Being a beginner at anything can be scary, but learning about starting a blog doesn’t have to be something that intimidates you. There will be a learning curve, but if you follow the right instructions, you will not hit as many bumps as someone without a guide. In this article, we are going to look at the 5 best hosting platforms for bloggers.
WordPress
We are not talking about wordpress.com, but instead we are talking about wordpress.org which is the self hosted version. If you are using wordpress.com, you do not own the platform your content is published on and your site could be shut down at anytime without a good reason. Having the self hosted version of WordPress will allow you to have control over every aspect of your site.
WordPress is a popular options because of how easy it is to customize. Customizing WordPress with themes and plugins will allow you to make your website look and function almost anyway that you would like. If you have a challenge with WordPress, chances are that there is a plugin that will help you fix it.
When it comes to ease of use, WordPress is almost certainly the best option for what you want and for that reason, WordPress is the most used hosting platform for bloggers. The easy installation process on most hosting plans and the ability to navigate without complicated code makes WordPress our first choice.
Wix
While Wix is much easier for a new blogger to learn, there are many functions and customizations that you may want to do and won’t be able to do them on Wix. If you want something that is pretty out of the box ready then Wix could be a good choice for you.
Wix allows you to start your website out with a blank slate or you can use one of their themes. There are around 500 themes that you can choose from so you are able to customize the site’s look and feel to work with your brand.
If you want to use the Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence) you can get online even faster. It takes the information that you give it and makes it into a functioning website. You may have heard that Wix is not good for SEO, but many of the issues that users have dealt with in the past have been worked through while going through growing pains.
Blogger
Another non-techie friendly blogging platform is Blogger. It was acquired by Google in 2003 and has been used by many people that do not understand the ins and outs of setting up websites. Since Blogger is part of Google, it can make it an attractive platform for people that want to have the security of the platform and the confidence in knowing that Google is going to stick around online.
While Blogger may be stable and attractive enough, there are a lot of things that can’t be done on this platform. You won’t be able to add more features when your blog becomes more popular. You’ll have to deal with what you have or totally transition your site to another platform which can turn into a big hassle. If you plan on growing your blog to a substantial size, you should look into another platform with more features. Blogging newbies that plan on staying small, this is a great platform for you to get started out for totally free and even be able to make money if you put ads on your blog.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a little different than most of the blog hosting platforms you are going to see. This platform is a “microblogging” platform and also has other social features added in. You can not only blog, but you are able to follow other blogs and “re-blog”. It is a much more social setting than other options that are available.
This is a fun platform if you enjoy being social and you plan on being a small bloggers or even if you want to have a small blog there to promote your larger blog, it will function for what you want. Serious bloggers should look at another option.
Medium
Medium has been getting a lot more attention lately. Introduced to the blogging world in 2012, Medium is now a community of bloggers, writers, journalists and other online experts that love to share. It is easy to use for blogging and does have some social networking features.
The ease of use (since there is no set up or coding) and ability to reach a community of people with similar interests, you don’t have to think about doing anything but putting out great content to the community.
As with many of the easier platforms, this one does have limited features and that includes how you are able to design the site and build your brand. This is an important part of your growth so if you start on Medium and want to grow you might want to change to a platform that is easier to customize.
Conclusion
Thinking about the future of your blog vs only thinking about what you need right now will keep you from going through annoying site changes which can be costly and time consuming. If you plan on starting a large blog that you want to customize and brand, our top pick is WordPress and thousands of other bloggers agree.
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