The best blogging platforms on the market are presented in this guide with a detailed insight. Many of the sites we explore in this guide are completely free and aimed at hobbyists. Their package is complete, enabling you to create and manage your blog online, as well as hosting on the blogging platform’s own servers. Of course, they have limitations.
If you want your blog to look more professional, we have also discussed the best paid options. These offer advanced tools for building and growing your blog, including the ability to connect a custom domain.
WordPress
WordPress is an excellent platform for blogs of any size and bloggers with any level of experience. The process of creating your first blog is straightforward, with a wizard that guides you through selecting a name and a suitable theme. You have the option to leave it there and start writing posts immediately, but the real fun lies in the more advanced editor, which allows you to customize virtually every aspect of your blog’s appearance.
WordPress has introduced a drag-and-drop website builder that is similar to many of its main competitors. Bloggers can now create stunning websites with very little or no website design skills, making its offering even more compelling.
Blogger
Blogger is another excellent blogging platform. While not quite as powerful as WordPress, it is easier for new users to use. It comes as no surprise when you learn that it’s owned by Google.
Blogger has a great selection of templates, all of which include mobile versions optimized for smaller screens – a very sensible addition with so many people accessing online content through smartphones these days. Blogger is also web-responsive.
Blogger’s post-editing tool is similar to WordPress, but offers fewer options. The toolbars are less confusing, which results in a trade-off between power and usability.
Weebly
Weebly’s blog building approach is modular, and it features a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to select which elements to add to your site and where.
Select a basic template and add different kinds of content to it, such as social media links, text, images, maps, and sections of code. Creating a blog that feels unique to you is made simple with this refreshingly simple method.
It’s important to note that certain content blocks are only allowed in specific areas; it’s not a free-for-all. It’s logical that forcing yourself to stay within the boundaries of your chosen template prevents the page from looking messy, but it may also be restrictive.
Medium
Medium is the top platform for blogs that prioritizes content readability and user engagement. This platform is perfect for writers who want to share their writing online without the hassle of creating their own website.
Setting up a blog on Medium is a breeze and doesn’t require any time or investment to start publishing. The intuitive editor allows writers to concentrate on their content, and Medium has a built-in user base. New writers/bloggers can reach like-minded users through their blogs without requiring separate websites or SEO practices, which is particularly great.
It has a minimalist design that holds the reader’s attention and delivers a neat and distraction-free experience. Medium’s robust community is another great feature. Your blog account allows you to have followers, interact with them through comments, and even join or create publications in specific niches.
Squarespace
Squarespace’s wide selection of templates encourages bloggers to express themselves, their brand, or company online by allowing them to get creative. 100+ flexible templates are offered by them that fully adapt to mobile devices. Squarespace allows you to create a blog using a specific set of templates, or you can add a blog page to your existing Squarespace website.
You have the option to post on your blog monthly, weekly, or daily, with ease, Squarespace offers a scheduling feature for you to select the time and date you want your content to go live. You can also add other contributors to your blog so that collaborators can add their own posts.
Wix
Wix offers a variety of paid subscription plans, but also offers a free option. It’s important to make it clear that there are some caveats. With the free product, your site will have Wix branding, and you’ll be limited to 500MB of data transfer per month, so it’s not suitable for heavily-trafficked sites. You also only have 500MB of storage, so bear that in mind.
Despite the limitations, building a blog with an unlimited number of pages is possible with Wix’s powerful blog functionality. The editor may be simple, but you get access to all the stuff you need, from image galleries to videos and music, and there are a ton of ways to customize a post.
Penzu
Penzu is a different type of blogging site. Unlike the other free blogging sites we’ve reviewed in this guide, these are designed to maximize the number of people viewing your posts. Penzu adheres to the opposite philosophy and is the equivalent of a locked diary hidden in a safe.
Penzu is a journal platform that automatically makes your posts private and requires a password to secure them. The reason is that it was created for private thoughts and personal reflection. There are free apps for iOS and Android that enable you to update your Penzu diary anywhere, but the contents are only for your eyes.
What are the steps to monetizing my blog?
There are multiple ways to monetize a successful blog. There are a number of methods for publishing ads through an ad network, working directly with businesses to publish their ads, affiliate marketing, and publishing sponsored content.
