Today, blogging is becoming an increasingly popular career option. If there’s a subject that you’re passionate enough about to want to create great content on it daily, you may have considered starting a blog and gathering followers to build a strong online presence and make your income from something that you love. However, before you can start making your riches from your dream career of blogging, you’ll need to make a decision on which platform you’re going to use. For many first-time bloggers who are new to the scene, this can be a tough decision since there are so many great options available – it can definitely be difficult to determine which will be the best for you and your blogging needs. So, we’ve put together seven facts that you should take into consideration when looking for a blogging platform which will hopefully make it easier for you to decide.
#1 Your skill and expertise level
Firstly, one of the most important facts that you should think about when selecting a blogging platform is your own level of skill and expertise. If you’re just getting to grips with the blogging world and are excited about publishing your first blog post, then you will be better suited to an easy-to-use, user-friendly blogging platform such as WordPress, which is an excellent choice for beginners due to its simple interface and easy customization tools that will make putting your blog together as easy as one, two, three. On the other hand, those with more experience and higher skill levels may prefer a more advanced content management system.
#2 Themes and designs
When choosing your blogging platform, don’t just think about the blog posts themselves. A big part of setting up a successful blog is in the design, layout, and presentation of your website to your readers. At the end of the day, nobody is going to stick around on a blog to read the content if they find the design to be an eyesore! So, you should consider the selection of themes and designs available to use with each particular platform.
#3 Mobile-friendliness
Today, everybody is using smartphones and tablets, and these devices certainly make it easier to browse the internet and catch up on our favorite content whilst on the go. For bloggers today, this means selecting a blogging platform that supports responsive designs and understands the importance of allowing users to access mobile-friendly content. If you plan to upload large files such as images and videos to your blog, then you’ll need to opt for a platform that automatically compresses these to ensure the best mobile experience.
#4 Web hosting and domain name providers
The next thing to consider is how your blog is going to be hosted. The good news is that all blogging platforms will offer hosted plans, however, the difference between them is the price. In order for your blog to be successful, you’ll need to invest in a custom, .com domain name. Do your research beforehand to weigh up your options when it comes to blog hosting – for example, is it cheaper to buy your domain name elsewhere and map it?
Other then the domain name, the hosting servers are extremely important to optimize website speed and performance, by choosing a shared hosting, unmanages VPS, manages VPS or a Dedicaed server.
#5 Control panel
When you start a blog, you will want to have as much control as possible over it. The good news is that the majority of blogging platforms will allow you full control over your site and will only shut it down with very good reason. So, as long as you’re not planning to do anything illegal, you will be fine. On the other hand, certain popular blogging platforms offer less control than others. For example, Blogger, which is owned and operated by Google, can shut your blog down at any time without any notice.
#6 Customer support
Whether you’re new to blogging or experienced in the field, good support is something that every blogger needs from their platform. This is especially important for anybody who wants to grow their blog into something big and start making a profit from it. If your blog is experiencing downtime, or you’re having problems uploading files, for example, then you’ll want to be able to get in touch with somebody straight away to fix the problem. Choose a blogging platform that offers a 24/7 support service.
#7 Security
Finally, security is a massive issue to take into consideration when starting a blog. Being secure and protecting your website and data from malware attacks is crucial. Opt for a blogging platform that takes security extremely seriously and offers additional security plug-ins for top-notch protection.
Good luck with your blog!
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