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The question of what platform to use to start a blog is one that comes up often. When you’re planning on starting a blog or online business, you obviously want to make sure that you make smart decisions about what to blog about, who to blog for and, of course, where to put that blog.

And there are probably even more options than you think. Aside from the major platforms like WordPress or Blogger, you could consider Squarespace or Solo Build It! or Wix. You might look at Typepad or Blogger or Tumblr. Perhaps you’ve even toyed with the idea of publishing straight to LinkedIn or Facebook.

Which begs the question, which is the best place to start a blog?

While there’s no definitive right answer since there are going to be variables unique to you and your goals, what we can do is walk through the points you need to think about. By the end of this article, you will know the best platform to start a blog for you.

So I’m going to give you a tool, a shiny new tool called, “Discernment.” What this tool can help you do is peer through the sales and marketing language, the opinions of friends and gurus, and see the truth of that’s really good for you. A Drupal developer may tell you that Drupal is the most powerful platform you could choose. Whereas the CEO of a competing platform may tell you their’s is the best. Who do you believe?

Discernment is the ability to judge well. And make no mistake, you’re about to pass judgement. What I’m going to give you is a series of arguments, sprinkled with a smidgeon of fact (and perhaps a dash of opinion), so that you can judge for yourself which platform is best for you to start a blog on.

Ready?

Blogging Platform Question #1 – Why Are You Blogging?

The first argument or question you need to ask is your Why. Why are you starting a blog? Is it for fun, or for a business? If it’s for a business, is the blog the whole business, or will the blog simply be part of the overall marketing that’s going on to support a larger business?

You see, if you’re blogging for fun, then you certainly don’t need to invest a lot of money into a fancy blogging platform. You can build a free blog at WordPress.com or Blogger.com and focus on doing whatever it is you enjoy and want to blog about.

If the blog is or is for your business, that’s different. You’ve now eliminated every free option.

Why?

Because a free blogging platform will not provide you the most effective opportunity for building an actual business. Free platforms may lack:

  • Complete business branding capability
  • Truly effective monetization options
  • Total control over the reader experience
  • Total ownership over your content

And while you may be able to compensate for some or even all of the above, there’s one underlying truth about every free platform: it’s free, and everyone knows it’s free.

Which means every reader who comes to your blog, and you’re treating it like a business, is going to question your professionalism and commitment. As you’ll see in a moment, the difference between a free blog and a paid blog is so inexpensive, there’s no reason not to invest in a professional domain and blog.

“The first thing you need to decide when you build your blog is what you want to accomplish with it, and what it can do if successful.”

– Ron Dawson

So now that we’re on the same page with regard to your Why when it comes to blogging, we can move on to some additional considerations and questions.

Blogging Platform Question #2 – What Is Your Budget?

The second argument or question you need is ask is basically How Much? How much can you afford to invest in your new blogging venture? If your answer is ’nothing’ go back and re-read the preceding section. You definitely need to spend some money here but it doesn’t have to be a lot.

The question is important though because the difference between $5/month versus $50/month in budget may mean that you need to take on more responsibility with regard to maintenance and self-education. Someone who is willing to learn how to build and manage their blog themselves can save a lot of money that way (at the cost of their own time, of course).

If, however, you prefer to be hands-off and give others direction while you focus on the more profitable aspects of your business, you can prepare to invest more into the blog.

Let me give you an analogy:

My old house was on a 1/4 acre lot so our yard area which needed to be mowed throughout the summer months was incredibly small. It might take me just 30 – 45 minutes to run over the whole thing with a push mower. A professional landscaper on a ride-behind mower could knock the whole thing out in 20 minutes. To have them do that, along with trimming and weeding, cost me just $25. Meanwhile, I can put an extra hour into my own blogging business, and I value my time at significantly more than $25/hour. So for me that’s a no-brainer – always pay someone else to mow the lawn.

If you already have a business in place and are using a blog as a part of a Content Marketing strategy, by all means, invest in a great platform and some professional assistance setting it up. If, however, the blog is your business and you’re building this up yourself, not only is it more cost-effective for you to learn and go through the building steps yourself, that knowledge will serve you well in the months and years ahead.

Every blog has the same basic costs to consider:

  1. Domain Name Registration & Annual Renewal – typically under $20/year
  2. Website Hosting / Platform Fee – starts at $3/month and up
  3. Blog Maintenance & Updates – free if you do it yourself, varying monthly fees for assistance

You may want to purchase a design that you install and customize, or even pay for professional design. You may also want to pay for additional features (often referred to as Plugins) that come at a premium.

Blogging Platform Question #3 – What Experience Do You Have?

Before you make any decisions on how you’re going to allocate budget, let’s talk frankly about your technical background.

Are you already familiar with one or more platforms? Are you comfortable with using or learning things like HTML code, CSS, Photoshop? Are you willing to watch a lot of YouTube videos?

Some platforms are more complex than others to learn and master. Generally, most bloggers should look for a happy medium between high functionality and high programming expertise needed. You will likely want to be able to create a nice blogging site that has the features and functions you need, while still being able to easily maintain it.

You may also want to look into some platforms that provide additional training when it comes to blogging and running a business. Certainly there is a lot that you can learn here, but other sites provide a more structured learning environment.

Blogging Platform Question #4 – What Is Your Longterm Plan?

The final argument or question when considering where to start your blog is your longterm plan. What is your vision for your blog over the next 2 – 5 years? I get that you may not even know yet, but it’s worth taking the time to consider the possibilities. If you don’t, you may find yourself needing to migrate or even completely recreate your blog within 12 months and that’s not a good problem to have.

A lot of this has to do with monetization – how you plan to make money from your blog content. Will you run ads, or are you just using the content to establish authority and drive traffic to services that you offer?

Will you sell products, or perhaps create affiliate relationships with trusted brands that you can represent?

“If you think monetizing your site is wonderful, fine. If you think it’s evil, fine. But make up your mind before you seriously consider starting down this path. If you want to succeed, you must be congruent.”

– Steve Pavlina

Along a different line, do you hope to grow your blog’s traffic significantly? That might sound like a Duh question, but some bloggers are so niched down they understand they will never get more than 1,000 page views a month, yet are completely happy with that due to the potential of that audience.

And what are your plans when it comes to your business growth. Do you see yourself hiring others and creating a team to support the business?

You’re going to want to make sure that you select a platform that can support those decisions, whatever they are.

Blogging Platform Question #5 – Which Blogging Platform Is Best For SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is certainly a worthy consideration and concern when considering which platform to use to build and grow your blog.

What the question really boils down to though is this:

What blogging platform does Google prefer?

Here’s the thing. For the most part, platform makes NO DIFFERENCE when it comes to SEO.

If you are consistently creating great, keyword-rich content that people want to read and share, and that Google can access, your blog will perform fine. SEO is 98% about the content you’re creating and 2% about the SEO techniques that you employ.

What you want to avoid are free platforms that either A) block search engines (i.e. Facebook) or, B) do not make it easy to submit new content automatically to Google (sitemaps). SiteSell did a series of tests which demonstrated that it’s your content and organization and planning that will put your blog in position to succeed.

RECOMMENDED: Ultimate Blogging Planner

Blogging Platform Comparison

Let’s break down each of the major platforms succinctly:

BLOGGER

  • Cost: Free
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: N/A
  • Maintenance: N/A
  • Design: Limited
  • Upgradeable: No
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

DRUPAL

  • Cost: Free
  • Hosting: $10/mo +
  • Domain: $5 +
  • Maintenance: $25/mo +
  • Design: Free to Professional
  • Upgradeable: Yes
  • Training: No
  • Support: No

JOOMLA

  • Cost: Free
  • Hosting: $10/mo +
  • Domain: $5 +
  • Maintenance: $25/mo +
  • Design: Free to Professional
  • Upgradeable: Yes
  • Training: No
  • Support: No

MEDIUM

  • Cost: Free
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: N/A
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: N/A
  • Upgradeable: No
  • Training: No
  • Support: No

SQUARESPACE

  • Cost: $16 – 26/mo
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: Included
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: Free to Professional
  • Upgradeable: Limited
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

SOLO BUILD IT!

  • Cost: $299/yr
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: Included
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: Free to Professional
  • Upgradeable: Limited
  • Training: Included
  • Support: Included

TUMBLR

  • Cost: Free
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: $5 +
  • Maintenance: N/A
  • Design: Limited
  • Upgradeable: Limited
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

TYPEPAD

  • Cost: $8.95 – 49.95/mo
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: Included
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: Limited
  • Upgradeable: Limited
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

WEEBLY

  • Cost: $8 – 49/mo
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: Included
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: Limited
  • Upgradeable: Limited
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

WIX

  • Cost: Free, up to $24/mo
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: $4.50 +
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: Free to Professional
  • Upgradeable: Yes
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

WORDPRESS.COM

  • Cost: Free, up to $8.25/mo
  • Hosting: Included
  • Domain: N/A
  • Maintenance: Included
  • Design: Limited
  • Upgradeable: Limited
  • Training: No
  • Support: Limited

WORDPRESS.ORG

Blogger, Medium, Squarespace, Solo Build It!, Tumblr, Typepad, Weebly, Wix and WordPress.com are all proprietary platforms that are hosted for you. Drupal, Joomla and WordPress are all open source platforms that are self-hosted.

What’s The Difference Between WordPress.com And WordPress.org?

WordPress offers two distinctly different solutions for bloggers. WordPress.com is a free service that allows you to create an account and website that is hosted on WordPress.com. WordPress.org, however, is simply the repository and website for the WordPress system that you would install and host yourself.

Both solutions give you a WordPress blog and website, but you are extremely limited in how you can customize and extend WordPress.com.

You can learn more about WordPress in this WordPress Basics series of articles.

Armed with your new finely-honed discernment tool, and the information above, it’s likely you will be able to determined exactly which platform is best for you.

Blogging Brute Recommended Blogging Platform

For most bloggers, WordPress is the absolute best platform to use. While it’s tempting to start with a free option like Medium, any traction you begin to get after you’ve been publishing for a while may be lost when you inevitably have to migrate to a more robust blogging solution.

With a little bit of self-guided training and article-reading, anyone can set up a great blog using WordPress, and be in excellent position to update, expand and explore their blog for years to come.

If you decide to go with WordPress, my guide on how to start a blog will walk you step-by-step through the entire process of securing hosting, setting up WordPress, and everything else you need to consider to get started.

If you still aren’t sure which platform to use for your blog, just leave a comment below and we’ll sort it out together.

DISCLOSURE: Some links in the article above, and throughout this site, may be affiliate links. While there’s no additional cost to you, purchases made via those links may earn me a commission. Only products and services which have been tried and tested are reviewed, and those reviews are always thorough and honest. If you benefited from my review and have a genuine interest in the linked product, your use of the affiliate link is appreciated and allows me to continue writing these kinds of helpful articles.