After taking the plunge and deciding to start a blog for your business, you may find yourself completely overwhelmed by the variety of blogging platforms to choose from to get you started. Below, we take a look at four different blogging platforms that can help you begin your blogging journey. We’ll examine the three best features, what to consider and what type of business each platform is best for.
WordPress
Even if you have only done limited research, more than likely you would have come across WordPress. Powering 24% of the internet it is one of the most popular choices for setting up your blog.
Top Three Features:
Customisation.
There are a lot of different ways in which you can customise your WordPress site. This is extremely advantageous to businesses who are seeking to match any existing branding or create a cohesive style across their array of existing media. There are over 40,000 plugins and widgets available for WordPress that can help you personalise and tailor your blog to your business needs. Many of the plugins and widgets available are free.
Support.
As WordPress is such a large platform, there is an incredible amount of user support available. The user help guides are easy to follow and thorough. In addition to this, there are many online communities, forums and blogs that are available to answer your questions.
Multiple Users.
When creating your blog through WordPress, you have the ability to create multiple user accounts. This is particularly beneficial if you have multiple people within your business who are looking to post blog articles. These users can also be assigned varying role types and levels of authority to suit your needs.
To Consider:
With so many features and ways to customise your blog, some users may find WordPress quite overwhelming to use and might wish to use a simpler blogging platform.
Best Suited To:
Established small businesses who require multiple user functionality and have the ability to customise their blog. Additionally, Magento eCommerce businesses who want to start blogging about their products should look into having a web developer integrate WordPress into their Magento website.
Tumblr
Tumblr is one of the coolest kids on the block. With quite a simplistic setup, you’ll find Tumblr is easy to use and functions in a similar fashion to other social media applications like Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, making it simple for users who are familiar with this mode of working.
Top Three Features:
Visual Content.
What sets Tumblr apart from other blogging applications is that is designed for posting visual content. Rather than focusing on text, Tumblr is really catered to those posting images. It is perfect for businesses within creative fields or industries such as photography, fashion and art.
Huge Community.
With over 254 million different blogs, the Tumblr community is enormous. Not only is there a large user base, but there are many ways to be connected with other users. Tumblr is all about following others, liking their posts, reblogging content and favouriting posts. This also means other users can do the same with your content. In opening your account you can connect your Gmail, Twitter and Facebook accounts simply to already start engaging with users interested in your brand and business. Free. Need I say more? Being free to run, Tumblr is a great option for small businesses as the only cost to set it up is time.
To Consider:
If you’re considering using Tumblr as the platform for your small business blog, keep in mind that it is designed for images and short text content. Users looking to post larger blog articles and content might find other platforms are more suited for their business and blogging needs.
Best Suited To:
Small businesses that are looking to post mainly image based content and get engaged with a community through reblogging and following other users.
TypePad
Marketed to non-technical users, TypePad is an easy to use system with lots of blogging benefits. TypePad is great for single or multiple user blogging.
Top Three Features:
Easy to use.
With a clear user interface, easy to customise themes and helpful user guides, it’s no wonder TypePad is a very popular choice for bloggers. You can smoothly set up your account and have your blog up and running very quickly. The process of creating posts, adding links and images has been made simple.
Make Money.
TypePad is great for anyone looking to make a little extra coin through their blog. You can easily link to products on Amazon through Amazon Associates, apply for your site to be accepted for Google’s Adsense program and even have donation requests on your blog.
Statistic Tracking.
Straight off the bat, TypePad has useful analytics tools to help you measure the success of your blog. These include; average number of views per day, total number of page views, bounce rate and referrer tracking. Additionally, you can easily integrate a Google Analytics account with TypePad.
To Consider:
TypePad is a paid plan based service. Pricing starts from US$8.95 per month with no minimum term required. There is also a 14 day free trial for any of their plans if you wanted to try before you buy.
Best Suited To:
Small businesses who are seeking to post regular medium to long sized content with options to evaluate blog statistics.
Squarespace
One of the top rated blogging platforms (and for good reason), Squarespace is one of the most visually stunning platforms currently available.
Top Three Features:
Drag & Drop Interface.
Designed for minimalistic and simple use, Squarespace features a ‘drag & drop’ interface. This means you can easily, create, place and readjust content on your blog. This feature is perfect for those who are designers at heart and don’t want to be restricted in their overall design.
24/7 Support.
Squarespace is commended with having an incredible support network. They are available around the clock, have an e-mail response time of less than an hour and live chat support!
Beautiful Designs.
In setting up your account, you’ll find many visually stunning templates to choose from. These templates and designs mean it’s so simple to create a professional looking blog easily.
To Consider:
If you’re looking to use Squarespace, it will come at a cost. The plans available are cheapest on an annual basis, starting from US$8 per month. There is also a 14 day free trial or month to month options available.
Best Suited To:
Small boutique and design industry based businesses looking to create a blog that is visually stunning.
Do you currently have an existing website that doesn’t have blogging functionality that you want to add a blog into? We can help you seamlessly integrate a blog for your small business into your existing website. Contact us today to discuss how we can help.
About Author: Lydia Taylor is a sales and admin assistant at Digital Animals and is passionate about helping small businesses see the benefits in writing blogs. Digital Animals is a great source of information and has the capability to help you at every step of the online marketing process. Please get in touch, we are happy to answer any questions you may have.