Do you wish to find the topmost blogging platforms that facilitate your ability to publish your written content online?
One can utilize blogging to enhance their brand and attract an audience. By providing value to readers, you can compel them to repeatedly visit your site and explore your offerings. Blogging aids in establishing your expertise in a particular field, fostering a relationship with customers, and generating fresh prospects for progress.
This guide will explore the benefits of utilizing blog builders to create a professional website within mere hours. It will also delve into the top content management systems and how to determine the ideal blog website builder to suit your requirements.
The Benefits of Utilizing a Blogging Platform
It is essential to utilize a well-established blog platform, whether you are blogging for fun, starting a new enterprise, or extending the content on an existing website.
By using a website builder to establish a blog, you can select from a range of pre-made templates and make minor adjustments to the images and text. The necessary coding, such as page navigation, social media integration, and search engine optimization (SEO), has already been accomplished for you. The website building software also includes SEO tools for further modifications.
In addition to being a basic blog, blogging sites often offer additional features like an Ecommerce shop, image gallery, or discussion board. The best website builders allow for easy integration of these features alongside your blog.
The Top 8 Best Blogging Website Builders
1. Squarespace
Attractive designs suitable for a blog that emphasizes images.
Ideal for: Blogs focused on photography and sites with a high volume of images Pricing: Starting at $14 per month Free option: Not available
One aspect where Squarespace distinguishes itself among website builders is its contemporary templates. In addition, its SEO features are top-notch and the platform is relatively easy to navigate.
Squarespace shines in its blogging capabilities, featuring categories for organizing posts, comment functionality, easy-to-use RSS feeds, social sharing, and the ability to schedule posts. This impressive suite of blogging tools positions Squarespace not only as a top-tier website builder, but a leading blogging platform as well.
The reason behind our choice of Squarespace is its provision of a broad selection of expertly designed templates that are both aesthetically pleasing and adaptable for mobile use. The templates can be personalized, giving committed bloggers the ability to form an exclusive and visually impressive blog.
Advantages:
Remarkable designs crafted by experts.
Excellent tools for editing blogs.
Effective integration of Ecommerce and marketing tools.
Drawbacks:
Does not have integrated web analytics.
There is a restriction on the amount of customization that can be done.
2. Wix
This website editor offers the greatest level of flexibility.
Ideal for: Individuals who prefer extensive customization options for their blog. Cost: Starting at $4.50/month. Gratis version available.
Wix, which tops our list of website builders, boasts impressive blogging capabilities and stands out as a premier design tool for crafting a polished website. With a selection of nearly 1,000 templates to choose from, the website editor is also exceptional.
If you desire more control over the appearance of your blog, Wix is a suitable option as it allows you to precisely position website elements using the drag-and-drop feature in its editor. Although mastering Wix’s user interface may take some time, it is worth the effort as it can result in a rapid and polished blog.
The reason for selecting Wix is because it provides a vast range of themes equipped with a functional and integrated blog component. These themes are tailor-made for blogging, making it easy for you to focus on regularly generating and publishing content without any hassle.
Advantages:
Extensive collection of templates.
Mobile devices are excellent for browsing websites.
An analytics tool that is built-in and of excellent quality.
Disadvantages:
Expensive price plans belong to the high-tier category.
The learning curve for the user interface is higher than that of the majority.
3. WordPress.com
The blogging tool that is the most widely used globally.
Ideal for: Websites with a focus on traditional blogging Price: Starting at $15 per month Free option available: Yes
On this list, WordPress.com stands out as the blogging-focused website builder with the largest selection of templates and plugins tailored towards blogging, making it the most widely used blogging tool worldwide.
WordPress.com possesses a traditional essence of a blogging tool, despite having similar drag-and-drop site design tools as Wix and Squarespace and an Ecommerce solution known as WooCommerce. With its blog editor, users are empowered with the essential features to produce expert-level blog posts that compare to the finest online publications.
Our decision to use WordPress was based on the desire to have the flexibility to work on our blog from anywhere. The Jetpack mobile app offered by WordPress.com is a sophisticated tool that enables seamless blogging on-the-go. It permits you to create as many drafts as you want, publish them from any device, and even schedule automatic social media updates for the time that suits you.
Advantages:
There is an extensive collection of plugins and widgets.
Impressive display
Tools for blogging that are more sophisticated.
Drawbacks:
Support offered to customers is limited.
The learning curve is quite steep.
4. Weebly
An ideal website builder that strikes a good balance between simplicity and a comprehensive range of features.
Ideal for: Individuals who blog for personal reasons and do not require extensive customization. Cost: Starting at $5 per month. Free version available? Yes.
Weebly’s popularity as a website builder for personal use can be attributed to its reasonably priced subscription models and free ad-supported plan. The platform’s blogging capabilities are exceptional, featuring support for diverse user profiles, social bookmarking, an internal search engine, and viewer comment options.
Although Weebly’s pricing is great and can compensate for its lack of site customizability, it can be difficult to alter the templates provided if they do not suit your preferences. Nevertheless, if you are content with the default appearance of your website, Weebly may still be a viable option.
The reason for selecting Weebly is that their blogging templates are available for free and offer novice bloggers all the essential tools to express themselves through writing without any commitments.
Advantages:
Affordable pricing options.
An editor that can be operated with ease using drag-and-drop.
The blogging platform boasts powerful features, including an integrated search function.
Disadvantages:
Does not have much room for customization.
The analysis of customer data is restricted.
5. Zyro
Create a blog by utilizing a straightforward grid design.
Ideal for straightforward and timeless blog formats, starting at $8.99 per month and devoid of a free plan.
Zyro, a more recent website builder, is known for its user-friendly interface despite its limited design customization compared to platforms such as Wix. Nevertheless, its ADI builder is reliable in generating a website based on your responses to a survey, and the drag-and-drop editor is extremely convenient.
Zyro provides social sharing and SEO functionalities for blogging along with the provision of multiple writer profiles. However, Zyro’s scope for utilizing a blog as a key aspect of your website is limited due to the absence of a blog search feature and the inability of visitors to leave comments.
We selected Zyro because their website builder is best suited for users who desire straightforward portfolio or eCommerce site builders. Furthermore, they continuously improve their ability to create blogs. However, the blog also provides valuable knowledge, motivation, and entrepreneurial recommendations that can enhance your blogging abilities and help establish an exceptional website.
Advantages:
User-friendly
Templates with a fashionable design.
The pricing for the introduction is impressive.
Cons: Disadvantages or drawbacks.
There is no option to search for blogs.
There is an absence of user comments.
6. Gator
Gator, a straightforward drag-and-drop website builder and blogging platform, developed by the widely-known hosting provider HostGator, can be utilized to construct various types of websites, like blogs and online stores.
The Gator builder and HostGator’s website hosting are not the same. Although several bloggers initiate their blogs using HostGator hosting with WordPress, Gator presents an all-in-one hosting solution with a blogging platform. This feature allows you to regulate all aspects of your website from a single location.
Pros of Gator
- User-friendly, drag-and-drop website builder and blogging platform
- Quick & easy setup with no technical know-how needed
- Free domain name and SSL certificate included
- Performance, security, and backups handled by HostGator
- Adding ecom functionality only takes a few clicks
Cons of Gator
- No free account, but there is a money-back guarantee
- Limited apps and extensions
- Can only access ecom features with higher-priced plan
Pricing
Gator offers three distinct website and blog builder packages, with the Starter option beginning at $3.84 per month and featuring complimentary hosting, domain name, and SSL certificate, an intuitive drag-and-drop builder, numerous editable templates, inbuilt site analytics, as well as around-the-clock assistance.
For a monthly fee of $5.99, the Premium plan provides all features included in the Starter plan alongside priority support. Moreover, the eCommerce plan which commences at $9.22 a month presents all the functionalities in the previous plans and incorporates eCommerce capabilities.
7. Constant Contact
Although Constant Contact is popular for its email marketing services, they also state that they possess the greatest website construction and ecommerce platform in the industry. I tend to be skeptical of such assertions, but despite not being overly impressed with the web builder, it does have several positive aspects.
Besides utilizing AI to create a website on your behalf, it also guides you through the procedure of constructing the site in a clear and uncomplicated way, in contrast to Wix.
In just a few minutes, you can create a website by informing the platform about your site’s nature, selecting a title, incorporating an image or a logo, choosing a color palette, and selecting the font. If you have existing material, the process is even quicker.
Pros of Constant Contact
• Creating a website is effortless with AI • You won’t be overwhelmed by complex features and choices • Superior email capabilities • Analytics are straightforward to comprehend, yet thorough • A free plan with ample features
Cons of Constant Contact
The features offered are rudimentary and lack appeal for expert users. The design falls short of impressive. Additionally, setbacks in the backend occur periodically.
Pricing
Constant Contact offers three pricing plans. These include a Free plan, a $10 per month Starter plan, and a Business Plus plan for $20 per month.
The Free plan presents a considerable amount of features. To be specific, it comprises all the previously mentioned features and even more, which is impressive considering it doesn’t cost a dime. Nevertheless, there are certain conditions attached.
One example is that using a custom domain name is not an option with Constant Contact, only a subdomain. Additionally, Constant Contact advertising is displayed on your website. Paid plans include $200 in ad credits for Google and Bing which are not available with the free option. Selling more than three products or accessing phone support is also restricted. It should be mentioned though, these limitations are common in many other free web building plans.
For those seeking a website with a more polished appearance, the Starter plan is ideal. For only $10 per month, you can enjoy all of the benefits of the free plan and more, without the burden of using an unprofessional subdomain or featuring Constant Contact advertisements all over your site. Moreover, this intermediate plan enables you to market up to 10 goods, which is perfect if you’re interested in starting out with ecommerce.
If your primary aim for creating a website is to engage in ecommerce, then the best plan to opt for would be the Business Plus option. This particular plan offers the ability to sell an infinite amount of products and also provides access to more advanced and intricate analytics. The most notable advantage of this plan is that it eliminates the three percent transaction fee that is imposed by the other two plans.
8. Drupal
Drupal is an ideal choice for corporate blogs as it offers not only blogging services, but also a comprehensive content management system. This implies that additional web pages and online materials can be designed and arranged within this system in addition to the blog. Drupal does not provide domain hosting for its users, making it necessary for bloggers to look for an alternate hosting platform. Furthermore, Drupal is not beginner-friendly and better suited for those migrating from a free blogging platform than for beginners making their initial foray into blogging.
Pros of Drupal
- Great for building advanced, feature-rich sites
- Access to tons of free modules and features
- Custom content types for added flexibility
- Built-in access control system helps manage user permissions
- Great taxonomy system for handling tons of data
- Core multilingual site support
Cons of Drupal
- Not very beginner-friendly and as easy to use as WordPress or Joomla
- Installation requires technical expertise
- Need to add modules to get rid of Drupal’s out-of-the-box feel
Pricing
Since Drupal is an open-source software, it is available for free.
