What's The Best Blogging Platform For Beginners? 15 Options Reviewed

Blogging For Beginners To Get Started (24 Tips & Hacks To Start Now)

A Detailed Step-By-Step Guide To Start A Blog In 2024

Are you ready to start your writing journey but feeling overwhelmed by the numerous options available for the best blogging platform for beginners to create your blog? In this blog, we will get into the best blogging platform for beginners, offering valuable insights to help you choose the perfect platform for your new blogging adventure.

If you're searching for the best blogging platform for beginners to start your blog, Notion to blog is your ideal solution!

What Is A Blogging Platform?

A blogging platform, or content management system (CMS), is software that allows you to write and manage content, creating highly customized websites. Some platforms function like social networking sites, offering a user-friendly experience that lets you start writing immediately after signing up without the hassle of designing a site. These platforms provide a straightforward way to start blogging and enable direct reader interaction through comments.

Bloggers choose different themes, such as:

Marketing and product reviews

Fashion

Healthy living

Cooking

Create posts available for reading on their websites

Articles usually appear in a particular order and are categorized for easy browsing. Bloggers often interlink their posts to other blogs, promoting each other and expanding their audiences. This way, blogging platforms offer a dynamic and engaging experience for both writers and readers.

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Best Blog Platforms

Best Blogging Platform For Beginners: 15 Options To Explore

1. Feather

Feather is an SEO-friendly blog platform that allows you to publish blog content through Notion, requiring no coding or design skills. You can easily set up a Subfolder blog (domain.com/blog) for better SEO performance. Feather enables you to manage CRM and website blogs through Notion, allowing easy collaboration with your team during publishing.

Try Feather’s Notion to blog software for free today and go from notion to blog in minutes!

2. WordPress.org

WordPress.org, also known as self-hosted WordPress, is the most popular blog platform. While WordPress.org was initially built as a blogging platform, it’s now transformed into a fully-fledged content management system. With self-hosted WordPress, you can create any website, including:

eCommerce stores

Forums

Niche social networks, etc.

Popularity vs. Affordability

To start a blog with WordPress.org, you’ll need a domain name and a web hosting plan, and then you’ll install WordPress on your web host. A domain name and hosting costs can vary. For example, if you want a .com or .org domain, you will pay more for it. This is because these domains are more popular and known by many. As a result, they are the standard for quality and trustworthiness.

Understanding What Impacts Your Bill

The cost of your hosting will vary depending on your traffic, bandwidth needs, security requirements, and whether you want dedicated servers. It is also essential to check if a hosting provider allows you to scale without exceeding your budget. You can check this by seeing if there is an additional cost to upgrade or downgrade. See if the upgrade plans are within your budget beforehand to anticipate future costs.

3. Web.com

Web.com is a famous do-it-yourself website builder that’s been around since 1999.

With its intuitive drag-and-drop builder, you can easily create any site, such as a blog, without technical knowledge.

Web.com offers a ton of ready-made website templates to get you started fast.

Customizing the templates is as simple as pointing and clicking.

You can also quickly add contact forms, photo galleries, videos, social media buttons, and more.

4. Gator Website Builder

Gator Website Builder is an all-in-one website builder that lets you create any kind of website, including a blog, small business website, or eCommerce website. Even though HostGator is primarily a hosting and domain name provider, it still has some impressive tools to help you start your blogging journey quickly and easily.

It bundles its hosting and domain name services with website building, making it easier and cheaper for beginners to start blogging.

With the Gator Website Builder starter pack, you get free hosting and a domain name to get you started.

You also get a drag-and-drop builder, which you can use to customize the website templates to ensure you create a custom and unique site.

5. WordPress.com

If you want to start a free blog with WordPress, then you might want to choose WordPress.com. WordPress.com is free and managed by the same folks behind WordPress.org. It is specifically designed to be easy to set up and use, making it one of the best blog hosting platforms. With WordPress.com, you can start a free blog and upgrade your subscription with options like:

Custom domain name

Additional storage, and more.

WordPress.com has grown so much because of its vast user base, which has created a unique online community. This community can help beginners and share their experiences, ensuring even beginners can quickly get solutions to any problem they face. If the community cannot help, the support team is always ready to offer step-by-step solutions through the community forums.

6. Blogger.com

Blogger.com is a free blogging platform by Google. Like other Google products, you can quickly sign up and log into the platform using your Gmail account. Plus, you can set it up as part of the Google Ecosystem and integrate it with products like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

Despite Blogger.com’s simplicity, you can build fantastic blog sites through pre-designed templates and customize your layout with:

HTML

JavaScript (if you are an advanced user)

For beginners, you can enjoy automatic software updates and server maintenance, ensuring your site is secure and optimized for performance. Like WordPress.com, you can easily create a new blog on Blogger without spending a dime. Plus, you can monetize your free blog with AdSense, affiliate marketing, and more.

7. Medium

Medium is great for bloggers who want to start writing right away. And it works like a social networking site. You just need to sign up, create a profile, and write content. Most bloggers use Medium to try a niche and see if they will be committed to it before investing more time and money on other robust platforms such as WordPress. Writing for Medium exposes your blog to over 100 million active users.

8. LinkedIn

LinkedIn may seem like only a social networking site, but there’s more to it.

Most users on LinkedIn are seeking and recruiting jobs

Some use the platform for blogging

Blogging on LinkedIn helps establish expertise and may attract leads and freelance writing opportunities. Plus, you get access to over 1 billion audiences on LinkedIn worldwide.

9. Wix

When unlocking your creative potential, Wix is a versatile platform that effortlessly combines design and functionality. One of the key features that sets Wix apart is its intuitive drag-and-drop simplicity. This user-friendly interface enables beginners to craft visually stunning websites without the need for extensive technical knowledge or coding skills.

Wix offers a wide range of stunning templates tailored for every niche. Whether you're creating a blog, portfolio, online store, or business website, you'll find well-designed themes that cater to your specific needs. These professionally crafted templates provide a solid foundation for your online presence, allowing you to showcase your unique style while ensuring a smooth user experience for your visitors.

10. Quick Creator

As we step into the future of blogging, AI-powered platforms are revolutionizing how content is created and optimized. Quick Creator, an innovative AI-powered blogging platform, is at the forefront of this transformation, offering a good experience for beginners exploring the blogging world. Quick Creator leverages AI to simplify the process of creating SEO-optimized blog content.

Through its AI-powered writing capabilities, it offers effortless content creation and precise SEO optimization, ensuring that users can focus on crafting engaging content while the platform takes care of the technical intricacies.

11. Tumblr

Tumblr is a microblogging platform that combines elements of a blogger and a social media platform. This unique blend sets Tumblr apart from other platforms. Users can post multimedia content with Tumblr, including:

Short blogs

Images

Videos and more

You can customize your blogs with themes and features. Aside from publishing content, you can explore the platform’s social networking features, such as social sharing and reblogging tools, to connect with your audience and grow your readership. Tumblr is an engaging hybrid blogging platform and a social network that allows users to express themselves in a magical way they cannot find on other sites.

12. Squarespace

Squarespace, founded in 2003, powers millions of websites currently online. With its impressive features and stylish templates, people have started to love it. It’s become an excellent choice for small businesses, enabling them to create a professional-looking website without much hassle. Squarespace boasts a fully comprehensive blog post editing tool with over 45 modules, including:

Custom code

Picture galleries

Accordion

Scheduling

Newsletter opt-ins

Charts

Social media connections

Bloggers can connect with social accounts and personalize their content with these.

Squarespace offers much flexibility to create a professional website, blog, online store, or portfolio that stands out.

13. Weebly

Weebly is primarily a website builder offering blogging capabilities. A wide selection of professional themes and templates enables users to easily create excellent websites without requiring coding skills.

Weebly offers a user-friendly interface and reliable hosting services, making it a top choice for personal and business websites.

Alongside improving website building, Weebly now focuses on a built-in integration with Square to take payments and work as an eCommerce platform to rival Shopify.

Weebly is similar to WordPress and can be easily accessible with blogging features that help users create impressive content.

14. Ghost: Best WordPress Alternative

Ghost is a minimalist blogging platform that makes it easy to start a blog and publish content. It is designed to simplify blogging for both individual bloggers and online publications. Like WordPress, Ghost is also available in both hosted and self-hosted platforms. Ghost is best suited for bloggers and magazines needing seamless authoring experience so they can focus exclusively on creating content.

Ghost might not be the right solution if you’re looking to build an entry-level website with a limited budget.

15. LiveJournal

LiveJournal is a social network where users can keep a blog or journal and connect with like-minded people. Consider upgrading to a paid plan if you need more robust features like polls and image uploads on your free LiveJournal blog.

Best CMS Systems

Duda vs WordPress

Webflow Alternatives

Weebly Alternatives

Blogger Alternatives

Wix vs Web.com

Squarespace Alternatives

Wordpress Alternatives

Alternatives To Wix

Medium Alternatives

Choosing The Best Blogging Platform – What To Consider

1. Ease of use

When choosing the best blogging platform for your needs, it's essential to consider how easy it is to use. Opt for a platform that is beginner-friendly and has ample community support. Check out reviews from real users on platforms like Trustpilot to see others' experiences. Most platforms offer free trials, so take advantage of these to find the right fit.

2. Customizations

Do you want a unique blog site that stands out or do you prefer simplicity? Consider the level of customization each platform offers. Some platforms allow for more customization than others. Ensure the platform aligns with your blogging goals to avoid difficulties in the future.

3. Themes and Templates

Themes and templates play a crucial role in customizing your blog's appearance. Before selecting a platform, explore its theme and template options. Consider if they have templates specifically for blogging, whether they offer a variety of free and premium themes, and if you can customize them to suit your brand's aesthetic.

4. Content Editor

The content editor is the core of every blogging platform, so ensure you choose a platform with an editor you enjoy using. Test the editor's ease of use by creating a draft blog post with internal links, videos, and images. This will help you assess the editor's functionality and flexibility, ensuring it meets your needs for daily blogging tasks.

Finding The Best Blogging Platform For SEO

When selecting a blogging platform, it is essential to consider its SEO features and tools. SEO optimization is a crucial aspect of driving organic traffic to your blog. For instance, a study by Backlinko shows that websites on the first page of Google results receive 27% of all clicks for a keyword. Therefore, choosing a platform with built-in SEO tools can significantly improve your blog's visibility and ranking.

Extensions and Integrations

Another crucial aspect to consider when choosing a blogging platform is its ability to integrate with third-party tools. As your blogging requirements and objectives evolve, you may need additional functionalities that are unavailable on the native platform. Platforms with a robust ecosystem of apps and plugins can grow with you over time, ensuring you can adapt to changing needs without switching to another platform.

Effortless Blog Management with Feather

Feather is an SEO-friendly blog that allows you to publish blog content through Notion without requiring coding or design skills. Feather enables companies to manage their CRM and website blog management through Notion, providing an experience similar to HubSpot.

Try Feather’s Notion to blog software for free today — create a new account and go from Notion to Blog in minutes!

Bonus: Other Useful Blogging Tools For Beginners

Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool that allows you to create a wide range of visuals for your blog, such as:

Logos

Infographics

Featured images

Backgrounds and more

It has a user-friendly visual builder and a vast collection of pre-designed elements. There is no need to worry about being a professional graphic designer when using Canva; it's perfect for beginners who want to create essential graphics for their blog without hiring a designer.

Grammarly

Grammarly helps you maintain a professional image and establish authority in your niche by ensuring your content is error-free. Whether you use it as a stand-alone app or a browser extension, Grammarly checks your writing for spelling and grammar mistakes, making suggestions to simplify phrases and improve content flow. Even if you're confident in your writing skills, Grammarly acts as a safety net, saving you the trouble of proofreading your work.

Ahrefs Backlink Checker

Ahrefs is a popular SEO tool that offers a wide range of functionalities, from keyword research to competitor reports. The Ahrefs backlink checker is a free tool that helps you analyze your blog's backlink profile. Backlinks are crucial for enhancing your blog's search engine rankings, as they indicate your site's credibility and authority. The tool provides a detailed report on your backlinks, including:

Referring domains

Anchor texts

Domain Rating

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool for monitoring your blog's performance on Google. It offers valuable insights into your blog's traffic sources, content ranking, and technical errors that may affect your search engine rankings. This tool helps beginners understand your top-ranking content, allowing you to optimize your posts to improve your blog's visibility in search results.

MyStockPhotos

High-quality images can significantly enhance your blog posts, even more so if you need to be a skilled photographer. MyStockPhotos is a stock photography website offering a vast collection of high-resolution images for bloggers to use in their content. The user-friendly platform lets you quickly find the perfect photos for your blog posts. Every image on MyStockPhotos is covered by the Creative Commons Zero license, enabling you to use the images for any project, including commercial ones, without attribution requirements.

Go From Notion To Blog With Ease Today With Feather

Feather is an SEO-friendly blog platform that allows you to publish blog content through Notion. It requires no coding or design skills, making it an excellent choice for beginners. With Feather, companies can write blog content on Notion and automatically publish it to their Feather blog, streamlining the blogging process. Moreover, Feather allows you to set up a subfolder blog (domain.com/blog instead of blog.domain.com), which is better for SEO.

Your All-in-One Hub for Notion-powered CRM & Blogging

Feather also enables companies to get the HubSpot experience through Notion by managing their CRM and website blog management needs in one place. They offer options to change the design with custom CSS, collect emails, and more.

Seamlessly Publish from Notion

One of Feather's most significant benefits is the ability to write on Notion and automatically publish that content to an SEO-friendly blog. This feature streamlines the content creation and allows the entire team to collaborate easily during publishing. Feather is the perfect choice if you're a beginner blogger looking for a user-friendly platform with robust features and SEO optimization.

Try Feather’s Notion to blog software for free today and go from notion to blog in minutes!