My Own Website vs WordPress Bluehost – Which One Should You Choose?

With all the talk of “going viral” and “going viral” online, it’s no wonder that people are interested in creating a blog. Launching a blog is straightforward – all you need is a place to publish your content and a way to attract readers. But which platform should you use to build your site? There are several well-respected blogging platforms that you can use to create a fully functioning blog within minutes, but not all of them are created equal. Before you make up your mind, it’s important to understand the differences between the various blogging platforms so that you can make the right choice for your needs.

What Is A Blogging Platform?

A blogging platform is a foundation that allows you to build your blog. The most popular and most well-known blogging platforms are WordPress, Blogger, and Medium. In general, a blogging platform provides you with the tools to create and manage your blog – from publishing content to engaging with your audience via social media.

Each platform is unique and offers different features, so you’ll need to do some research before you make a decision. Here’s a quick guide to choosing the right blogging platform for your needs.

WordPress Vs. Blogger

If you’re looking for a free blogging platform, then you’ve got plenty of options to choose from. WordPress is one of the most popular options, with a whopping 200 million active monthly users as of late 2019. With its robust feature set and large user base, it’s clear that WordPress is the go-to blogging platform for millions of people.

If you’re new to blogging and don’t want to pay for a premium blogging platform, then Blogger is the perfect choice. It’s one of the most well-known blogging platforms, and it’s completely free. While you won’t find any features that are exclusive to Blogger, you will find that it provides a stripped-down yet easy-to-use experience for anyone who wants to blog.

Why Should You Choose Medium?

Another fantastic free blogging platform is Medium. It’s quickly gaining popularity as a content host and publishing platform due to its simple user interface and elegant design. Even if you’re not a journalist or a writer, you’ll likely be able to get your content up and running on Medium without any trouble at all.

As with other free blogging platforms, you’ll primarily need to focus on attracting readers to your content. But you have the additional advantage of being able to engage with your audience via the built-in features on Medium.

The main drawback to Medium is that, although it’s free, you’ll need to choose a unique URL for your blog. Otherwise, you’ll run into trouble when trying to find your content.

What Is A Domain Name And Web Hosting?

When you create a blog, one of the first things you’ll need to do is purchase a domain name and web hosting for your site. The domain name is the address of your website, which will be used to identify your content. The web hosting is a service that provides you with a place to actually put up your blog (this is where you’ll upload all your content, including images, video, and files).

It’s essential to get the right domain name and web hosting for your blog. When picking a domain name, make sure that it’s easy for your audience to remember and doesn’t contain any of the following:

  • Profanity
  • Excessive Capitalization
  • Numbers
  • Hyphens
  • Dashes
  • Underscores
  • Matching Domains
  • Illegal Terms

As for the web hosting, you’ll want to make sure that they offer reliable service and that their customer support is good. Also, try out their plans before you buy a service plan as some hosting providers have limited plans or prices that increase after a certain period of time. When it comes to reliability, you can check out reviews of the various web hosting providers to see how others rate them. Also, be sure to look for web hosts that are located in Europe or the United States to ensure that your website’s content is not blocked by regional ISPs (Internet service providers).

Where Do I Post My Content?

Once you have a blog platform selected, you’ll need to consider where you’ll post your content. The most common places to publish content are social media sites like Twitter or Facebook as well as websites related to your niche. Other options include traditional magazines or newspapers. When choosing which social media sites to use for your blog, you’ll need to decide whether you want to go with a free option or a premium one.

Deciding to go with a free option like Twitter is fairly simple. You get free basic access to all the features on the platform – including the option to promote your blog content to a massive audience. But if you want to be able to engage with your audience via direct messaging (DM) or event invitations, you’ll need to make sure that your Twitter account is not in violation of the platform’s rules.

Basic Rules For Blogging

Even though blogging is a relatively new phenomenon, it’s followed all the same basic rules that have been around for centuries. The first and most vital rule is to have fun! When you blog, you’re essentially creating a fun document – something that you can occasionally dip into and share with your friends and family. So, even though you’re ultimately creating a source of income, you shouldn’t feel too much pressure to publish impeccable content every single day. When you do happen to produce something extraordinary, it’ll be all the more rewarding!

The second rule is to establish and maintain a tone of voice. When you establish a blog, you’ll want to choose a formal yet entertaining voice to use – just make sure that your writing isn’t too sarcastic as you may come across as mean-spirited to those reading it. And finally, make sure that you put your own unique spin on things. While it’s great to look back at others’ work and learn from their insight, you must ensure that you bring something new to the table as well.

To wrap things up, let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of each blogging platform. This will help you decide which one is the best fit for your needs.

WordPress

The pros:

  • Free
  • Robust
  • Responsive
  • Extensive Feature Set
  • A Large User Base (200 million+ active monthly users as of late 2019)
  • Great For Those Who Want To Start A Blog, But Don’t Have Much Experience
  • Easy To Use
  • Good For Those Who Want To Publish In A Pro Forma
  • GDPR Compliant

The con:

  • Not Suitable For Everyone
  • Limited In Terms Of What You Can Do With It
  • Not All Features Are Available For Free
  • Cannot Be Tricky To Use
  • Less Than Perfect For SEO
  • Not Many Skilled Writers Use It
  • Complicated To Set Up
  • Not Many Publishers Use It
  • No Integration With Other Apps

Blogger

The pros:

  • Free
  • Simple
  • Easy To Use
  • Great For New Bloggers
  • Low Tech
  • GDPR Compliant
  • Many Skilled Writers Use It
  • Extensive Feature Set
  • Many Publishers Use It
  • Good For Those Who Want To Publish In An Established Way
  • Many Online Marketplaces Use It
  • SEO Optimized

The con: