Blogging has come a long way since the 1990s, when sites like OpenDiary and LiveJournal first popularized the practice of sharing personal thoughts online. Today’s blogs serve both personal and professional purposes, and contemporary bloggers can choose from a wide range of online blog software solutions—from traditional blogging platforms like Tumblr and Blogger to all-in-one website builders like Shopify and Wix.
Here’s a look at five tips to help you identify the right blogging platform for you and eight popular blogging platforms. Whether you plan to create a daily blog post for friends and family or a powerful lead-generation tool for your online store, there’s a blogging platform for everyone.
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How to choose a blogging platform
There are many ways to start a blog and just as many blogging tools to consider. The right blogging platform depends on your goals, specific needs, and level of familiarity with web development skills. Here are five factors to keep in mind as you start your blogging journey:
1. Interface
Selecting a blogging platform with a user-friendly interface can support your blogging efforts. Instead of spending time wrestling with a clunky system, you can focus efforts on creating high-quality content for your audience. Many blogging platforms offer free trials that let you experiment with the interface and test its ease of use before purchasing a subscription.
2. Customizations
Different blogging platforms allow different levels of customization, so consider how you want your blog posts to look. Identify customizations that are important for your strategy, such as the ability to apply unique branding, control formatting, or determine the order in which posts appear.
3. SEO features
Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to helping a blog appear higher in search engine rankings. Many platforms include SEO tools designed to help you increase search engine visibility.
When evaluating a blog platform for SEO potential, consider both tools designed to support the SEO process and your intended goals. If one of your goals is to drive traffic to your website or online store, selecting a platform that integrates with your content management system (CMS) can ensure your blogging efforts support your site’s SEO performance.
4. Integrations
Many of the best blogging platforms offer integrations that let you connect your blog with third-party tools. Look for a platform that integrates with your other marketing tools, including your CMS (if you already have one), email service provider, social media accounts, and marketing analytics system. If you have yet to choose these tools, consider blogging platforms that have some of these features (such as analytics) built in.
5. Cost
Evaluate your budget and compare platform costs, keeping in mind that many free blogging platforms don’t offer custom domain names or require all content to live within the publisher’s content ecosystem, limiting SEO benefits to your online store.
Top blogging platforms
The following eight platforms can help novice and experienced bloggers start and run blogs that support their goals. Here’s an overview of features, pros, and cons to help you choose the best blogging platform for your business:
Shopify
Shopify is an all-in-one website builder designed to help ecommerce business owners design and launch attractive, functional online stores. All Shopify plans include hosting services and come with built-in blogging tools and advanced sales and marketing features. Unlike other blogging platforms, Shopify is specifically for ecommerce, making it a great blogging platform for online store owners.
Features
- Drag-and-drop functionality
- Hosting included
- Free subdomains
- Custom domain names available
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- More than 100 free and premium templates
- Advanced ecommerce functionality
- Mobile-friendly display
- Advanced customization options
- SEO tools
Cons
- No free plan
Price: Starts at $39/month
LinkedIn is a professional social media platform with more than one billion active users worldwide. It lets users write blog articles and distribute them within the platform. Because blog posts link back to user profiles, publishing posts on LinkedIn can help you earn followers and boost traffic to your profile.
One of the main benefits of blogging on LinkedIn is access to a built-in blog audience on the platform. The drawback is that LinkedIn blog posts provide minimal SEO benefit for your website or online store. Although you can add SEO metadata and optimize your blog posts for search, search engines will direct traffic to LinkedIn, not your ecommerce website.
Features
- Comment management tools
- Social sharing functions
- No domain name required
Pros
- No web development experience required
- Built-in access to a large professional audience
- SEO tools included
Cons
- Limited design flexibility
- Limited SEO benefits to your site
Price: Free
Tumblr
Like LinkedIn, Tumblr is a social networking platform that supports blogging features. It’s well-suited to publishing short blog posts (sometimes known as microblogs) and multimedia content like GIFs, images, and videos.
Unlike a LinkedIn blog, Tumblr blogs have unique domain names. The site offers free subdomains, and you can also add your own custom domain purchased from a third-party provider. Like LinkedIn, however, Tumblr blogs are confined to the platform, which means that they don’t directly support your site’s SEO efforts.
Tumblr also allows you to earn money blogging with monetization features like TumblrPost+, which lets bloggers provide exclusive content to paying subscribers. You can also make money by adding affiliate links or displaying ads on your blog.
Features
- Free tumblr.com subdomain
- Custom domain names available for a fee
- Social sharing functions
Pros
- Supports multimedia
- More than 1,000 free and premium themes
- Mobile friendly
- Monetization options
- Built-in audience
Cons
- Limited SEO benefits to your site
- Scheduling limited to 50 posts a day
Price: Free
WordPress
WordPress is an immensely popular content management system (CMS) and hosting provider. A WordPress blog is free, but web hosting and custom domain names aren’t offered with the free plan. Instead, you can purchase web hosting from WordPress or integrate the platform’s free blogging software with a third-party hosting provider like Bluehost or Hostinger. WordPress is also highly customizable and offers thousands of plug-ins and integrations, making it easy to connect a WordPress site to your other marketing tools, such as social media platforms.
Features
- Free subdomains
- Custom domain names available
- Drag-and-drop functionality
Pros
- Highly customizable
- Thousands of free and paid themes
- Nearly 60,000 integrations and plug-ins
- Integrates with Google Analytics
- Includes SEO tools
Cons
- Customizations can require technical knowledge
- The free tier displays WordPress ads
- Requires more maintenance than some competitors
Price: Free
Blogger
Blogger is a free blogging platform provided by Google. It’s easy to use and integrates with Google’s full suite of products—including Google Adsense, which you can use to monetize your professional or personal blog by hosting ads on your site.
Blogger offers fairly limited features compared to other platforms and you can’t install plug-ins, meaning you may need to switch platforms as your blog grows.
Features
- Automatic Google indexing
- Free subdomains
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Integrates with GSuite
- Customizable templates
- Monetization options
Cons
- Fewer customization options than some competitors
- Can’t install plug-ins
Price: Free with a Google account
Squarespace
Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder designed to help individuals build personal and business websites. It can also support ecommerce, although ecommerce functions are only available on more expensive plans and aren’t as advanced as some competitors’ offerings.
Squarespace blogs come with built-in analytics, but integrations with third-party tools are only offered through the site’s limited library of extensions.
Features
- Free domain name with annual plan
- Drag-and-drop functionality
- Web hosting included
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Integrates with GSuite
- Mobile-optimized templates
- More than 140 customizable templates
- Some plans support ecommerce
Cons
- No free plan
- Fewer integrations and customizations than some competitors
Price: Starts at $23/month for the Business plan
Medium
Medium is a digital publishing platform with an audience of more than 100 million readers and built-in social sharing and discovery tools, making for an easy way to start blogging and building your readership. It also offers monetization opportunities through the Medium Partner Program, which pays creators when Medium members engage with their content.
Features
- Free subdomains
- Ability to connect a custom domain name
- Internal recommendation engine
Pros
- Easy to use
- Built-in audience
- Monetization opportunities
Cons
- No SEO benefit to your website
- More limited customizations than some competitors
- High competition for readership
Price: Free
Wix
Wix is an all-in-one website builder that includes built-in blogging tools. Wix offers both free and paid plans; unlike many free platforms, it also offers no-cost hosting to users willing to display ads on their blogs.
Although Wix offers a drag-and-drop editor, advanced customizations require more web development experience than on some other platforms.
Features
- Free subdomain
- Free custom domain offered with paid plans
- Drag-and-drop functionality
- Free web hosting
Pros
- More than 800 templates offered
- Ecommerce functionality available with paid plans
- SEO tools offered
Cons
- Fewer customization options than some competitors
- Advanced customizations require web development knowledge
- Free version includes ads
- Free plan doesn’t integrate with Google Analytics
Price: Free plan offered; paid plans start at $17/month
Best blogging platforms FAQ
Which blog is best for beginners?
Beginners can benefit from using blogging platforms (like LinkedIn or Medium) or website builders (like Shopify and Squarespace). Ecommerce-first platforms like Shopify can be particularly effective tools for online business owners who want blog functionality on their sites.
What site do most bloggers use?
Which blogging platform is best for blogging?
The best blogging platform for you depends on your goals, budget, and level of technical web development experience. Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, and LinkedIn are all popular and reliable blogging platforms.
Can you use Shopify for blogging?
Yes. Shopify’s built-in blogging tools and advanced ecommerce features make it a go-to blogging platform for online business owners.
