While certain blogging sites may save you money, they may not be suitable for earning revenue from your website. The most lucrative blogging platforms are not necessarily the free ones.
It can be overwhelming for beginners to select from the numerous options available when starting a blog.
To start a blog, it is necessary to select a suitable blogging platform, a hosting package, a domain name, a blog theme, and other essential elements.
There is a wide range of blogging websites available, ranging from free to paid options. It is a crucial choice, as various blogging platforms have specific constraints on how blogging can generate income.
This article will evaluate the top blogging platforms available to assist you in determining the most suitable one for your needs.
Our extensive list caters to both new and seasoned individuals in the blogging and online entrepreneurship industry.
Now, without further ado, let us begin exploring the intricacies of every blogging platform!
Prior to discussing the top blogging platforms, it is important to understand the definition of a blogging platform and how it varies from blog hosting, as both are required.
What is a Blogging Platform?
The software that enables you to create, modify, and organize your blog posts is known as a blogging platform.
Content management systems in blogging can assist you in developing complete websites without the requirement for coding.
Their integrated functionalities cater to all aspects of blog development, including designing the appearance and facilitating monetization through ads or affiliate marketing.
Top-notch blogging platforms offer fundamental features to produce content such as a textual interface, drag-and-drop constructor, picture displays, and opportunities to insert video and audio contents.
Certain blogging platforms provide their users with customized design templates. On the other hand, some platforms give access to theme stores where professionally designed templates are available for modification.
Why Use a Blogging Platform?
CMS (Content Management System) is an alternative term for a blogging platform.
If you’re not a software or website developer, you may find it preferable to use a blogging platform instead of coding everything from the beginning. By doing so, you can avoid the coding aspect.
Paid vs Free Blogging Platforms
It’s important to remember that blogging platforms are essentially free, as hosting companies include them in their plans without charge. To clarify, you are paying for the hosting plan itself, not the platform.
However, overall, we tend to differentiate between blogging platforms that are free and those that require payment, as there are both free and paid options for hosting blogs.
If you are committed to blogging, it is recommended to choose a paid hosting plan, whereas if blogging is merely a pastime, a free hosting option is acceptable.
What is a Blog Hosting Site?
A blog’s online residence is provided by a blog hosting site. Your blogging platform holds all your multimedia content, and a web host is responsible for presenting that content to a broader audience.
Just like uploading videos or podcast episodes online requires a hosting company to host the audio and video files, blogging also follows a similar pattern.
There are several choices available to you when selecting a web hosting service for your blog. You can choose a free blogging platform such as Blogger or WordPress, or you can invest in a more extensive package that includes perks like boundless storage room and personalized domain names.
Sometimes, your blog hosting and blogging platform are integrated, but usually it is advisable to opt for separate services to receive superior quality and affordability.
Ensure that the option you select has exceptional customer support to assist you in case of any issues with your blog.
When we discuss the blogging platforms and the choices of web hosting, we will provide further elaboration.
What Exactly Is Blog Hosting?
Each website existing on the internet is maintained by a server. Therefore, to establish a blog, it is essential to have your website hosted on a server. A variety of enterprises offer server hosting services for websites.
By choosing a free blog hosting service, you’ll avoid the hassle of setting everything up on your own. However, this also implies that you won’t have complete control over your website. Your storage capacity may be restricted, and your domain may appear as something like yoursite.wordpress.com, which isn’t particularly professional. Furthermore, you won’t be able to fully monetize your blog.
To have a self-hosted blog, which means you’re responsible for your own hosting, you must obtain a plan, a domain, as well as install WordPress if you decide to use a paid blog hosting service. Although it may seem daunting, the process is relatively easy.
If you have been keeping up, you know that in order to monetize your blog, you must switch to a self-hosted platform.
Explore which blogging platforms you should choose.
What to Know About Free Blogging Platforms
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the top free blogging platforms; however, it’s important to be aware of their limitations beforehand.
Blogging platforms that are free typically have restrictions on the features available, design choices, and opportunities for earning revenue.
It should be kept in mind that free blogging platforms are intentionally restricted, prompting users to upgrade as they soon realize the need for additional features to expand and thrive.
Don’t Own Your Domain Name
You cannot usually use your own domain name on your website when using most free blog sites.
- Free blog site: createandgo.blogspot.com
- Paid blog site: createandgo.com
Limiting your branding potential may result in increased difficulty for individuals to discover your blog.
It also means anyone else is free to purchase that domain name if you don’t.
Limitations on How You Monetize
There are limitations in terms of the advertisement or affiliate marketing programs that can be leveraged for monetizing a website while using several freely available blogging platforms.
If you can’t monetize a free blogging platform, it’s not worth using.
Fewer Themes, Plugins, and Customizations
Free blogging sites typically offer fewer themes, plugins, and customization choices compared to paid options – possibly one of their most significant restrictions apart from their cost.
As a result, your ability to customize the appearance of your blog to your desired specifications and to incorporate essential software integrations such as SEO tools will be restricted.
The visibility of your blog in search engines and your income can both be influenced by this.
Lower Level of Customer Support
In conclusion, free blogging platforms usually lack the same quality of customer assistance found in paid platforms. Therefore, if you encounter a technical issue, you may not receive prompt assistance.
As someone who has gone through the process of designing a blog and familiarizing myself with these platforms, I can attest to the significance of understanding their workings. Though they may sometimes involve technical components and have a learning curve.
24/7 customer support is crucial for resolving any issues with your blog, such as accessibility problems caused by spam or any other reason, unless you are willing to hire a web developer for assistance.
11 Best Blogging Platforms to Make Money
1. WordPress
WordPress is highly favored among blogging platforms due to its exceptional quality.
You can utilize it for free and personalize it to your liking, with a vast array of functions available to assist you in generating income from your blog.
WordPress offers numerous plugins and themes to assist in crafting an exceptional blog layout. Furthermore, it provides supplementary plugins enabling the incorporation of functions including affiliate programs, advertisement networks, contact forms, and others.
We suggest opting for a third-party hosting provider for convenience and cost-effectiveness, although it’s also an option to have your WordPress site hosted on their server.
WordPress is available in two variations: WordPress.com, which is free, and WordPress.org, which requires payment.
WordPress.com offers a blogging platform at no cost, although you may have to subscribe to their premium plans on WordPress.org if you need more storage space or customized domain names.
Opting for a complimentary WordPress blog means that you will have restricted access to themes and plugins, as well as limited opportunities to monetize your blog.
2. Squarespace
In recent years, Squarespace has gained increasing popularity due to its drag-and-drop builder, which makes it easy to use. Small businesses will find this option particularly beneficial as it caters to beginners.
However, in regards to blogging, it is not very impressive.
- Squarespace is more expensive than WordPress since there are fewer hosting companies that provide this blogging platform.
- Squarespace is more limited with plugins, themes, and integrations.
3. Wix
For those who prefer drag-and-drop builders, Wix is a well-liked blogging platform that is user-friendly and likely more straightforward than WordPress.
Your website will display Wix advertisements and the limited features make the free version suboptimal.
To generate income from your blog, it is advisable to choose the paid option.
Now, there are a few things to keep in mind about Wix. If you just start a website that will have a few pages only, Wix can be a good option, but when it comes to blogging, it’s not ideal.
- Wix is more expensive than WordPress since there are fewer hosting companies that provide this blogging platform.
- Wix is more limited with plugins, themes, and integrations.
4. Blogger
Blogger, which is a blogging platform owned by Google, provides convenient access to Google AdSense, enabling you to generate advertising revenue with this no-cost blogging platform.
Despite the varied ways in which bloggers can earn an income, utilizing Google AdSense for ads may not be the most effective way to generate revenue. In essence, it’s not a straightforward process to monetize your content through this platform.
How to Start a Blog to Make Money
To sum up our discussion, if your goal is to earn money through blogging, WordPress with a self-hosting package is the most favorable platform.
Our suggestion is to go for hosting providers such as BlueHost, as they offer outstanding assistance and cost-effective packages. In my own experience, I opt for BlueHost to host the majority of my websites since it enables me to host multiple websites on a single plan.
Which blogging platforms are the best if blogging is a hobby?
If your blogging goal is not to earn money, you may choose the free version of WordPress available on WordPress.com, or go for alternatives like Wix or Squarespace.
If I realize I want to go self-hosted after launching a free blog, is there a way to do so?
In the future, it will be possible for you to move your website to a self-hosted platform, but this is a difficult task. When I moved my first website after a few months, all of my images were lost. It is wiser to consider a long-term solution to prevent any future issues.
Is it too late to start a blog?
Blogging is still alive and thriving. I suggest checking out my blog post on current blogging practices and effective strategies.
Final Thoughts On Blog Platforms
To reiterate, when selecting a blogging platform, it is advisable to consider the future. Comparatively, WordPress provides a wider range of features at a lower cost than its rivals.
The reason why it is so inexpensive to host a WordPress blog on BlueHost is because there are several other providers offering the same service at competitive prices. At BlueHost, you can easily host your blog for just a few dollars every month, and this figure is less than $5 for the same duration.
