Best Blogging Platforms of 2023 - SystematicBlogging Blog

The best blogging platforms make it simple and easy to set up and start a blog.

If you’re unsure about locating the top blogging platforms and selecting the suitable one for yourself, you’ve landed on the correct spot. Considering the multitude of blogging platforms available, this chore might seem exhausting.

Despite this, if you wish to link up with individuals who have similar interests worldwide and express your perspectives and notions with them, it’s likely that possessing a blog is essential, and to create one, you need a blogging platform.

Blogging platforms are chiefly designed to facilitate the swift and easy publication of content by authors, inclusive of articles, product reviews, or opinions on standalone websites, social networking sites, or email. In addition, these platforms can offer potent marketing tools and aid in branding since a thoughtfully crafted blog can enchant a broader audience and foster a global fanbase.

Before commencing with your creative writing to attract your global virtual visitors, selecting the most suitable blogging platform is crucial. We have curated a list of top-performing blogging platforms to aid you in your selection process, so make sure to review them thoroughly prior to taking any action.

Do You Even Need a Free Blogging Platform?

The fact is:

Blogging can come at a high cost.

As an experienced blogger with ample experience, you may have already identified which concepts are beneficial and which are not, making it simple to view such expenses as an inevitable aspect of your profession. Invest money to generate income, and continue the cycle.

Suppose you are a novice in the process of starting a blog. Suppose you have not yet discovered the effective and ineffective methods of blogging.

I have a secret to share with you…

You can conduct experiments equally effectively on a free blog platform as you can on a self-hosted WordPress blog with all the advanced features.

In fact, you can conduct better experiments on a blogging platform that is free because the difficulty level is not as high.

Are you prepared to bear the inevitable challenges of blogging while spending a substantial amount of money every month?

Using free blogging platforms enables you to verify the potential of your new blog theme, monitor your competitors in your area of interest, and experiment with your concepts without investing any of your hard-earned money.

What is the best platform for blogging?

That is the issue at hand:

No Blog Platform Is Right for Everyone

Various bloggers possess diverse requirements, and varying blogging platforms suit varying purposes. Ultimately, what is considered as the “best” will rely on your individual circumstance and needs.

Nevertheless, there are shared characteristics among the platforms we are about to examine, in addition to being free of charge. Before we proceed, let us take a quick glance at them.

There’s zero maintenance hassle. The burden of maintenance doesn’t fall on you when you use a free blog platform. No worries about software updates, CSS or HTML tweaks, data backups, or gremlins hacking your server — they’re all handled by someone else.
They’re easy to use. To varying degrees, each platform is user-friendly to newbies and beginners. With limited tech-savviness, you could get started today.
Customization is limited. If you’re a micromanager who likes things to be customizable, take a deep breath: you will not have full control or unlimited options when you use a free blogging platform.

The final one may have positive and negative consequences.

As you become more dedicated to blogging, the lack of customization opportunities on free platforms may become a hindrance. However, when you’re just starting out, these limitations can actually be helpful in keeping your focus on what truly matters: experimenting with your concepts, as previously mentioned.

Okay, let’s skip the introduction.

Are you prepared to discover the most suitable platform to initiate blogging? Let’s begin.

The best blogging platforms of 2023 in full:

1. WordPress

Although it was first developed as a blogging tool, WordPress now dominates more than 43% of all websites online, indicating its widespread appeal due to the excellent combination of uncomplicated usability and advanced capabilities it provides.

By paying for the full service, WordPress’s technical team can handle every aspect for you, including taking care of the domain name, web hosting services, and securing your site – it’s a comprehensive package.

Numerous WordPress themes are available online free of charge, providing various font options and customization possibilities. Moreover, specialized customer care services are given, Google Analytics can be quickly activated, and credit card transactions may be processed using a plugin.

The free level of WordPress is appropriate solely for non-commercial blogs, as it includes WordPress advertisements on your blog whilst prohibiting monetization.

One can download WordPress blogging software for free from WordPress.org and easily install it on a web hosting account. Many webhosts offer CPanel, which includes a one-click installation of WordPress, making the process hassle-free. This is the preferred option for numerous personal and business websites as it provides greater flexibility compared to paid website builder options, allowing for complete customization.

2. Blogger

Inquiring any veteran blogger about the platform they initiated their blog with would most likely result in them citing Blogger. Despite two decades passing, Google’s entry in the blogging world still offers various benefits over its counterparts, such as the convenience of having an already established Blogger account if you own a Google account.

If you’re operating on a tight budget, you’ll be pleased to know that Blogger is entirely free of charge. Additionally, you’ll be provided with a “blogspot.com” subdomain. Purchasing a custom domain name from a third-party domain registrar is required to use it, but it can be accomplished with just a few clicks.

Blogger is an uncomplicated blogging platform that also offers a selection of templates that can be further modified.

As it is a Google product, it seamlessly combines with other Google offerings such as Google Analytics, which supplies data on your website’s users that can be utilized to increase traffic.

Furthermore, by integrating your blog with Google AdSense, the content will be analyzed to showcase relevant advertisements to generate revenue. Essentially, you can finance your coffee expenses while enjoying a blogging session in Starbucks all night long.

Given all of its advantages, is there any justification for not utilizing Blogger? However, as your blog expands, it may ultimately surpass the fundamental blogging tools provided by Blogger. Furthermore, while not difficult, transferring from Blogger to a different platform may present some challenges.

Although Blogger is relatively basic and user-friendly for initial setup, it falls short in comparison to competing platforms like WordPress regarding flexibility and available tools.

3. Wix

Wix is a widely recognized player in the site-building market, catering to both personal and professional bloggers in need of a reliable platform to develop their online presence.

Wix provides a user-friendly platform for beginners in blogging with tailored features. It’s easy to use – select a template and personalize it to your liking. Nonetheless, if you wish to change your chosen template, you’ll have to restart building your site from square one, which can be a hassle.

Wix offers the advantage of previewing your blog template on both desktop and mobile interfaces before finalizing it. Moreover, Wix extends its blogging tools to individuals seeking self-promotion, brand establishment, audience expansion, or monetization.

Using Wix, you can build your blog at no cost (providing you have your own domain name arranged and are willing to include Wix branding on your blog). Plus, you can utilize Wix’s sophisticated SEO capabilities such as AMP & Schema to attract traffic to your blog and establish a customized SEO strategy to enhance your search engine visibility.

Wix’s scheduling feature enables bloggers to compose posts at their convenience and pre-plan a time for them to be published for maximum impact.

4. Jekyll

Jekyll, the most recent edition, functions as a “site generator” that has the capability of transforming plain text into static blogs and websites. The content is produced in TXT files that are stored in folders before building the site through the Liquid language templates. Afterward, Jekyll merges the content and templates to generate a website, which can be uploaded to a server. Those in need of a host can take advantage of the Jekyll integration to host their website for free on GitHub.

Although the Jekyll website provides a detailed “quick-start guide,” it lacks the ease and convenience of certain rival blogging platforms that allow users to accomplish everything through a web interface.

Jekyll’s advanced features include paginating posts, numerous plugins, excerpt rendering, templates, and community-maintained themes. Additionally, it facilitates the migration of blogs from other platforms.

An additional advantage is that the platform is free of charge, but there is no assistance from customer service except for support from the community. Furthermore, due to the fact that the job requires knowledge of the Ruby development environment, individuals without technical expertise may be discouraged from pursuing it.

5. Medium

Medium, which was launched in August 2012 to great acclaim by Evan Williams, one of the co-founders of Twitter, has become a giant in its own right. As of May 2017, the New York Times reported that this highly sought-after blogging site was drawing an impressive 60 million unique visitors every month.

What are the advantages?

Built-in audience of over 60 million readers!
Good for all blog types
Excellent typography — your blog will look professional
More business-friendly than WordPress.com
Monetization is possible with the Medium Partner Program

What are the drawbacks?

Little, if any, customization — your blog will look like every other Medium blog
Though Medium offers stats, you won’t be able to link to your Google account and use Google Analytics

6. LinkedIn

Although mainly utilized for networking in professional circles, LinkedIn features a publishing tool which enables any of its 560 million users (as of September 2018) to compose articles that may reach any of the 260 million monthly active members.

Once more, it is possible.

What are the advantages?

Good for professionals and business blogging
Clean, simple design
Ease of use — publishing platform is built right into your LinkedIn profile
Built-in audience of like-minded professionals

What are the drawbacks?

Only good for professionals and businesses
Very few customization options
You can’t schedule posts for future publishing

7. Instagram

Instagram is a popular social media website that allows users to share photos and videos with others. It is owned by Facebook and is one of the biggest sites in the world.

Instagram had a total of 1 billion users worldwide in June 2018, indicating a rise of 200 million compared to the previous September, when the platform had 800 million users, in a mere duration of nine months.

Instagram’s audience surpasses 75 individuals, even if we exclude those who follow Kardashians or have shared images of themselves pretending to be ducks.

I’m just kidding, but there is some truth to what I said.

What are the advantages?

Great for visual topics
Ideal platform for microblogging (short posts)
Great if your target audience primarily uses mobile devices

What are the disadvantages?

Limited to 2,200 characters
Limited to one hyperlink (in your bio)
If your target audience isn’t on mobile, it’s less than ideal

8. Guest Blogging

At times, utilizing a well-known blog belonging to another person is the optimal platform for showcasing your work.

The reason being that it can imply immediate credibility.

Being published on a website such as Smart Blogger, Forbes, Lifehacker, or Business Insider can change the way people perceive you.

Just yesterday, you were only yourself, a skilled and appealing writer residing in obscurity. However, after publishing your work on a reputable website, you are now regarded as an authority in your area of expertise.

What occurred? Guest blogging occurred.

What are the advantages?