Top Blogging Platforms for Your Online Store
- superstoresolution
- Apr 25, 2022
- 6 min read
Blogging platforms are broadcast-style communications systems that enable authors to publish articles, opinions or product reviews (known as posts), which can be delivered through stand-alone websites, email, feed syndications systems and social networks.
If you're looking for somewhere to post informative content for your audience to enjoy, a blogging platform is an ideal solution for you!
If you're new to blogging, you’ll need a platform that’s user-friendly, easy to set up, and doesn’t require any coding. As you make your decision, think about what you want from your blog, i.e., how will content creation bring you closer to your overarching business goals? Also, what kind of content do you want to publish- videos, written blog posts, infographics, etc.? Once you have these answers, you'll have a better idea of the kind of service you require.
Top Tip: So, opting for software that gives you that flexibility is always a good idea. With that in mind, here's a list of our favorite blogging platforms for newbies:
This platform ranks number one on our list. After all, it's the world’s most popular blogging platform. It powers as many as 24% of all sites on the web! That’s almost one-quarter of all the live websites up and running!
In short, WordPress.org is a free, open-source platform. It enables you to create a blog on your own terms- i.e., you have complete ownership of your blog. So, you can add extra features to complement the needs of your blog as and when it expands.
You can also access over 45,000 free plugins! These are incredible for adding features to improve the elements, design, and interactivity of your blog and consequently enhancing user experience.
Last but not least, you can optimize all your content for SEO (search engine optimization), which makes WordPress.org a fabulous choice if you're looking for an SEO-friendly blogging platform.
Full disclaimer, Wix is more of a hosted platform for building websites, than it is a blogging platform (read our Wix review). However, you can easily set up a blog on your Wix website by downloading the ‘Wix blog app'.
Their drag-and-drop tools are super easy to use (no coding required!)- which makes designing your blog pretty easy. Plus, there are dozens of templates for you to choose from to help give your site a more polished look.
You can launch a blog with any of their payment plans (including their free option). However, to connect your custom domain name, you'll need their ‘Connect Domain Plan,' which will set you back $5 a month.
To get rid of Wix's branding you'll have to shell out for the ‘Wix Combo' plan which costs $11 per month. This is a reasonable price to pay for improving the look and feel of your blog.
You want a professional looking online presence to build credibility and trust with your audience. It's pretty simple: the more readers trust you, the more likely they are to purchase your products and/or services- which is ultimately, what all business owners want!
You'll be pleased to hear, Wix recently upgraded their editor. So, in addition to all their existing features, users can also access the following:
The best way to describe Tumblr is as a software that lies between Twitter and WordPress. It's a free, easy-to-use microblogging platform that also doubles as a social network.
It gives users access to all the following features:
These tools are fabulous for growing a loyal following of readers!
It's ideal if you want to publish any of the following kinds of content quickly:
Also, the process of backing up your Tumblr blog is incredibly difficult (the same goes for importing content from your Tumblr account to another platform). This burden is something you'll want to consider carefully before committing to using this software.
For those of you who don't know, Blogger's a free blog hosting platform that Google bought back in 2003. It offers a quick and straightforward solution for people wanting to set up a blog.
The good news is, you don't need any prior knowledge or expertise to hit the ground running!
However, you’ll only have access to the most basic of blogging tools. This means as your blog grows, you can't adapt your site to improve your user's experience. The same issue is true of their design options. In comparison to WordPress, Blogger offers nowhere near as many templates to choose from. Also, the third party templates they provide aren't great- they're typically a lower quality of design which doesn't do you brand much credit.
More shockingly though, Google can delete your blog at any time. Unfortunately, they have a track record of abandoning projects without providing any warning
With over six years of experience behind them, Medium is a fabulous community of writers, industry experts, bloggers, and journalists. It's a free blogging platform, and it's perfect if you're looking for something quick and easy to use.
The beauty of Medium is that you don't have to waste your time and energy designing, instead, you can purely focus on creating high-quality blog content.
Plus, Medium enables you to reach out to a pre-existing online community. If you don't have an audience yet, it's fabulous for establishing a following of people who share similar interests to you.
However, you can't run ads when you blog with Medium. This is often a sticking point for a lot of online business owners.
Like WordPress.org, Joomla is an open source content management system. It's also self-hosted, which means you'll need to purchase a domain name and hosting to utilize this software.
Joomla is immensely flexible. It's an incredible software for bringing the vision of your blog to life. Users can choose from hundreds of templates to help kickstart their design. There are also tons of extensions you can download. This is fabulous if you want to add different features to enhance your Joomla blog.
Also, like WordPress you're responsible for managing your backups, updates, and security- this can take up a lot of time and can occasionally incur additional charges.
You'll be pleased to hear, Joomla's software is free. However, you'll need to purchase a domain name- this usually sets you back roughly $14.99 per year.
You'll also need to shell out for web hosting. This typically starts at $7.99 per month.
Once you get your domain name and web hosting sorted, you'll be ready to utilize Joomla!
Similarly to Wix, Squarespace is more of a website building service than a blogging platform (read our Squarespace review). However, with this software, you can craft stunning sites with their easy-to-use drag and drop tools.
We love that users can browse through both free and paid templates. You can sort these by industry which makes selecting the right design to suit your brand's needs pretty easily.
If you're running an online store that focuses on art or design, Squarespace might be the best blogging platform for you. They offer an array of sophisticated design templates which are fabulous for ensuring your blog exudes character and professionalism.
Unfortunately, there isn't a free Squarespace plan for bloggers. This means you'll have to dive headfirst into the software. Their cheapest bundle is the ‘personal plan' coming in at $12 per month. However, if you want to start monetizing your blog (as most entrepreneurs do), you’ll have to shell out $18 per month for their ‘business plan.'
You should note: in recent years Squarespace has drastically improved its blogging services. Traditionally, when you took out the ‘Personal plan' you were limited creating and publishing 20 pages. Now no such cap exists- yay!
With Squarespace you'll also enjoy all the following benefits:
we come to Weebly (read our Weebly review). This is a hosted platform that enables bloggers to build a blog using drag and drop tools.
You'll be pleased to hear; no tech skills are required to make the most of Weebly's platform. If you're looking for something that's quick and easy to set up, then Weebly might be the best choice for you.
You'll have access to tons of blog themes. These are ready and waiting for you to use, all of which are easily customizable.
We love that Weebly offers users a free plan. That way bloggers can sample this service before committing any of their hard earned cash.
Unsurprisingly, if you want to export your blog from Weebly to another platform, it's difficult. Therefore, this doesn't give entrepreneurs the flexibility they need to change course if their online store expands.
After all that, this begs the question, which of these are the best blogging platforms?
In short, we think WordPress.org outshines all the others listed in this article. It's hands down the most flexible of all the options. Plus it's easy to use, affordable, and exudes professionalism- what could be better?
We hope this blog post helped you pick the best blogging platforms to suit the needs of your brand. If you have experience with any of these, please feel free to let us know in the comments. We love hearing from our readers and joining in with interesting conversation.
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