Choosing a Blogging Platform

Since I've been doing a lot of Book Reviews I figured that I should switch it up and give you guys some new kind of content. Today I am going to discuss my favorite blogging platforms, the best free blogging platforms, and what would work for you.

First off I doubt that any of you reading this are coding/computer/tech geniuses, so I'm going to stick with the easy platforms that require no coding skills.

Second, you guys need to think about just what kind of blog you want to make. This will greatly impact the platform you should choose.

And last of all do you want one that has a free option so you can try it out first, or do you want to go ahead and spend some money right away?

1. WordPress.org

WordPress.org is the world's most popular blogging software. WordPress.org might be easy to confuse with WordPress.com but they are very different. WordPress.org is an opensource program that allows you to build your own blog or website this version of WordPress requires a little more tech savvy than the other.

The Pro's

• You have more control over every aspect of your website/blog.
• You can add more extra features like online store, forums, etc.
• Thousands of available themes so that you blog can look just how you want it to.

 The Con's

• Managing your own website can be a bit difficult.
• You will have to manage your own security and backups.
• It's a bit more work. 

2. WordPress.com

WordPress.com offers a very basic blog blog hosting service for free, but I find that to get a nice, professional-looking blog you need to pay for the premium services. I also find that Blogger shows up better in online searches than WordPress and has advertising options.

The Pro's

• Easy to use.
• Easy to manage.
• No set-up required.

The Con's

• Limited options to improve your site.
• No advertising options
• You do not own your blog.

3. Blogger

Blogger is completely free and it is very easy to use no tech savvy required.

The Pro's

• Completely free
• Easy to use
• Has Google's security and reliability

The Con's

• Limited to basic blogging tools
• The design option is pretty limited

4. Tumblr

Tumblr is a bit different from other platforms because it is a micro-blog with many social networking features like follow other blogs, reblogging, etc.

The Pro's

• Free.
• Easy to use.
• As a microblogging tool, Tumblr makes it easy to quickly blog videos, GIFs, images, and audio.

The Con's

• Very limited.
• No additional features.
• Importing it can be a bit difficult.

5. Squarespace

Squarespace has some of the most beautiful themes out of all of the Blogging Platforms I have tried so far, but it will cost you at least 12 dollars a month. 

The Pro's

• Easy to use.
• Very visually appealing.
• Has an eCommerce store.

The Con's

• Pricey.
• Limited features.
• Limited pages, contributors, and blogs.

6. Wix

Wix is easy to use with it's drag and drop tools, but it is mostly geared towards websites and not blogs. 

The Pro's

• It offers a lot of customization options.
• Easy to make.
• No coding or computer savvy required.

The Con's

• Free account is limited.
• Third Party apps are limited.
• The free account shows adds on your site.
• You cannot change your template.

On this blog post I only talked about the platforms that I have experience with. If you don't find the blogging platform you were looking for in here don't worry there are many others, I just didn't want to talk about platforms that I had no experience with.