How to start a blog? How to find the best blogging platform for 2020?

These are the kind of questions that plague our minds when we are thinking of blogging. It is a sometimes-nerve-wracking situation. Although, if you know which path to go for choosing a blogging platform can actually be an adventure!

Finding your right blogging platform is like looking for the perfect glass slippers. Those that fit you perfectly and compliment you and your style of writing. For example, you are someone with an educational incline and you know about different exams, their preparation tips, daily skills, etc. You would visit and write on a website like exambazaar whose audience is school and college-going students.  So, buckle up!  As I am going to run you through the best blogging platform options you have at your disposal.

I would be talking about the best platform to begin your blogging career along with their pros and cons. Other than that, I will give you a side by side comparison of each of these platforms based on their ease of use, user-friendliness, mobile usability, pricing, their host, their custom domain option, user support, and social media integration.

Let’s dive deep into the world of blogging platforms and help you pick your ideal one!

Finding the Best Blogging Platforms

Choosing your blog platform is not the hardest task but a bold decision. Once you have set your mind on a blogging platform, you do not need to worry about the setup, themes, or bugs as they are already taken care of by the host of the blogging platform. If you go in for the paid blogging option you have the choice of customizing your domain name for example (www.mysampleplatform.com) while if you go for the free blogging option you will not have the same choice, for example, your website would be (www.mysampleplatform.xyz.com). The xyz here would denote the name of the blogging platform of your choice.

With a free blogging platform, you would have certain limitations like limited space, you cannot monetize your website, you will not have many customization options, etc. With that said, despite the less control, you can always upgrade your website to a paid one anytime you want.

Therefore, I would suggest to always begin with an unpaid blogging platform and once you have learned the ropes of it, then transition to a paid platform. So, choose a blogging platform in the context of the form of content you want to create and in the future give you the option to upgrade your website.

You can take a look at this side by side comparison of the different platforms to get an overall summary. While there are countless blogging platforms available, there are numerous blogging sites that provide both free and paid services which can be useful for your small blog to turn into a big hit business.

Here is the list of best blogging platforms.

1. WordPress.org (self-hosted WordPress)

I am sure, you have heard of WordPress before. It is without a doubt the most popular and sort after blogging website around the globe. This blogging platform is user friendly and provides its beginners with a starter guide as well. The most astonishing thing about WordPress is that it is used by approximately 75 million websites! They have a built-in SEO system that helps your blog rank. Therefore, you do not need to worry about SEO as well! Due to its easy design and various free templates you can use your imagination to even design your website. You can add calendars, twitter feed, Facebook page, and video gallery, etc to name a few into your WordPress website.

Pros of WordPress

• WordPress is a free, open-source CMS
• You own your website and all its data
• Beginner-friendly
• Super security by WordPress
• Plenty of WordPress themes for free
• You can add free, paid, and custom WordPress plugins/themes

Cons of WordPress

• Like all websites, you will need web hosting
• You are responsible for updates and backups

2. Wix

Just like WordPress, Wix is another amazing platform for bloggers. It is user friendly and provides many features to is beginners. They provide various features, templates, and stunning hosting options on their website. Although they are similar to their other competitors like WordPress, blogger, etc., The designs created in Wix ADI have far more superior in quality and creativity. They provide the option of switching from unpaid to a paid user to their users at all times.

Pros of Wix

• Creative Wix ADI designs
• More than 500 templates to choose from
• Upgrading option

Cons of Wix

• Limited customization, cannot change a template once added
• Wix Ad pop-ups in the free Wix blogging platform
• Ownership of your blog is with Wix, they can suspend it if any violation is found

3. Medium  

If you look at this blogging platform, Medium has risen exponentially in the recent times. It is the perfect spot for freelancers and researchers. I would say anyone with an educational incline should post on Medium. Just like the news channels and e-papers, they cater to educationalists, providing them with exam information, life skills, and work ethics-related aid. If you are a student, you will also find research papers by scholars from all over the world within this platform. Also, loads of growing businesses use Medium to increase their viewership.

Pros of Medium

• Huge Audience and ever-increasing readership
• Easy Setup like WordPress
• Inbuilt SEO

Cons of Medium

• You need basic web design and coding skills
• You need to promote your blog as competition is high
• Huge Audience doesn’t always translate to increase of view on your blog

4. LinkedIn Pulse

Most people do not think of LinkedIn as a blogging platform, but they do have an option to do so. LinkedIn’s blogging platform is Pulse which is located under the Interests menu within your LinkedIn page. You might not get all the SEO features, templates, etc. like the other websites but you can promote your content with your connections. This would showcase your capacity in the work world as well. You never know, who might just hire you for your point of view on a certain topic! 

Pros of LinkedIn Pulse

• Inbuilt social media authority
• Huge audience and ever-increasing readership
• Easy setup
• User friendly
• Can republish same content on other platforms

Cons of LinkedIn Pulse

• No inbuilt SEO
• No templates design to customize your blog.

5. Instagram

Instagram is a visual blogging site that includes images or videos and little of the caption, you can use the caption in context to your image or video. Instagram is the perfect blogging site if you wish to share visual concepts such as lifestyle, dance routines, or relatable mini videos. You can host vlogs on Instagram live as well. So, you see writing is not the only medium for blogging, you can do visual blogging, which would give a real-time experience to not only your viewers but yourself as well.

Pros of Instagram

• Paid for products promotion
• Building an audience from a scratch
• Easy Setup and tools
• No template or design required

Cons of Instagram

• Good quality camera required
• Getting new followers is difficult
• Biasness within algorithm

Wrapping Up

These well-liked blogging platforms have positive and negative points especially when you take into consideration your skill as a blogger and as a coder. The longer you blog the more elasticity develops in your skills. This makes you a pro and you learn what is your style of writing. Therefore, whichever platform you choose should be catering to the kind of audience you want to reach and cater too. We hope that this blog was able to solve some of your doubts and give you a clarity of perception regarding how to choose the best blogging websites in your hand.

You may also like to read:

• How to Choose A Blog Niche (And Best Profitable Niche Ideas)
• How Much Does It REALLY Cost to Build a WordPress Blog?
• How To Start A Blog On A Small Budget