Looking ahead to 2025, if you aim to start a blog that stands out, you'll want a platform that's easy to use and packed with features to help your content shine and reach the right audience. Here are five top picks for creating a successful blog:
WordPress:
Is the preferred platform for bloggers who desire the freedom to customize every aspect of their website. If you want to be in control of everything with your blog, from how it looks to what you post, then WordPress.org is the option for you. And while you can run your server from your basement, it's a lot easier to use a hosting service (like Bluehost or Kinsta) that can automatically install WordPress for you. The most popular blogging platform offers complete control over your blog, improved Google ranking with SEO plugins like Yoast, and potential income through ads or affiliate marketing.
Wix:
Is a user-friendly, easy-to-use blog design tool that allows users to drag and drop elements without coding, making it perfect for beginners, and continuously updating its features. Wix is a beginner-friendly website builder with blogging and SEO features, making it ideal for those who prefer not to deal with coding. When you start a site with Wix, you're asked to describe what you're trying to build. If you use the word "blog," the AI site builder will add a blog. It's that simple.
Medium:
Medium is perfect if you want to focus solely on writing. It's a platform with a built-in audience, so you can share your thoughts without fussing over design or technical details. Plus, you can earn money through their partner program based on how much readers engage with your posts. Medium is perfect if you just want to focus on writing and don’t want to deal with technical stuff. It already has a large audience, so people can discover your posts easily.
Ghost:
Ghost is known for being super fast and SEO-friendly. Ghost is designed to be a powerful, hassle-free blogging and audience management platform, especially for subscription-based publications. It's a bit more focused on blogging and publishing other content like newsletters than WordPress, which, after years of development, has a lot of CMS DNA. It’s great for bloggers who want to grow an email list and even sell subscriptions. Is a user-friendly platform designed for bloggers to focus on content and earn through memberships or subscriptions, offering fast SEO tools and a smooth online publishing experience.
Blogger:
Blogger is one of the oldest platforms. However, it's not as flexible as WordPress. Blogger isn't a standout blogging platform in terms of features. Even after an update in 2020, the interface is pretty stripped back, the built-in themes aren't stellar, and you can't customize things like the post structure. The post editor, for example, mimics an even uglier version of Google Docs, which just doesn't make for a great blogging experience. I'm shocked Google hasn't killed it yet.
