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Before you can make a wise decision on what blogging platform to use for your art business, you will want to take a look around to see what is available. There are so many blogging platforms that are available to choose from it could become overwhelming. I created a list for you of the most common platforms used by artists and online businesses.
Top 8 Blogging Platforms For Visual Artists
Now that you are motivated to write, you will need a blogging platform to publish your content. A blogging platform is a service or software that is used to post content on the internet.
Many options are available, and I will share with you the most commonly used platforms for 2016.
You will want to take some time to decide what the best option will be for you. Keep in mind that you want to start something that will last. You do not want the extra headaches that you will get if you decide to switch platforms in a year or two.
WordPress.org offers free software that you can download that needs a hosting service to make the site accessible on the web. You will own the software, but you will have to pay for hosting. If you want to have total control over how your site looks and functions, WordPress.org will be a great option.
If you are new to blogging, WordPress might not be your best choice. There is a lot of learning required to operate and customize a WordPress site. However, if you like to learn, there are great support groups available as well as video tutorials. Once you learn the basics, it is easy to maintain your blog.
You do not have to pay for hosting with WordPess.com. Since WordPress.com hosts the site for you there will be limits to what you can. If you are just interested in publishing content without worrying about building a site WordPress.com is an option you might want to consider.
WordPress.com offers free hosting, backups, security, and offer hundreds of themes.
For a complete list of what each has to offer visit,
https://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/
Blogger is a free blogging platform provided by Google. If you are new to blogging, Blogger might be the easiest platform to start with. It allows you to add text, images, and video as well as the option to purchase a domain name if you wish. The downside is that once you get familiar with blogging, you will want more options than what Blogger has to offer. Switching over to a platform that has more options is very time-consuming.
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Drupal is sophisticated software that is similar to WordPress in a few ways. You will need to purchase hosting, and it is more known for building websites, not just blogging. If you are planning on only blogging and do not feel comfortable with the technical side of websites, Drupal might not be a good choice. On the other hand, if you are planning to have a website built for you Drupal should be on the list of options.
Medium is becoming more and more popular. It is a free service that lets people with a Twitter account write, share and receive comments. You can even analyze how the posts are performing. The downside is that you will not be able to customize your blog posts to fit your brand. It will also be harder for you to build a following because all of the content published on Medium is hosted on Medium.com.
You can use Medium as a marketing strategy to reach a new audience, however, if you are looking to build brand awareness, Medium will not be your best option.
Weebly has come a long way. You have the possibility to start a blog, website, or online store.
Weebly is free to start, but there are upgrades available for a monthly fee as well as the option to purchase a custom domain. With the monthly fees, Weebly can become very costly.
People who use Weebly like the drag-and-drop features they offer. It makes creating and designing the site easy.
Ghost was created to make blogging easy again. WordPress has created a powerful software that will allow you to create a site exactly as you envisioned. With all of the power WordPress has added, learning how to use its software has become difficult. Ghost wanted to bring back the simplicity of blogging again so people can focus on what matters their writing.
Just like WordPress, you will have to provide hosting. If you are only interested in owning a professional looking blog without a lot of bells and whistles, Ghost might be the right choice. However, if you plan on growing your site to something bigger and better, you might want to go with WordPress.
Tumblr is similar to Blogger it is very easy to get started, but the customization options are limited.
Tumblr does have an active community that engages and comments on posts. If your niche fits in with Tumblr’s community, this might be a place where you would like to be.
As you can see, there are many options available to you. Take some time to think about what your long-term goal is. If you do not have your goals documented at this point, I highly recommend you taking my free course, How To Write Goals. If you have your goals recorded, you will be able to make a better decision on what platform will be best for you.
I do want to say that these are just a few of the options that are available. After you have your goals documented and you know exactly what you are looking for, take some time to look at other websites that are out there and find out what platform they are using.
Conclusion:
Decide what blogging platforms might work best for you. Do some research on the blogging platforms that you like best. Narrow it down to your favorite. You will save a lot of headaches in the future if you decide that you want to switch to a different blogging platform.
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