Is blogging a waste of time today?
Honestly, I hear that question about once a week.
The short answer is no.
Even though the world has become obsessed with online video and audio content during the past ten years, the written word has not taken a backseat.
The internet still runs on words. Without written content, nothing shows up in the search results, and people have no way of finding anything out. The number one website in the world is Google. Reddit and Wikipedia are in the top 10 sites in the world. They all run on text-based searches and written content.
Blogging still matters today if you want to grow your online reach. It’s a way to increase the keywords your site ranks for, and to offer value to your potential customers.
Which blogging platform is the best for business? Here are four great sites that can help you get started blogging and growing an audience online.
1) Blogger
Costs: Free
Pros: Google integration, able to earn money through ads, completely free.
Cons: Simple layout, no ability to build a full website.
Ask any old-school blogger which platform they started on, and chances are mention Blogger. That’s because Blogger has been around since 1999, and was purchased by Google in 2003. Blogger.com (also known as BlogSpot) is one of the most straightforward blogging sites on the web.
Even in 2023, Google’s free blogging platform offers a lot of great features. If you own a Google account, then you essentially already have a Blogger account.
If you want to start writing for free, then you can set up your site with a blogspot.com domain name. For a small fee, you can add your own domain name. As far as usability, it is one of the easier blogging platforms to use and provides a decent amount of free blogging templates that can be customized.
Because Blogger.com is a Google product, it easily integrates with other Google tools, such as Google Analytics. This integration is useful to gather information about your website’s visitors that can help grow traffic.
Also, if you are interested in earning money from displaying ads on your blog, then Blogger.com can easily be integrated with Google’s Adsense. Adding Adsense will display relevant ads on your blog and actually pay you money, which is a nice benefit.
Is there a downside to using Blogger? The main issue is that the layout and extra functionality is relatively limited. If you want to build an entire website that has a blog included, the Blogger may not be your best option.
Learn more about Blogger’s feature here.
2) WordPress
Price: $4 – $45 per month.
Pros: Ability to hose a full website, including your blog, ecommerce options, great support, and resources.
Cons: Free features and templates are limited.
WordPress is much more than just a blogging platform. It’s an entire website CMS (content management system) that offers blogging as one of its core features.
To give you an idea of the platform’s popularity, it’s estimated that 43% of all web sites in the entire world run on WordPress in 2023.
The platform can handle all the features and needs of most websites, including written, video, and audio content. It also has plugins for ecommerce, and just about any web-based application that you can imagine.
The free version of WordPress is available to create a simple website and to host your blog. The WordPress premium plans, starting at $48 a year, offer hundreds of themes, with lots of flexibility for a custom look. WordPress also provides expert support, and there are hundreds of free WordPress tutorials online to help improve your website look and functionality.
Learn more about WordPress’s features here
3) Typepad
Costs: $9 – $49/month
Pros: Dedicated blogging platform, ability to create content via email and mobile
Cons: Simple layout, no ability to build a full website.
Typepad is a purpose-built blogging platform aimed at the professional Blogger. It offers a ton of themes and design flexibility. It also offers neat features such as publishing from your email, a web browser, or a mobile app. It also easily integrates with Google Analytics and provides SEO features such as RSS feeds and link placement.
Typepad offers design customization for your blog with a Theme Builder. You also have the option to create your custom template or modify a pre-built theme with custom CSS. Typepad is also fully hosted and has support available.
Although there is no free option, you can do a 14-day trial for Typepad. The premium plans start at $8.95 per month for up to four blogs with unlimited storage.
Learn more about Typepad’s features here.
4) Medium
Price: Free to publish
Pros: Easy to use, high visibility for content, pre-built audience, ability to earn money
Cons: High competition, readers must pay for premium content
A relatively new platform in the blogosphere, Medium is the creation of Evan Williams, one of the founders of Twitter and Blogger. Com.
Medium is both a platform for sharing blog content, as well as consuming and interacting with other writers.
The Medium platform is easy to use and to publish content to. However, it offers very little in terms of customization. It is primarily a site for readers and does offer a lot of opportunities for your blog content to be read by a lot of people.
Rather than have your own site on Medium, you have a profile (similar to social media sites), and you add blog posts by publishing them. You can then gain followers and applause for your content, and can also be featured in different writing collections (called Publications).
If you are looking for a way to grow an online audience for your ideas, then Medium is a great way to get started. However, if you want to build a website of your own around your blog, then other sites like WordPress may be a better option.
Learn more about Medium’s features here.
Find The Right Place For Your Writing
Each Blogger will have different reasons for publishing their content online. Some only want to share with a niche audience and to grow a community. Other people want to use their blog to grow search engine traffic and increase the volume of keywords on your site.
Think about your long-term objectives when starting your blog, as it can be complicated to move a blog over to a new platform once you start publishing content.
No matter which blogging platform you choose, there is enormous value in sharing your ideas in the written format with your audience. Keep creating new content, and your online attention and traction will grow.