Some blogging sites are really better to cut your expenses, but many blogging platforms are not ideal when you plan for website monetization. Which are the best blogging platform for beginners to make money and why to avoid free blog sites when you plan to monetize your blog? In this guide, you will learn free best blogging platforms for beginners in 2024.
It’s true that the paid blogging greatly differs from the free blogging platforms. As a beginner blogger, you might have thousands of questions when you plan to start a profitable blog.
You should be ready with the basic requirements to create a website and make it up and running.
You should start think about following:
- A Domain Name
- Hosting Plan
- Blogging Platform
- Plug-ins
- Themes etc.
You really make ready all these things above said before step into the blogging world. But no worries, there are many hosting and blogging platforms that help you to build the system easily. Bluehost comes with the pre-installation of WordPress blogging software which is pretty good for beginners.
Almost 99% of the bloggers are starting their blog to make money. If so, choosing the best blogging platform and finding the perfect niche for your blog are the basic and important factors in order to start a profitable blog.
Before we dive into to know which are the best blogging platform for beginners, let’s know more about what a blogging platform is and how blogging platforms differ from blog hosting.
What is a Blogging Platform (Also called “Blog Site)?
Let’s start with the operation of a website or a blog.
All blogs or websites are composed with many text lines written with codes and those should work together to bring a website appearance. When you create a website from scratch, you should write every line of coding manually.
Thanks to the digital technologies. We have in-built software’s that will do it for you! You do not need to worry about anything about coding. Are you happy now?
A blogging platform is like a “foundation or bones” of our blog.
The blogging platform loaded with pre-coded templates which help you to avoid the coding work to make your blog up and running online.
Most of the hosting companies like BlueHost offer a free blogging platform when you register your blog hosting with BlueHost. Adding more, BlueHost will offer you a free domain name for your business.
So 90 % of the blogging set up process is done here with Bluehost hosting registration.
What is a Blog Hosting?
All blogs and websites must be hosted with a server where your texts, files, images, videos, podcast and all other information will be stored. Hosting helps to bring your website or blog online to help your visitors to find your blog on the internet.
Hosting providers or hosting companies have hundreds of servers to make sure your blog is available online to access.
Our top priority and recommendation for blog beginners is to start with BlueHost.
However, there are some free blogging platforms available to build your website. So why would you pay for blog hosting?
Here are the reasons why we suggest paid hosting and avoid free blogging platforms.
- The major limitation that comes with free blog sites:
- Inability to make money with ads
- You’re NOT owner of your website or blog
- You have no access or customization in free blog sites
- Limited storage space
- No Access to premium themes and more….
The biggest problem with the free blogging platform site is, your blog monetization will be affected much.
Advantages of Paid Blogging Platforms
- You’re the owner of your blog or website
- You have full control on your blog
- Search Engine Friendly
- You can customize your blog
- Able to add and remove themes and plugins
- Earn advertising revenue
- Paid hosting is NOT that expensive
How To Choose The Best Blogging Platform for Beginners in 2024?
What Are the Best Free Blogging Websites for Beginners To Make Money in 2024?
The Top 6 Best Blogging Platforms for Beginners To Make Money
1. WordPress with BlueHost (Most Customizable – Best for Beginners)
WordPress is one of the top and most popular website builders in the blogosphere.
It’s powerful, customization, flexible and helps the blog beginners to make any kind of blog they want.
Don’t think this is an exaggeration about WordPress. Below are a few examples of blogs that are powered by WordPress.
Check this travel blog which has been loaded with many photographs and videos and the performance is great.
Here is the personal finance and development blog has high traffic and is selling info products.
An incredible and popular social media platform LinkedIn has millions of business professionals across the world.
There are many more examples to prove how powerful blogging platform WordPress is.
WordPress offers you the latest and eye-catching themes, plugins and tools to customize your blog.
All you need is, to build a website. So you’ll need to purchase a domain name and get web hosting and then set up your WordPress account.
Now, you must select a most compatible web host for WordPress. It’s an open secret that WordPress works well with BlueHost.
So here is the quick procedure to register a host with Bluehost.
Bluehost is not only the world’s most popular web host, it’s most compatible and ready-made for WordPress. WordPress strongly recommends using Bluehost as a hosting option.
The best part of Bluehost’s offered WordPress web-hosting is, with a single click, you’ll be able to make your WordPress site up and running within a few minutes.
Bottom Line here is: if you’re planning to build a WordPress website, build it with Bluehost.
When we compare with Wix website builder, WordPress takes a few more minutes to build. However, your WordPress with Bluehost setup would be more powerful and customizable.
Most of the blog beginners start their blogging journey with WordPress with Bluehost. The primary reason is, WordPress installation is very easy (one click installation).
You’re FREE to add and configure WordPress eye-catching themes (absolutely FREE) which make your site’s appearance great the way you want it.
Another great characteristic of WordPress is, it offers non-stop integrations with the popular sales funnels tools like Hub-spot and Salesforce.
WordPress works well with these lead and sales funnels tools to help the bloggers and turn the blog visitors into satisfied customers.
Go and Register WordPress with BlueHost
Pros and Cons of WordPress Blogging
The primary reason to use WordPress is for its customizable features and complete scalability. Doesn’t matter how big you’re going to create a website, WordPress can easily handle it.
WordPress has in-built many free plugins and eye-catching themes for all your needs. If you have basic coding ideas then you can change code yourself.
WordPress is open to all and an open-source; it means do whatever you like to do. If you want to change your website using PHP then you can go ahead and hire a developer and modify WordPress however you want to see your blog or website.
More than all, WordPress is the most popular blogging platform and you can get tips and advice from the internet on 24X7.
The only catch here is, you need some basic knowledge in order to install plugins, themes, how to write a blog or post.
However, I have written an article A-Z about how to start a profitable blog. Here you’ll get complete guidance.
WordPress Pros:
- Complete control over your blog design and layout
- You can customize your blog or website with thousands of themes and plugins.
- Great technical support and thousands of articles available to read on their site
- WordPress is designed to integrate with most of the software’s which helps to grow your blog.
WordPress Cons
- A little bit thinks to learn when you build a website.
Price:
- $2.75 per month and it’ll vary based on the plan you choose for your blog.
Bottom line:
FAR more blogging tools available on WordPress. When you start with WordPress with BlueHost that will be great to start a blog as a blogger and get great support when you’re blogging.
Our Recommendation:
We would strongly suggest our readers to go with Bluehost with WordPress.org is the best option if they’re looking for the best blogging platforms for beginners to make money.
BlueHost gives you a free domain name which you can use for your business. This is pretty good.
2. WIX – Best Free Blog Builder for Blog Beginners
No question – Wix is the best automatic blog builder for beginners.
Wix offers an easy and simplest way to create a new blog in a single click within a few minutes.
In fact, Wix’s support team will walk you through step-by-step guide to build your blog.
Wix gives you many attractive templates for any kind of blog.
The best part of Wix website builder is, you can easily customize your blog using a drag-and-drop editor. It means a blogger does not need to have coding knowledge to start and maintain a blog with Wix.
Again, if you want more support like a video tutorial, still Wiz offers your ADI builder. It’s an artificial intelligence to walk through with you to show how to build a website exactly by answering the questions.
The blog manager has many blog features like SEO built-in, analytics and very simple. You can easily add all the features you want to with your blog. Adding social tools, comments section, hashtag, likes and subscribers forms more advantages for your blog.
You can access all SEO tools in Wix easily like SEO titles and descriptions, images and internal links.
Wix comes up with an automatic email subscription option and social media bar for each article you publish and share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and all other networks.
Wix Pros:
- Drop and Drop software and easy to use for beginners.
- Wix is a powerful blogging platform anyone can start building any kind of website.
Wix Cons:
- Need to pay extra cost when you think to build an eCommerce store on your site.
- Lack of hosting options, so plans are less.
- Limited Plugins and Templates.
- Wix free version is very limited, avoiding a free blogging platform with Wix.
- Software integration is less than WordPress.
Price:
$11/month and more, based on the hosting plan you choose.
Bottom Line:
Wix is very easy to use than WordPress. However it’s expensive when you compare with WordPress, also limited options of customizations in Wix.
3. SquareSpace -Best Blogging Platform for Beginners
SquareSpace is very similar to Wix, because it has drag & drop software features. Blog beginners can start their blogging career without knowing coding and web design knowledge.
The popular blogging company SquareSpace is an American hosting and website building company founded in 2004. SquareSpace offers software as a service (SaaS) for website building and web hosting. The best part of Squarespace blog Platform Company is, newbie bloggers can easily build up their first blog using drag and drop feature.
- Squarespace Pros:
- Beginner friendly, drag and drop software
- Great option for small business
SquareSpace Cons:
- Few options for themes and third-party plugins
- Plans are expensive and very less
- Very expensive to add eCommerce stores and other add-ons
- Fewer integration than WordPress
Pricing:
- $12/month
Bottom Line:
This is an awesome option for the blog beginners who have no knowledge about blogging. However, it’s very limited and the features are less when you think about the future of blogging.
4. Weebly
Weebly is a San Francisco based web hosting company. However Weebly offers free website building, there are over 625,000 paid subscribers registered with Weebly.
Using Weebly, you can easily create your website, online store, blog.
There are many customizations, free blogging tools and domains available on Weebly hosting.
Weebly is not popular as Wix and Squarespace when we talk about which hosting companies offer drag and drop software.
Weebly Pros:
- Beginner-friendly, drag and drop software to use.
Cons:
- Software integrations are very limited.
- More expensive
Pricing:
Starting on $8/Mo for a limited plan.
Bottom Line:
If you want to go with the drag-and-drop software type of blogging then we would strongly suggest you to go with Wix.
How to Choose the Profitable Blogging Platform?
Every newbie blogger is looking for the best blogging platforms or profitable blogging platform to start their blogging career or online store. Choosing the right platform is ultimately going to promote your brand.
There are elements we must follow when we choose the right platform for your blog.
Below are the most important factors that we consider when you look for the right blogging platform for your online business.
Make use of these suggestions and researching to decide the best blogging platform for beginners to make money.
1. Eye-Learning Curve
No new bloggers like to start his/her blogging journey with the complicated blogging platform. In the beginning, as a new blogging you might be very ambitious and want to learn from a single piece of blogging and technologies.
You’ll get tired fast – I would strongly suggest you NOT spend more time to learn about the technical parts of the blogging. Many bloggers get tired in the beginning as they’re confused and spend more time in order to learn each piece of blog building or how to create a website. As a result, they will quit blogging.
Use simple ways – I’ve given the best blogging platforms for beginners to make money with less time to build their blog. Most of the blogging platforms we discussed here are very easy to build with automated software and 24 X 7 technical supports.
So you need to find the best platform to launch quickly, easily and cheaply.
Again, I would strongly suggest you to go with WordPress with BlueHost which is a very easy start for blog beginners.
Even if you’re not bothered about your own domain name, customization and web hosting, then you can go with the free blogging platforms like Medium and LinkedIn. These are the free blog sites to build your website quickly with limited features and customizations.
If you want your blog or website with complete power and customization then go with WordPress or Wix.
2. Niche-Friendly Customization
Another important factor when you’re about to start a blog is what topic you’re going to blog about. Choosing a perfect and profitable niche for your blog is going to determine your audience, traffic and success.
No matter what topic you choose, make sure that your blog allows customization and your blog should fit with the blogging platform you have chosen for your online business.
This is the key to develop your brand identity and bring more visitors to your website and which tends more leads and sales and will build a strong relationship with your readers and consumers.
As we see above, WordPress and Wix allows you to do the maximum customization for your blog. Making your blog or website look more attractive with colors and layout is the key to keep more readers within your website posts.
Website fonts are another important factor to keep your website more eye-catching and attractive.
Using Wix and WordPress with Bluehost helps you to customize your blog the way you want with more themes and plugins.
These are the best option to go with as a newbie blogger and have a traditional blog and own your own platform.
Whereas Medium and LinkedIn are the free blogging sites it allows you to just change the profile picture and images in the posts. In results, you cannot take your blog to the top level.
3. Readership (Growth) Tools
All good blogging sites must offer you different types of tools to grow your audience. If your audience grows, ultimately your online business will grow.
This will come with the form of SEO tools to help your blog posts or pages to get top rank in the search engines SERPs.
Though Medium is a free blogging site, it offers few features to the bloggers that the post published in the Medium platform can go viral. Medium’s algorithm helps the bloggers to discover their articles to the interested readers at the earliest.
Medium offers another free tool, a built-in commenting system which helps to make more connection with the readers.
If you compare Wix and WordPress with LinkedIn and Medium, Wix and WordPress have many marketing tools in-built. Integration with Google Analytics and SEO is very and helps to grow your traffic quickly.
4. Profit Potential
To be honest, we bloggers here make money not blogging for a hobby. Yes, it’s true.
Every blog begins looking for the best blogging sites to make money. Making money from the blog ultimately depends on what blogging platform you have chosen for your blog.
Your blogging platform is one of the major factors to decide your blog profit.
For example, if you decide LinkedIn or Medium or Tumblr is your blogging site, you have limited features with these blogging sites. These free blogging sites won’t allow you to implement any own strategies like page advertisements.
However, you can still use these types of blogging sites to monetize by adding affiliate links in your blog posts. This way, you can monetize products and sell online courses, freelancing services through these blogging platforms.
Again, you’re very much restricted and be held with their algorithms. If they do have any big chance then your total business can shut down in a second.
If your target is to make money blogging then I would strongly suggest you to go with the best paid blogging platforms like WordPress and Wix. Now you do not need to worry about algorithm changes about traffic. You’re completely free to do any and many changes on your blog to do profit blogging.
Conclusion
I do not need to give any bottom line here if you have read this article thoroughly. We’ve clearly brought all important points that why we go with the paid-blogging platforms for your blog.
It’s crystal clear that the best blogging platforms for beginners to make money like WordPress and Wix are the best choice if you want to really make money from your blog.
Or else if your motto is, starting a blog is just for hobby or very limited then you’re good to start your blogging with LinkedIn or Medium.
I hope this article is very useful for the beginners who had many questions related to the blogging platforms to make money. Let’s start your blogging life with WordPress with Bluehost or Wix platform.
Maria Khan says
This blog is very helpful fr beginners. How to make money online. Very informative