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7 Comments

Stuck choosing a blogging platform?

At this point, I assume almost everyone is aware of the benefits of having your own blog - organic traffic, communicating with your customers, detailing new ideas, etc. But the big question new writers always ask me is, “Which platform is best?

I've used many of them in the past, but I would compare them on 5 main areas:

  • Costs - both setup and ongoing
  • Ease of use
  • Customizability
  • Distribution
  • Speed and scalability

Your preferred platform will be hugely influenced by how you rank these 5 in order of importance.

For example, if you're comfortable writing HTML and want to use with Github pages, Jekyll is worth considering.

Tipe allows you to use their GraphQL or REST API to access your content and then display it anywhere.

Stitcher is a PHP-based static site generator that offers the speed and flexibility of pure HTML.

And of course, there are the more mainstream options: Wordpress, Squarespace, Medium (which I don't recommend), etc.

If you're already blogging, what platform did you choose and why? If you're not blogging yet, what is the most important consideration for you in choosing the best platform?

  1. 1

    I use Nikola to generate a static site and deploy it on AWS (S3+CloudFront). I use disqus for comments. The deployment is automated with GitLab CI.

    I haven't got much traffic to my blog so it is very cheap.

  2. 1

    I've used many in the past including Gatsby, VuePress, and Gridsome, and they don't compare to a full-fledged blogging platform such as WordPress or Ghost.

    When choosing your blogging platform, I would recommend you choose one and stick with it. Migrating a blog from WordPress to MD then back to WordPress is a huge PITA.

  3. 1

    I recently built my blog using WordPress.

    I don't have much knowledge of other platforms you mentioned above. I wanted to build something that I can scale easily in the future and find support easily as well.

    I've been using WordPress at my work for the past couple of years and gained enough knowledge to setup everything myself and solve any issues that might come up. So that felt like the platform to go with.

    Here's my blog if you want to check out: https://grow-self.com

  4. 1

    I’m in the process of switching my entire Jekyll blog to the PHPetite static site generator I’ve been building.

    It generates your blog into a single HTML file (inline CSS and base64 strings all images). Still WIP

  5. 1

    I use netlify + hugo + netlifycms.
    It doesn't require too much setup.
    Netlify has a free tier - very convenient, GitHub pages can be used for hosting too with additional setup.
    Hugo - static site generator, similar to jekyll.
    NetlifyCMS - open source CMS for static sites, so you don't actually need to write code or run commands (ci/cd).

  6. 1

    A more up dated hosting option is Gatsby. They have a blog template that I host out of the box for free on github. When I have to create a new post I just have to write a markdown file which is fairly simple. Gatsby is a static site so it is great for seo and it comes with an rss feed so you could set up Medium to list for updates.

    Blog.walterkjenkins.com

    Gatsbyjs.com/starters/

  7. 1

    Hi Karl

    I took a look at Ghost and I am going to install and run it.

    It happend just out of the stream of impulses, my research ended quickly at their product site, and I did not use any comparing methods or metrics.

    Key questions were: does it support multiple categories and allow for seperate indexes of each one? And, can I run it on my own?

    That's basically it. Integration options are fine, but not of highest relevance. Eventually, I will figure out, how. Until then, I know, for every aspect a solution exist: comments, payments, I forgot...

    That you can post into different subscription levels catched my attention, too. Before, I did not think of it.

    Hope that helps.

    Christian

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