Blogging, as with any other online activity, rounds up various types of people with different interests and habits but who have one common passion – to share their thoughts with others. The reasons why people start blogging may vary from personal development to business promotion, sharing their knowledge about a certain topic, monetization, etc.
No matter what drives you to dedicate your time to blogging there’s room for success in every niche no matter how proficient you are. Some of the most successful bloggers like Neil Patel, Harsh Agrawal, and others started their blogging careers small, however, with time they grew and now share their content with hundreds of thousands of visitors, earning tens of thousands of dollars each month. Most of the well-known bloggers prefer WordPress because it’s easy to use, comes with a free plan and a ton of plugins, themes, and other features that make the bloggers life much easier.
Choosing a proper blogging platform allows you to spend most of your work hours creating content and not dealing with issues, learning how to code, etc. In order to help you pick up the best blogging platform, we crafted a short list of tips that will allow you to find the right platform for your blog in no time at all.
If you’re just diving into blogging and you’re still not sure if you want to make a career out of it, it’s best to start with a platform that offers a free plan with the possibility to scale to a paid package once you decide to level up your game and go professional. Platforms such as WordPress, Wix, and many others offer free plans with free domains, although you’ll have to settle for a domain that includes both the name of your blog and the platform domain. So if you go for a free Wix option, your domain would look like this: username.wixsite.com/siteaddress.
Moreover, take a closer look at what you get with a free plan against what you get with a premium version. Those little extras could help you save money in the long run so make sure to look into third-party apps, security certificates, templates, etc.
This is another important aspect of every blogging platform that tailors your overall experience. If you have no coding experience it’s smart to look for a platform that provides templates that you could use. Also, there are platforms that allow you to build your custom website from scratch simply by clicking and dragging content where you need it. So if you were providing help with college homework for a living and you are not a web developer by chance, platforms that allow you to adjust the design with ease are your best solution. Remember that you’ll have to add some plugins and widgets that will make your blog even more appealing to the audience. If there’s a one-click plugin installation available that’s an offer you don’t want to miss.
Most blogging platforms on the market won’t allow monetization for free accounts. One of the exceptions is Google’s Blogger which allows users to connect the AdSense account and earn some money. It’s a smart move to choose a platform that allows seamless scaling to paid plan which would allow monetization, that is in case you want to earn some money while blogging. There are other methods that could help you make a profit like promotions via banners or embedded links in case that’s your thing.
It’s important to know what you’re looking for in the blogging industry. If you’re just looking for a way to share your content and simply earn some money via AdSense with minimal investments, then you have found everything you need with Blogger. It’s free and gives you a full access to AdSense, Analytics, and other Google tools.
However, if you plan to build a brand and become an authority in your niche, then you want a platform that provides full functionality, access to all the features, various design options, etc. Functionality, like many other great things in life, comes with a price so you have to prepare yourself to invest some funds in order to obtain a fully functional platform.
Finding a blogging platform is much like finding proper clothes. You have to browse around, try on for size a few potential winners, and ultimately go with the one you feel most comfortable with. It’s almost certain that free platforms won’t satisfy your appetites in the long run. But they could serve as a training ground where you could sharpen up your skills before going pro.