Nowadays anyone can start a blog and make money from it, thanks to the internet.
However, making good money is a bit tricky. The earning potential and the overall success of a blog immensely depend upon the blogging platform you choose.
As a result, I’ve researched and compiled a list of the 9 best blogging platforms for beginners to make money.
Each platform has its own pros and cons, so choose the one that matches your needs.
Now let’s not waste any time and get right to the point.
What is a Blogging Platform?
A blogging platform is software that allows a blogger to write, publish, and manage his blog.
It enables the blogger to create their own website and add features as they see fit.
Further, a blogging platform allows a blogger to customise and personalise his blog to stand out from the crowd.
It is a must-have for anyone who wishes to start a blog.
Here are some things to look for when choosing a blogging platform.
Read: WordPress vs Tumblr – Simple conclusion
What a Blogging Platform should have
Because there are so many blogging platforms to choose from, you must be wise about choosing the right one for you.
Let us first discuss the highlights that a blogging platform must have for you to select the best blogging platform.
Pricing
No blogger wants to spend money on things that have better alternatives at a lower cost. That is why the first thing you should look for in a blogging platform is price.
Fortunately, there are numerous blogging platforms to choose from.
Some blogging platforms provide basic features for free or at a low cost, while others charge a fee for advanced features.
Choose the one that best meets your current requirements.
Customizing
When I was thinking about starting a blog, I wanted to pick a blogging platform that would allow me to customise it exactly how I wanted.
Similarly, you may wish to have complete control over the customization of your blog.
In such cases, you should select the platform with the most customization options.
Tip: If you want complete control over your blog, the free blogging platforms probably won’t be the best option to choose.
Monetization
One of the most obvious benefits of starting a blog is that it enables you to earn money from it. As a result, monetization should not be overlooked when selecting a blogging platform.
Here are some monetization options for your blogging platform:
- The ability to run and post ads on your blog
- Adding membership content
- Adding affiliate links to your blog
- Selling other products
Some blogging platforms may allow you to include all of the features, while others may not.
So, if monetization is your primary motivation for starting a blog, you must select those that allow you to include these.
Ease of use
This entirely depends on your level of experience and your specific needs.
The platforms can be divided into two categories:
- Platforms that are made for only writing and publishing
- Platforms that lets you add additional functionalities along with writing and publishing
If your only goal is to write and publish blog posts, some of the free blogging platforms may be suitable for you.
On the other hand, if you are ready to play around with code and want to add extra features as you want, choose the advanced blogging platforms.
Your goal
There are numerous blogging platforms available on the Internet, each designed for a specific purpose.
Some blogging platforms support long-form content blogs while others support infographics and videos.
Knowing your own goal and the type of content you’ll be creating allows you to narrow down the best blogging platform for your needs.
Here comes the nine best blogging platforms to make money.
Best Blogging Platforms for Making Money
1. WordPress
Best: For beginners looking for an all-purpose blogging platform.
Major focus: Full control of your blog
Pricing: WordPress comes free with a hosting plan (hosting plan – $2.95/m).
Pros:
- Free with a hosting plan
- It is easy to use
- You get full control of your blog
- Lets you customise your blog
- Can add numerous monetization features
Cons
- It takes time for beginners to get familiar with it
- Can require basic technical knowledge
- Building from scratch is time-consuming
No matter where you go or which blog you read, WordPress will rank in every content that talks about “the best blogging platforms”.
WordPress is a self-hosted blogging platform that is well-known for its user-friendly features and functionalities.
It is by far the most popular blogging platform in the world, powering approximately 43.2% of the entire internet.
This blogging platform includes a plethora of plugins and additional themes to help you customise your blog to your liking.
To get free WordPress, you must first purchase a domain name and a hosting plan. When you buy a Bluehost web hosting plan, you’ll get everything in one package (Domain name, hosting, and WordPress). It is available for as little as $2.95 per month.
If you want complete control over your blog and want to use a blogging platform, WordPress is the way to go. It is one of the best blogging platforms for making money.
2. Medium
Best: For people who want to start blogging in the quickest and cheapest way.
Major focus: Writing and publishing
Pricing: Free.
Pros
- It’s a free and simple interface blogging platform
- Your blog posts are promoted for free by the platform.
- No technical knowledge is required.
Cons
- Medium’s audiences and algorithms are heavily relied upon.
- Many monetization methods are not supported.
- You don’t own your domain name.
- There is no customization.
Imagine blogging on a platform which, along with giving you the ability to write and publish, also gives you readers for free. Yeah, that’s Medium.
Medium is a blogging platform designed specifically for blogging.
If you want to start a blog right away, and for free, you can use Medium. All it takes to start a blog is to sign up, select a topic, write about it, and…publish. That’s all.
When you publish a story on Medium, it is published on the platform and gets shared with the platform’s existing readers. Medium pays you a small amount when paid readers spend time reading your post.
Nice.
The only drawback is that when you write on Medium, your content gets stuck in its environment. You don’t get many opportunities to reach a wider range of audience. Plus, the platform doesn’t pay you much.
As a result, it may not be the best option for you.
However, if your goal is simply to begin blogging, Medium may be a good place to start.
3. Blogger
Best: For getting started for free and test your skills
Major focus: Provide basic blog features for free.
Pricing: Free.
Pros
- It is free of charge.
- Provide numerous paid features for free.
- Provides you with a free domain name.
Cons
- Doesn’t contribute much to SEO.
- The blog may get deleted at any time.
- Old-fashioned design templates
If you are not yet ready to invest dollars in blogging but want to get started, then blogger can be a good place to start.
Blogger, like Medium, is a free blogging platform that allows you to write and publish blogs.
It was founded in 1999 by Pyra Labs, was later acquired by Google and is still a Google product.
It is one of the top ‘free’ blogging platforms because it provides many paid blogging features for free (though it lacks some features).
The platform includes some design templates and allows you to customise them. It also provides you with a free Blogspot domain that can be converted into your own domain.
The biggest downside of using Blogger is that you’ll have very little control over your own blog.
As it is a free platform offered by Google you’ll always be on their radar. A little violation of the policy can get your entire blog and its data deleted.
Furthermore, Blogger’s templates are outdated and do not provide a good user experience.
So, if you want to create a blog over which you have complete control, Blogger might not be the best option.
4. Wix
Best: For beginners with no technical knowledge who want to start a blog.
Major focus: Customization.
Pricing: Wix has a free plan and a paid plan that ranges from $18 to $56 per month.
Pros
- Easy-to-use
- It includes an AI tool that creates the blog exactly how you want it.
- Use of SEO tools
- A variety of professional-quality designs and templates are included
Cons
- High cost
- The free plan displays Wix ads that won’t pay you any money
- You lose all your content if you change the theme
Another best blogging platform for making money is Wix.
Wix is a cloud-based software that allows anyone with no coding or design experience to create a website on their own.
With its drag-and-drop website builder, you can create a professional-looking blog in under 10 minutes.
The platform also includes an artificial intelligence tool that will create and customise blog pages for you.
Simply answer a few questions, and the AI will generate pages, menus, and layouts for you.
Wix even has a mobile app that allows you to access the platform and its features at any time.
The free version provides basic functionality that is adequate for a standard blog. However, if you want to sell and have access to more advanced functions, you should consider the paid plan.
5. Squarespace
Best: For people who want to create a professional-looking blog
Major focus: Customization
Pricing: $16/m – $50/m
Pros
- You will have access to hundreds of professional templates.
- Drag-and-drop builder for beginners
- Compatible with a wide range of SEO and marketing tools
Cons
- Expensive
- Far fewer software integration options than WordPress
- Far fewer theme and plugin options
Another blogging platform that is known for its ease of use and professional-looking designs is Squarespace.
Squarespace, like Wix, includes a drag-and-drop website builder that allows any beginner to create a blog with no technical knowledge.
Since its inception in 2004, the platform has provided many popular bloggers with the ability to create powerful blogs. It even includes some professional-looking design templates to make your blog look stunning.
The Squarespace mobile app makes it easy for any blogger to easily edit their blog and make changes.
You can also use this platform to start a blog, podcast, or e-commerce store. It allows you to create 1000 pages, which is a great benefit of using this platform.
The only major drawback of Squarespace is that it does not provide a free plan for you to create your blog. The only thing it has for free is a “free trial”.
The paid plan starts at $12/m and goes up to $50/m, offering features to start and grow your blog.
6. Hubpages
Best: For people who want to simply start writing and earn quick money
Major focus: Writing and publishing
Pricing: Free
Pros
- It is free and simple to join
- More options for monetization than Medium
- Content is shared with internal audiences
Cons
- You have no authority over your content
- If Hubpages deems your blog to be inappropriate, they may delete it
- You have no control over the placement of advertisements
Yet another blogging platform that is just as same as Medium.
Hubpages is a blogging platform that provides writers with their own mini space to write and publish blogs that are then shared with the platform’s existing readers.
Unlike Medium, which generates revenue through a membership model, Hubpages uses ads monetization to generate revenue and divides it into a 60/40 ratio. 60 to you, 40 to them.
Furthermore, Hubpages allows you to monetize your blog with other revenue models, such as affiliate marketing, which can be a great way to earn more money.
If you are a freelance writer or someone looking to supplement your income through writing, Hubpages is a good place to start.
7. Ghost
Best: For building a minimalist blog.
Major focus: Simple design blogs
Pricing: Price starts from $11/m
Pros
- Easy to learn
- Built for blogging
- Full control over your content
Cons
- You’re only limited to blogging
- Not the cheapest option
- Fewer themes and customization options
Similar to WordPress, Ghost comes with a library of plugins and functions to add the features you want.
It also offers an open-source platform like WordPress that enables you to get full control over your blog.
The self-hosted plan can be good for beginners. However, more advanced features will require you to pay a more premium price.
Unfortunately, Ghost doesn’t offer a free plan for these plans which can be a major downside of this platform.
The biggest thing that differentiates Ghost from WordPress is that Ghost is built only for bloggers, publishers, and writers.
8. Tumblr
Best: For writers and other content creators looking to easily monetize their work.
Major focus: Social media type look
Pricing: Free
Pros
- Tumblr is free to join and easy to setup
- You can also use your own domain name
- You can share a variety of content
- Lots of options to monetize your content
Cons
- The design options are limited
- You don’t own the site
With a combination of both a blogging platform and a social media platform, Tumblr is one of the best places to publish your content.
Tumblr allows you to share a wide range of content, including short blogs, long blogs, photos, videos, chat with other bloggers, and even re-posts.
You can use Tumblr’s domain name or buy your own.
You can also choose one of the platform’s templates for your blog’s design or create your own.
It is an excellent platform for new bloggers to launch their blogs and gain traffic from both internal and external audiences.
Tumblr monetization is beneficial because the platform provides numerous revenue models for publishers.
Some of them are:
- Display ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling your own work
- Sell membership content
This makes Tumblr one of the best blogging platforms for making money.
9. Weebly
Best: For people who want to create a simple yet beautiful-looking blog
Major focus: Drag-and-drop builder
Price: Weebly offers a free product tier, while paid plans range from $6 – $26 per month.
Pros
- Easy-to-use site builder
- You can access dozens of themes via the Weebly App Centre
- You don’t lose content on changing themes
Cons
- Not the greatest backup system
- Bloggers are not the main focus
Weebly is a blogging platform that, in terms of design, is almost similar to Wix because it uses the same drag-and-drop builder. However, Weebly is quite limited.
Building a website the way you want is a bit harder on Weebly than it is on Wix, WordPress, and Substack.
However, the major plus point of Weebly is that you don’t lose content when you change your theme.
Weebly also comes with an app store providing you with the ability to extend your site’s functionalities.
Conclusion: Which is the best blogging platform for making money?
So this was my complete list of the 9 best blogging platforms to make money.
As discussed before, each platform comes with its own list of pros and cons. So you’ll have to choose your platform wisely.
You can either start with a free blogging platform or use a platform like Wix to create a beautiful blog.
However, if your primary goal is to monetize and grow your blog, I strongly advise you to use WordPress.
Its functionalities, plugins, and ability to control your blog make it the ideal blogging platform.
FAQs for best blogging platforms
What should I look for in a blogging platform?
There are certain features and functionalities you must look for in a blogging platform to determine if It’s right for you.
- A simple content editor
- Themes and templates
- SEO features and tools
- More monetization methods
- Ability to add extra features
What do you think is the best blogging platform?
WordPress.
WordPress is the best blogging platform that comes with a lot of features and functionalities that are just made for blogging.
Which is the easiest platform to start blogging?
Medium.
Medium is the platform where you can easily start writing and publishing a blog. Its easy-to-use content editor makes it simple for any beginner to start blogging.
How often should I post a blog on my site?
There is no defined frequency as to how many times you must post. However, consistency is the biggest key here. If you decide to post once per week or thrice then maintaining that consistency is the way to grow your audience.
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