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23 Comments

Best Blogging Platform

I have decided to write blogs (at least once a week!). The content will be completely technical.

Which one of the following platforms should I go for?
  1. Medium
  2. Hackernoon
  3. Dev.to
  4. HashNode
Vote
  1. 4

    Another Ghost recommendation here as well. It is a really nice environment to write in, and once set up, it feels very light and nimble. I publish on Ghost and cross-post the content to Medium.

    I also use WP for other projects, and it does the job. But after using Ghost, it feels a bit clunky and lumbering.

    1. 2

      And very quickly, here's something from Medium that should answer your questions on cross-posting and SEO:

      https://help.medium.com/hc/en-us/articles/217991468-About-SEO-and-duplicate-content

  2. 3

    Ghost is a great option.

    1. 1

      @rosiesherry is ghost really good? I have been in confusion with ghost vs webflow vs wp I really don’t know what to go with. May I know how will be the longevity compared to webflow and wp? May I get some opinions?

      1. 3

        It is confusing.

        When I last looked at Webflow it felt more CMS like than blogging like, of course you can do blogging through it, but the power of it comes with building beautiful websites that are more than just blogging. It's been a year since I looked at it though.

        I feel WP is a valid option too, and easy to set up. It hosts so many websites.

        To me, Ghost has enough options, the option to send emails, the option to charge too and enough themes around it. Plus I like the business ethics behind it.

        I like what @HermanMartinus is doing with bearblog.dev too, but no custom domains for that (yet).

        When I go into anything these days I want to own the content and a domain. And then cross post to other platforms like IH, Dev.to, etc.

        Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the tech, and focus in on building up a habit of writing. Blogs usually fail because of lack of writing, not the tech they used.

        But I would have it on my own domain and also have an email list as part of it.

        1. 1

          Thanks so much for your answer. As you said tech comes later content comes first. Got it @rosiesherry

        2. 1

          Custom domains are functional and free to set up on https://bearblog.dev
          😎

          1. 1

            Just exploring and tried. But custom domain is not there, I couldn't find at least.

            1. 1

              Hmmm, I'll have to make it more prominent. On the dashboard where you specify your subdomain, there's a link "Add custom domain"

        3. 1

          Rosie, I'd have a couple of questions about cross-posting:

          • Do you change/repurpose your original post (that you publish on your own site) in any way before submitting it to popular platforms like Medium?
          • Doesn't cross-posting hurt your SEO, or is that a myth?
          • Do you submit the same writing to multiple platforms, or at most one platform in addition to your domain?
          • Any good practices we should look out for? (e.g. mentioning the link to the original post, etc.)
  3. 2

    My answer is literally none of these.

    You want to own your platform. WordPress or Ghost on your own domain are fine. You don't want to give your content to a third party.

  4. 2

    I would recommend doing it on WordPress on your own domain. This way you have full control over what happens and you can start to build leverage with it, start to maybe create “upsells” at one point to start building your email list (or even building a list without a direct upsell).

    The main advantage of this is that you’re in full control, nobody can take away what you own yourself. No new terms and conditions, no new management, etc.

    That being said, platforms like Medium help you to get an easier reach (especially in the beginning) so you can repost your content there to get the extra eyeballs. Be sure to use the import function of Medium though, so the article gets a canonical link, telling Google it is not duplicate content and the actual original piece is on your website. (Bringing you indirect link juice as well, when people link to your Medium post and not to your website directly).

  5. 1

    very amazing i checked Best GPL WordPress Plugins & Themes
    https://worldpressit.com/

  6. 1

    I think the best set up is to write on Hashnode and cross-post to DEV and Medium. That is my setup too, and I don't think its that worth it to write for Hackernoon. I had this great idea for an article, and I thought it would be a good idea to publish on Hackernoon for more coverage, but now looking back at it, it would have been a better idea to publish it on my own Hashnode blog. It was one of those pretty good blog posts which I share when I apply to be guest writer, and I really kind of regret not putting my good content on my own site.

  7. 1

    Maybe a bit late, but I have a product you should take a look at: Swish.ink

    • As easy to use as Medium
    • You can use custom domains
    • Can set it up to cross post to Medium, Dev.to and HashNode
  8. 1

    I would recommend Ghost. I write a personal daily blog with it. The reason I like it cause it has the option to build an email list and get (paid) subscribers with it.

    If you want to aim for the highest reachability possible, I would suggest Medium. From my experience, most users are there and they can find your content there without knowing you or your brand specifically.

  9. 1

    WordPress. Your own site.

  10. 1

    I like to write on Medium and Wordpress. Wordpress gives you full control on your content but Medium can help you get traffic if you get your content on one of their publications. In my case I experiment with different types of content on the 2 different channels.

  11. 1

    I wrote about moving from Wordpress to Hugo/GitHub pages here: https://austinrepp.com/wordpresstohugo/

    It’s free, self hosted, and insanely easy to setup.

  12. 1

    I would definitely suggest write.as :)

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