Compare the Top 8 Blog Sites and Platforms for 2020
Meta Description: Blog sites are instrumental in the marketing strategy of companies and businesses. Here are the Top 8 ranking blog sites to consider.
The art of blogging is continually expanding as it catches the attention and interest of many individuals. People are now using various websites to start a blog to share information and improve their fields’ expertise. Companies have also started blogs to ensure that they are continually engaging with their clientele and offering them up-to-date information to keep them busy and answer their needs to keep clients happy.
Thus, it is crucial for bloggers, whether independent individuals or companies, to use the best blog sites to ensure their content reaches the target market. This article will highlight blog sites and platforms that offer diverse options for their users and their pros and cons. It will also cover the importance of blogging and why it is a necessary tool.
<Strong>Importance https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/10-reasons-why-you-need-a-blog.html of blogging</Strong>
<Strong>It generates traffic</Strong>
Blogging is an ideal avenue to increase traffic to a website. It provides readers with information and seeks to answer their questions, making them frequent visitors. Bloggers who connect well with their audience enjoy steady organic traffic vital for the survival of a website.
<Strong>Improve a website’s SEO</Strong>
A well-managed blog post improves the SEO of a website. Regular update of relevant information to the business improves scores and ranking of the website. It is also essential to note that using inbound links in a blog can increase users’ numbers, increase traffic, and help the business bond with its clientele.
<Strong>Expertise</Strong>
The continual sharing of information on a particular topic provides an opportunity to be an expert on the subject. A person has to prepare the blog and content that makes them know and have more information. Most bloggers become better with time as they continually seek knowledge through the process. Blogs also allow the individual to always inspire their readers with ideas and options that make them an authority in the field.
<Strong>Market base</Strong>
From the above information, it is evident that a blog can generate money for the business directly or indirectly. The blog sites that pay directly allow bloggers to earn from their work. The sharing of information and ideas provides an avenue for companies to sell their products to their audience.
A business needs to plan if they would like to earn money from their blog post from the onset. This decision is essential as it helps in choosing the best blog website that aligns with the business motive. After starting, changing a blog site can be frustrating and time-consuming; thus, deciding in advance is essential to make the process easy.
Some of the best sites https://websitesetup.org/best-blog-sites/ to start a blog in 2020 include;
<h2>Word press.org</h2>
Word press.org is one of the best blog sites across the world. It is used by both amateurs and experts to propagate their blogging life. Word press is easy to use and has thousands of designs available to the user to customize your work. The site is also very straightforward and easy to use, making your blogging journey comfortable and exciting.
It provides an opportunity for the blogger to focus more on the content and aesthetics as it has minimal coding work required. Word press.org is also one of the most important sites to start a blog as it is free and requires no annual or monthly subscription to use the platform. The only thing that requires payment is hosting and domain name, making it extremely friendly, especially since it offers an opportunity to make money through paid memberships and promotion deals. WordPress.org targets bloggers who are keen to make money from their work and develop themselves as professionals in a particular field. Since it is search engine friendly, the platform offers an opportunity to create SEO friendly URLs and tags that help generate traffic for the website.
It is also comfortable for beginners and offers a platform to hobby bloggers to independently share their work and develop their traffic and audience. Its vast features and ability to host diverse bloggers makes it one of the most effective sites to start a blog.
Being the preferred blog platform exposes a person to a vibrant blogging community that enables them to share and learn. It also provides free plugins and designs that offer individuals an opportunity to focus on getting better other than worrying about ways to generate income to pay for them.
<h2>Gator</h2>
Gator is one of the best sites to start a blog for an array of bloggers. It is powered by host Gator which is a well-known web hosting company and offers a wide range of services that makes the blogging journey easy. Gator provides a drag and drops feature that bloggers can utilize to form e-commerce stores and build captivating blogs.
The fact that the site comes with a host means you do not have to stress over information back up, security, and performance as the host takes care of this for you. Thus, a blogger gets an opportunity to focus on what they know best and leave the technical work for the host freeing up more time and allowing the person a chance to research their topics thoroughly. It also enables the blogger to be more creative as they can keep a record of their work and learn from past mistakes.
Gator also offers free domain to its users, reducing the cost involved. Though you have to pay for the starter plan, the charges are relatively low compared to other blogging sites. The platform charges approximately four dollars per month, making it relatively affordable due to what they offer.
Beginners and small businesses can utilize this platform to grow their businesses and brands at an affordable price. It provides you with an opportunity to work on your content and creativity by ensuring that all technical parts of the blog are covered. This act provides an opportunity for you to learn and sharpen your skills.
<h2>Square space</h2>
Square space is one of the best websites to start a blog. The platform offers an opportunity to create a unique place that fits their needs by its drag and drop features. These properties make the site easy to use, especially for individuals who are not so tech-savvy. It wraps everything a blog needs into one, making the set-up process extremely easy. It is thus a good site for the launching of business blogs and e-commerce spaces. Due to its many plugins and designs, Squarespace offers a blogger an opportunity to develop a unique area that provides an excellent experience for its readers and increases the chances of partnerships and collaborations with various brands.
Some of the advantages of Square space include;
- Hosting services – the domain hosts your work; thus, you do not have to worry about paying annual subscriptions.
- Personalized domain- Square space provides an opportunity for you to choose your domain name and offers it as part of the package.
- Varied designs and plugins – the platform offers a wide variety of techniques that make it extremely easy for a blogger to customize the platform and create a unique site. It is also focused on trending designs making your blog up to date with what is trending. You can also utilize plugins from other sites making integration ideal and comfortable.
Squarespace got designed to assist individuals and businesses in setting up their platforms from scratch. It does not need any design background and offers people carrying out various crafts such as music, fashion, and real estate, an opportunity to come up with incredible designs. It also makes their work easy and has additional material that helps build a professional website. Square space charges a premium and has various flexible options. You can opt for annual or monthly payment depending on the vision of your website. However, if you do not intend to use your blog to generate income and improve your brand, the square space charges will be irrelevant. Thus, for those looking for an effortless professional touch, square space will not disappoint.
<h2>Wix website builder</h2>
Wix offers the best place to blog for beginners or individuals on a budget. It is a cheaper version of square space offering free domain and hosting services. However, Wix charges a small fee for individuals who would like to have a custom domain or get paid plans.
Their rates are relatively cheap, making it a more affordable alternative for bloggers on a budget. Wix website builder is a great website to start a blog on as it offers a step-to-step guide that will enable you to choose templates and have the desired design. However, you should note that once you select a template on Wix, you cannot change it unless you upgrade; thus, carry out the process carefully.
The upside of Wix, though, is that it is easy to understand and navigate. Bloggers who use it experience an easy time in the arrangement of their work and general outlook. If you are focused on blogging for fun, Wix offers a great free platform to engage your target audience. However, it may not be ideal for established businesses as it shows Wix branding and ads on the site, which may confuse clients or derail your campaign.
<h2>Tumblr</h2>
Tumblr is the best blog website for people who need a blogging website that is easy to use and social network friendly. It offers a chance for a person to share their work and that of others. Tumblr brings microblogging to life, allowing the blogger to make or share short videos, GIFs, music, and quotes in a fun, creative way.
It is thus an easy way to generate organic traffic and offer short quality content to the audience. Its ability to infuse different forms of creativity makes it commonly used.
Tumblr has no cost, and one only pays for hosting services. It also provides a wide variety of free designs to choose from and offers upcoming bloggers an opportunity to gain confidence and learn the art. The ability to share information and interact makes it widely used and an excellent tool for businesses to get feedback from their clientele.
Tumblr offers an opportunity for an individual to use third-party themes and apps, allowing them the freedom to explore and customize their craft. It also allows a blogger to use purchased domain names to make it more specific and personalized.
<h2>Medium</h2>
Medium offers a unique opportunity to bloggers, writers, and journalists to share stories and information in one space. The site is useful for bloggers who want to focus on the content and eliminate the hustle of running a website. Thus, it is con free and easy to maintain as your role is to update your content, and the rest is taken care of by the platform. Medium provides a creative space for writers and utilizes traffic brought by various individuals to increase their audience. Medium is an ideal site for starters as it eliminates the trouble of developing and maintaining a site.
However, the website has some shortcomings. Since there is no personalized domain name, a person may quickly lose their audience if you breach their terms and conditions and cannot share your information on the site. Thus, it may pose a challenge to radicle bloggers and writers who opt for spaces they can speak freely without the worry of losing their audience.
Nevertheless, the medium is a great free platform, thus ideal for bloggers with a tight budget. The lack of maintenance also makes it easy to use. You get an opportunity to learn from a vast community that improves your creative skills and offers guidance that sharpens your blogging skills. Thus, it is an excellent learning object for individuals who hope to start making money through blogging and require no additional skills, as all you need is to set up and start posting your work.
<h2>Blogger</h2>
The site is among the oldest existing blogging platforms. Blogger is run by Google, who focuses on the technical and massive behind-the-scenes work, allowing you to focus on your content. The platform gets commonly used to provide a ready-made audience market, making it ideal. Blogger also prides itself on easy to use designs that do not require any tech knowledge or expertise. The website got built to accommodate an individual with little technological expertise by offering them a platform that is easy to understand.
Blogger is also absolutely free and will not charge you for domain or hosting fees. It also provides basic design templates to use that may be a turn off for professional bloggers. However, if you are starting, this is a minor hindrance as the platform provides all you need to successfully run a blog.
Lastly, the blogger got built to provide a standard platform for people to share information. It may not have fancy designs, but everything gets well laid out to ensure your blog is running and accessible at all times. This process is essential, especially during these challenging times, where the renewal of subscriptions may pose a challenge. Blogger is ideal for personal and hobby blogging as you can set up the site in minutes through its simple user interface.
<h2>Ghost</h2>
Ghost provides a minimalist design platform that can either be web-based or downloaded. The platform offers a clean, minimalist outlay that is attractive and great to look at for the audience. Its main plan was to provide a simpler version of the wordpress.com without the latter’s hustle.
The Ghost allows you to download the app and upload your information on the go. Thus, it is ideal for bloggers who are frequently on the move and need to create their content on the go. It also offers a great set of designs that you can use to spruce up your blog without going over by the top.
The platform’s downside is that some find the outlook too geeky and may be hard to set up, especially if you decide to self-host because you will have to outsource a host and set up the blog, which may be too demanding for people who are not so tech-savvy.
The blog is ideal for bloggers who like trying out new designs and are passionate about web development. It also gives a good experience for bloggers who enjoy specialized and new techniques incorporated in their work.
The advantages of the Ghost website are that it has a clear writing and publishing interface that makes updating of information manageable and straight forward. However, it does not have plugins and customization compared to WordPress, which makes it limiting for businesses and advanced bloggers.
Before starting a blog, you need to analyze the vision you have for the website. This process will help you choose the right website that will meet your needs. It is vital to carry out your research to know the pros and cons of your choices. This action ensures you fully understand the platform you choose https://www.bloggingblog.org/ultimate-guide-to-choosing-the-right-blogging-platform/. When deciding on the best place to blog, do not just focus on saving money but check what you are getting to determine if it is worth the price, as spending money may be a great way of gaining more.