Have you ever thought about starting your very own blog and becoming a blogger?
Yeah, this word is so cool and stylish. Everyone who calls himself a blogger nowadays feels very respected and looks very serious while working with his MacBook somewhere in the coffee shop.
Photo by rawpixel.com
But let me ask you a question: Do you really think that this is so easy? And I am not talking about the actual blogging job - making content. Let’s just stop here for a second and think about how hard it is to create a decent blog from the technical point of view.
Do you know what kind of CMS you should use for your blog? Do you know what are the alternatives? Do you know how to determine which platform looks fancy and which one gives you a real chance to distribute your content? Do you know what the WordPress blog themes are?
These are the key questions that you should keep in mind while thinking about starting your own blog. This is the way you approach your dream of becoming a fancy blogger with a cup of latte in your hand and a MacBook Pro in your backpack.
All the answers to those key questions will be given to you today in this article, just keep on reading and you’ll be able to understand what the best option for your blog is.
Tumblr - hipster-ish platform or a shelter for creators?
If you are not new to the Internet, you have probably heard about Tumblr. I may assume that you might even use this platform when you look for some cool and decent pictures, sometimes I do the same, I’m going to be honest with you. But not everyone knows how to use Tumblr, actually.
Photo by Simone Acquaroli
It’s time for me to clarify a few things and say this: all the things I’m going to say in this article are my very own thoughts, and sometimes they are very subjective.
Tumblr is a very specific place, it’s like a…. like an old cassette player. The thing you should note right away: this is the place where you will find tons of very creative blogs. Some of those bloggers post music and some of them post their artwork. To me, this is the best place for me to look for unusual music, photos or content in general.
But the biggest part of the Tumblr community is all about fandoms. TV show geeks and comic books nerds, they all hangout here and run their own Tumblr blogs.
Unfortunately, I would say that this platform is going down and it doesn’t really grow nowadays. It’s not dead, but it shouldn’t be your first choice for sure, in case you want a platform with a big potential audience.
Popular free themes on Tumblr
Tumblr gives you the option to choose a template from among the standard ones or build your own one. One of main features that I like, is that you may find a huge list of artists with very unusual designs on Tumblr and it gives you goosebumps when you realize how talented these people are. So yeah, this blogging platform gives you the needed design freedom, but it won’t give you any opportunity to implement any plugins or widgets.
To me, this is the crucial part and the biggest problem of such a platform. Personally, I am a very independent person and I don’t like situations where people tell me what I may or may not do. That’s why I always prefer working with my own website, not with a blog on some other platform.
Also, I believe that Tumblr’s soul is in its community. This is one of the best options for you in the event you are looking for a place where you’ll find like-minded people.
Some tumblr jokes will seem weird to you, but you’ll get there...
I would say that there is no real point in the Tumblr vs WordPress war, they are just designed for different people and purposes. Does it sound cozy and cool for you? Alright, dude, here is a signup link for you, give it a shot!
Squarespace
Do you know what is Squarespace is? This platform is one of the website builders that I had a chance to look at when I wrote an article devoted to builders. Squarespace was not my favorite one, but I considered it as a pretty stylish one and, at least, it didn’t make my eyes bleed like Wix did.
I don’t know how come being so stylish still isn’t illegal
The key problem with the Squarespace platform is its flexibility. The problem is - it’s not flexible enough for the skilled and experienced users, for those who have worked with CMS or had a chance to build something on WordPress, Joomla or any other system. The Squarespace blog templates are simple and customizable, yet there is no way you can build something truly unique and unusual with its toolset.
It’s not a surprise, because this is the concept of all the website builders, but let me put it this way: If you want to customize your blog and give it an eye-catching look and truly unique functionality, you won’t be able to do it here.
These builders with their fake feeling of the customization freedom make me sick
However, the overall experience with the Squarespace was very pleasant. I don’t want to make this review totally depressing, so I’m going to give you a short list of reasons why this option should not be thrown away into the trash can right away:
- The other side of a problem with the flexibility is stability. The toolset doesn’t give you an opportunity to customize your website completely, but you may be sure that all these tools have been tested out and created by the whole team of developers that knows for sure what their customers need.
- Customer Service. Squarespace gives you answers within an hour and it’s a pretty good response time that you won’t get everywhere.
- No need to have some additional skills and to learn how to use this platform, everything is as easy as a pie
- The pool of the Squarespace templates is pretty good and stylish
So let me put it this way: Squarespace is a decent option for your blog. Website builders have become very useful and cozy nowadays and, trust me, no one will give you a bad look if you are using Squarespace for blogging. But if you want to know who will win the Squarespace vs WordPress battle, I wouldn't bet on the first one. Take a look at our comprehensive Squarespace review, and you'll understand why.
Start a Squarespace blog today
Did you know that we have our very own website builder called 'Weblium'?
Check it out for free and give us your feedback, we'll be glad to hear from you!
Blogger
Alright, guys, this is where things get serious. Take your kids away from the screen, because you are about to read a small hate speech.
I freaking hate Blogger.
Me putting the Blogger on my hate list
And, yes, I have the reasons and I can easily explain what my problem is.
Blogger gives you a chance to publish any kind of content you want and the ability to choose a template out of their catalog. I would say that this is the platform that will work great for your grandpa who wants to post his diary about his weather observations or something like that.
That’s how the average user of Blogger looks to me
Here are a few basic reasons to hate Blogger:
- It looks horrible and all the designs are lame. They look so lame that you start questioning the reality and check again whether it’s 2017 or not.
- You are not an owner of your own blog! Can you believe it? Google, the owner of the Blogger platform, has every right to shut down your blog without any explanations and they own all the rights for the content posted there.
- There is a very small list of customizations that you may carry out. This is not the type of service that will give you a so-called ‘customization freedom’, forget it!
- You move your Blogger website to another domain and your SEO ranking will go down and will go down hard, my friend. The overall SEO experience with Blogger is pretty complicated and bad.
- You won’t see constant updates on this platform. If you check the info, you’ll see that Blogger has not been updated for a long time and looks like an old car that is about to retire.
So I would suggest that you cannot even consider the Blogger vs WordPress battle seriously, it's like taking an ice cream from the hands of a little baby. So should you take the risk and start a blog on the Blogger platform? My answer is simple: NO. Run, boy run.
(Please, don’t)
WordPress
As a typical control-freak, I am obsessed with the customization freedom to customize. That is why WordPress would be my choice and I’m going to tell you why you should consider this CMS too.
It’s very weird to think that blogging is only about the content. Yes, the story is always the King, but if you provide your customer with some additional comfort by designing your website in the most stylish way, it’s a big plus for your karma and popularity.
But designing the UX part of your blog correctly gives a big boost to your karma
WordPress is all about the customization, it gives you tons of options with which to work with. I would say that the WordPress developers hand you a key to a cool muscle car and tell you: You can do anything you want with this baby, kiddo!
And…. This is fantastic!
Here are the pros of the WordPress CMS:
- You get a fully customizable environment for free and you can do whatever you want with it, including changing the code of the CMS itself since it’s an open source project
- You get an access to a huge catalog of amazing plugins that will serve you as the tools and give you a chance to make your website stand out
- You can choose a template for yourself from the huge catalog of the premium WordPress themes
- You can discuss any issues you face with the huge WordPress users community or pose a question to the theme developer’s customer service and have your issue resolved.
- There are hundreds of SEO plugins for WordPress, so use them to make your rankings better
All these things will help you build a great blog and the content you’ll post there will be presented in the most eye-catching way. What else does a blogger need?
What Can We Offer?
Summing things up, WordPress would be the best choice for you. This is a neat platform that gives you the freedom to create whatever you want; all the tools can be found easily on the Internet along with all the manuals and step-by-step tutorials.
TemplateMonster has been creating top-notch templates for your websites for 15 years straight now. As of today, we have more than 25,000 top-quality WordPress themes. Make sure you check out our catalog and choose something for your future blog!
Are you skilled enough to install everything on your own? Do you think you’re ready to tune everything in?
If your answer is ‘No’, here is a quick hint for you, my friend!
TemplateMonster Service Center can take care of your blog development process and make this process hassle free for you!
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