about.
WordPress.com is the brother of WordPress.org( Main WordPress) and is owned by the same parent company Automattic.
The only difference is that WordPress.com is a commercial entity that’s looking to make a profit, while the software (Main WordPress) available on WordPress.org is a free and open-source project.
The main WordPress is a free CMS (Content Management System) that lets you create any type of website you want.
While WordPress.com is a freemium blogging platform which offers a four-tier pricing system from free to 300 dollars each year.
WordPress.com seems a lot restricted and limited when compared to WordPress.org (self-hosted).
The setup is quick and there are many free themes available to simply start a casual blog.
A lot of features and customization options are only available when you upgrade to a paid plan. Some of these options are available for free on main WordPress.
Ease of Making Money
WordPress.com earns money by showing ads on your free blog and cashing in on your visitors.
Additional Monetization options are only available when you pay a premium.
The restrictive and limited nature of WordPress makes it unsuitable for Monetization.
Pros
1. Simple to setup and use.
2. Easy maintenance.
3. Secure and Reliable.
4. Regularly updated.
Cons
1. Limited Ownership of your Blog.
2. Restrictive Blogging Platform.
3. Limited customization options, features, and functionalities compared to WordPress.org.
4. High premium for additional features.
4. Tumblr
Tumblr is a lot different than any other blogging platform on this list.
It is based on the idea of “micro-blogging” which makes it suitable for short and easily consumable content like Photos, Gifs, Quotes, Videos and other such short-media content.
It also has a social-media network kind of feel to it, as it enables you to follow and share others content.
Sharing others content on Tumblr is called as Reblogging.
It’s free and very simple to set up. Publishing content is also a lot easier on this platform.
The design is simple and premium themes are available from 10 to 50 dollars range.
There is nothing more in terms of customization and functionality other than basic plugins.
But, the emphasis on a specific type of content makes it very suitable for Art and Photography kind of blogs.
Ease of Making Money
Tumblr gives you the option to display ads on your blog.
If you can create a lot of original and high-quality short-form of content, then Tumblr is the right platform for you.
But it is not suitable for other better ways of monetizing your blogs because of limited options to customize and add new features.
Pros
1. It is a free and easy to use platform
2. It is suitable for short-form content like Images, GIFs, Short videos etc
3. Mobile App makes it easy to publish content from anywhere.
4. Social Networking Component gives it a different feel and makes it popular.
Cons
1. Customization and functionality are very limited.
2. It not suitable for Text and Articles type of content.
3. Backups and Portability are an issue
4. SEO unfriendly
5. Unable to scale and grow with your needs
5. Wix
Wix enables anyone with zero coding skills to build and create an attractive looking website.
It is basically a Content Management System with Drag and Drop builder that makes creating sites easy.
They have over 500 templates to choose from and the interface is also basic and easy to use.
You still need some visual design capabilities to be able to create a decent looking blog.
They also have Wix ADI (an Artificial Intelligence-based website designer) which assists you in creating a website by asking questions from you. You just need to select a theme and start editing.
But you can’t change a template after selecting, so you should be careful with your choice.
Despite the fancy looking design templates, Wix still has its limitations and not an ideal choice or long-term solution for blogging.
Ease of Making Money
They show ads and Wix branding on the blogs on their free plans.
This can be removed by subscribing to their paid plans, but you can get much better flexibility on WordPress.
Wix offers you some better options to monetize your site compared to free blogging platforms.
Pros
1. No technical skills required
2. The free version allows you to start a blog with no risk and investment.
3. They take care of hosting, security and updates.
4. The technical support is better than other platforms.
Cons
- The platform is very limited compared to WordPress (Self-Hosted).
2. Only Suitable for small websites looking to have a footprint on the Internet.
3. Limited ownership and control.
6. WordPress.Org (Self-Hosted)
Customization, control, and freedom is the key to success in blogging.
And WordPress gives you all.
This is the reason it is preferred by almost all the top bloggers and it powers 30% of all websites on the Internet.
There is no coding knowledge required to use WordPress.
If you think of blogging as a way to generate income and treat it like a business, this is the best investment you can make.
Start a WordPress(.Org) Blog
You just need a custom domain (Purchase from GoDaddy for 10-12 Dollars/Year ) and a web hosting service( 3-5 dollars/month) to host your blog.
I personally use SiteGround for hosting my website and I can vouch for it for beginners.
Siteground gives you the option to install WordPress with one click.
You just need to follow a simple 5 step process to set up your blog for the first time.
WordPress gives you all the freedom you want to customize, design and add so many new functionalities to your blog with just a click of a button.
This is the most powerful blogging platform that we have today.
But the setup process is not as straightforward as other blogging platforms we saw above.
And since it gives you so much freedom and control, it takes a little time to get used to it.
But this small pain is nothing compared to what you get in return.
Ease of Making Money
Since you made your own investment to set up and host your blog, you have complete freedom to choose which Monetization option you want on your website.
All the monetization options are available to you on WordPress.
Depending on the niche in which you are blogging, you can choose which is the best option to make money in that niche.
WordPress also allows you to integrate with other services like Email Marketing Softwares, Social Media Sharing, Create beautiful Landing pages with drag and drop builders etc.
All of these services can be done very easily on WordPress and this further enhances the blogging experience and helps you to make more money.
Pros
1. WordPress gives you complete autonomy and ownership of your blog.
2. You can choose any way of monetizing your site with no restrictions.
2. Complete Freedom to add as many features and functionalities and design as you wish.
3. Assistance and support from a wide community of people who use and work on WordPress.
4. Daily backups if you use good hosting like Siteground.
5. Trusted by all the top bloggers.
6. Regularly updated
Cons
1. Starting a blog is not completely free as you need to pay for Domain (10$/year) and Hosting (50$/year)
2. All the new features can be a bit overwhelming as a newbie.
3. Takes little time to get used to the platform.
Hand Picked Articles for You:
Blogging For Beginners: The Ultimate No BS Guide to Start Blogging
How to Start a Blog – Simple and Easy Steps
Blogging FAQ: All your Questions about Blogging finally Answered
Top 14 Popular Blog Niche Ideas That Make Real Money
