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Starting a new blog. Can't code. How do I start building it?

Let’s say I want to make a website around my business. I want to have a landing page a page to sell services and a few other pages and I think I also want a subscription blog on it because I feel like I have valuable content to share. What is the best place to go in order set up a website like this with no coding experience?

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    Webflow is a tool built for designers and if you want to spend a lot of time learning how to use it, it can be a good tool. I'm a web developer and couldn't understand it. From the videos I watched you have to learn to code but can't touch the code. It is so odd to me.

    Wordpress is a mess, most WP folks are very biased. WP hosting can get very expensive https://wpengine.co.uk/plans/ and that doesn't include the plugins you need for basic SEO etc.

    I built http://versoly.com/ it depends on your exact use case but if you need landing pages and blogs it fits perfectly. We have a bunch of IHs using us and we have world class support, me :)

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      Wordpress is a mess, most WP folks are very biased. WP hosting can get very expensive.

      You're selling a competing service! I don't think it's the people with no vested interest other than running their blogs who are biased.

      I used WP for over a decade before picking up dev skills. I had several blogs, one with tens of thousands of visitors per month, never needed a paid plugin and never spent more than $9/month total to host all of them.

      As a non-dev, it was fantastic. The ecosystem of free plugins and tutorials is second to none. Now that I am a dev, I probably won't use it again unless it's for a marketing site operated by non-technical marketers. But I got a lot of value out of WP.

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        I'm 100% biased, but it says something that someone is willing to spend 18 months building a solution and then getting customers with 10+ years experience with WP to swap over.

        I see multiple a day where folks have used WP because it was recommended and now they're stuck and wasted a ton of time and money.

        I'm not saying it isn't valuable I just believe I have a better solution for a certain niche.

        There are agencies charging 5 figures to build basic WP sites, and it kills me inside every time I hear that.

        The reason they can get away with it is because WP is a technical product, folks need DB backups, set up servers, install plugins and the list goes on and on.

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    Substack gets you pretty far – both website and newsletter. Basic landing page as well.

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      Substack is the one centralized service I'd use. The fact that you can simply take your email list and leave is huge. They also make it straightforward to monetize.

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    I know others have recommended Webflow. I'm a big fan of it. The CMS on it is good.

    If you want something a little more robust (i.e., there isn't one central company that could take it with it) but a little more complicated, there's Wordpress. Flywheel is a good hosting service for that.

    Avoid Wix, Squarespace, etc.

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      Why do you recommend to avoid Wix and Squarespace?

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        Same downside as Webflow (i.e., dependent on a company that could go out of business or make central changes pretty quickly, so it lacks some of the robustness of the WordPress platform) without a lot of the upside (i.e., great CMS, good customizability, top notch responsiveness and speeds). Only case where I think Squarespace can kind of make sense is for visual portfolios, but even then, the collection templating on Webflow is so good nowadays that I would only recommend squarespace if somebody felt very strongly about it.

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      Will definitely be looking into flywheel and Wordpress thank you for that!

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    WordPress seems like a good option if you want flexible and inexpensive without dev experience.

    I'm guessing Wix and other page builders, as well as WebFlow and some other no-code apps probably have blog options, but they can get pricey.

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      Thank you! I was looking for something more inexpensive before expanding everything and testing my idea. There are a lot of options out there.

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    If all you need is a blog, plus the ability to sell services/subscriptions, then Wordpress plus ready-made plugins should work for you.

    If you plan on adding features later that are going to require custom software, then I'm not sure what the best options are.

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    Definitely Webflow if you want a great website without coding !
    I've built SaaSFrame.io using it and it's really perfect.
    Btw I've curated 24 blog feed examples, hope it can help 😉 https://www.saasframe.io/categories/blog-feed

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      The thing is that the site is based around my business a blog is a sub page id like to have within my website I want it do be very diverse. Along with pages for products and services I provide.

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    If you want to be lazy like me Try plugins.
    i used plugins for this website www.vteky.com
    make sure you install necessary plugins only and a security plugin most importantly

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    Hello @Zavier_0225. I am one day old on indie and only knew this term yesterday. My day job as a professional Digital Marketing Manager has been made redundant recently due to the pandemic, and I am left to start all over again.

    I must second what @ybrickman have said. Until you put your words out, and make sure people sees it, feel it, and buys it, your product/service or codes will not be off any value yet.

    I will leave you to a thought I just had recently.

    Baby boomers had little guide nor education, let alone the “what if” self-doubts. But they progressed… Millenials and Gen-Z today have Google and teachers/gurus/coach on their finger tip. What’s lacking, is action.

    There are countless of times in a day where I consciously take micro actions not knowing 100% if it's best or works... and as a Performance Marketer myself with 5-6digit per month ads budget and inately analytical, it is very easy for me to bite the habit of optimizing and fine tuning. It is NOT the best use of time assuming if you are only just starting out.

    There are lots more Digital Marketing vacancies. Also more paid courses, academy and DM agencies now than ever in Malaysia, but I believe the percentage of people that can actually take value out of these paid services and deliver outcomes, are very very little.

    If you give anything free in SEA part of the world, it will be perceived as worthless. If it's paid, you will be expected to do top-to-toe. It is a delicate balance I am trying to manage.

    Nonetheless, I am never 100% sure if what I do, will work. But I am sure 100% of times where I had doubts but went on with it, produced results that often surprises me. :-)

    Good luck.

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    If you are complete beginner I would say start with Substack, Wix, Squarespace and as you go and want something more customizable, move to Webflow. It just gives you the bang for the templates and structure that you want.

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    use webflow! I strongly recommend it, it's very easy to use. My blog: joshternyak.com is built with ghost, but webflow is better because you don't need to have any coding knowledge to use it and built stunning websites

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      For a person who doesn't know CSS/HTML? I really wouldn't recommend. Most people don't know what margins are or grid system. I love webflow but surprised to see people recommend it here since it has a learning curve.

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    Hi Zavier! I can't overstate how positive our experience has been with Landen (https://landen.co). We built OrgStack's marketing site (https://orgstack.io) entirely with Landen, from the landing page to the blog. The page builder has a super simple interface, and it includes a very decent library of components. Landen also offers hosting, analytics, and integrations. Would highly recommend.

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    Use substack.com to make your blog monetized without any ads or anything...
    It's a platform where readers buy subscription suppose $5 per/month to sellers like you to read all your premium content...
    Also you'll get their emails for newsletters!
    Hope it helps...

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      I looked into it and I felt like before going that rout I should get more established as a writer. I planned on starting a free blog then after showing value opening a subscription based blog.

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        Its the best "blog" you can get for free. You don't have to have subscriptions, just start writing and getting an audience. that's it

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        Don't worry, Substack allows you to write free blogs also :)
        But for that, I will suggest you to try medium.com
        I also have a publication there: medium.com/be-unique
        Medium is really a great place to explore and meet new writers...

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    No one on here mentioned ghost which is a more modern Wordpress in my opinion.

    I started my latest blog on it and had it set up with memberships and a newsletter in under one day. It's a seriously impressive tool.

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      I’m no expert at all. I’m here seeking opinions of others and from what I’ve heard. Ghost is the new competition for Wordpress, but they lack a lot of the plugins that have come to be in Wordpress because it’s been around for longer. I’m genuinely asking if this information is correct?

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    Try the product I launched a week ago https://collectednotes.com it will give you a lot of power for a blog. Might work for your use case.

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    If I have a site that is based around a business that provides multiple services and products under an overarching theme would it be to much to have subpages for everything. For example: landing page, blog page, service page 1, service page 2, product page 1, product page 2?

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    This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

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      Well sadly I don’t have any experience with any tools, but that’s why I’m here! You are right it has been a maze looking through all of these tools and I am a perfectionist and like to get things right the first time. While I can promise to have that first blog post up by Wednesday I can definitely just start using one of these tools and building my site for the blog.

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        This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

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          Well that’s very generous of you. I am new on indie hackers as-well so I don’t know how I would send you it or would I just be posting the blog post on this thread or to you personally some how? Again that is very generous thank you.

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            This comment was deleted 4 years ago.

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              I may just post them through indie hackers where I know I can get a lot more traffic while I’m creating a website. I never thought of doing something like that. I am really a nobody on this site and put out 3 or 4 post about what I should do to start this and you are proof that people here give great feedback and that might be just what I need to get my process moving.

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