7 Awesome Platforms Perfect For Those New To Blogging
Updated on: 8 October 2021
Whether you have an online business or are promoting an organization online, there is no better way to promote it than through a blog. Blogging has become one of the most effective digital marketing techniques that every business or organization online needs to include in their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
With almost four billion people using the internet to search for all kinds of information online, having your own blog will allow you to reach out to a wide audience. Moreover, there is never a better time to include blogging in your marketing strategy.
Benefits of blogging for businesses
Now, there’s one question that might be bugging you right now.
Is blogging worth it in 2021?
Here are some compelling reasons why you need to start right now.
1. It drives traffic to your site.
The purpose of any marketing strategy is to have more visitors to your site. Now, this might not be a problem for those who already know you. They can easily type in your company name in their browser and get the link to your site.
But what about those who don’t know you?
Yes, you can opt for paid ads to get more traffic to your site. You can also buy an email list and blast them with your promotional emails in the hopes that some of them will click through your emails and go straight to your site. However, these methods can be expensive.
If you want to attract new visitors to your site without spending a lot of money, then you can do it through blogging and optimizing your site for search. This is because every time you publish a post on your site, it gets indexed. This gives your site an opportunity to show up on the search engine results page (SERP), which drives traffic to your site.
2. It gets shared on social media.
Blog posts can help you get discovered via social media. Every time you post a new article that provides useful, relevant, and engaging content, it gets shared on social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pinterest, giving your business more exposure online. In short, blogging makes you more visible on social media, which is an important part of your digital marketing strategy.
3. It can increase leads and conversions.
With more traffic comes more leads, which means more conversions and sales.
Every time you publish a blog post and it gets indexed, it’s another opportunity to generate qualified leads.
How does that work?
1. A visitor checks out your site.
2. Sees your call-to-action for free stuff.
3. Clicks call-to-action and is redirected to a landing page that contains a form for them to fill out.
4. After visitor fills out and submits the form, they receive the free offer.
That’s how you turn a visitor into a lead.
While not everyone who reads your blog posts becomes a lead, you get more leads with every post you publish. So, just keep posting blogs with compelling calls to action.
4. It helps with link building.
Backlinks are some of the most important factors that Google algorithm considers when ranking sites but are also the most challenging part of search engine optimization.
If you write great content for your blog, you’ll not only be able to drive more customers to your site but also generate links from other companies that consider you an authority in your niche. Since backlinks serve as a vote of confidence, Google sees your site as trustworthy and an expert in your niche, too.
Backlinks can also help build your domain authority, making your site more discoverable in search engines.
5. It offers long-term results.
Business blogs must answer common questions their customers have. Additionally, they need to highlight the kind of solutions their products or services offer. That’s what blog posts are for, anyway.
By creating valuable and relevant content for your target audience, you’ll establish yourself as an authority in your niche. This makes people more willing to put their trust in your brand, which equates to more sales in the long run – one of the things that Google and other search engine put a lot of value on when ranking sites.
While fanfare from your posts may die down after a few weeks, you’ve already ranked for your blogs. This means that you’ll continue to get traffic for years to come.
What is the best blogging platform to use?
As you can see, the benefits of blogging are endless. So, now, the next thing you need to do is to start blogging. Before you can do that though, you will need to sign up to a blogging platform to create your business blog.
Here’s a roundup of the 10 most awesome blogging platforms for businesses today.
1. Blogger
This platform is what a lot of the oldest bloggers out there started with. One of the reasons it’s one of the top blogging platforms is that it’s free. But although it’s free to use, you still get indexed for Google search automatically. It also offers you the standard blogspot.com domain name. Plus, it has a lot of templates that you can modify. And since it’s a Google product, it integrates easily with other products, like Google Analytics, which provides information on your website’s traffic, and AdSense.
2. WordPress
It has been reported that WordPress is used by an estimated 41% of websites simply because it’s a turnkey blogging solution that’s easy to use and offers powerful options. Aside from that, it has an integrated credit card module and technical support. They also have hundreds of themes, as well as font options to customize the look and feel of your site. They do have a free tier available but you can’t monetize it.
3. Wix
This is the perfect platform for first-time bloggers who have never built a website yet. What makes it ideal for beginners is that it’s extremely easy to use as it’s a drag-and-drop platform. You don’t even need to know how to code to get a great-looking site. They even have 975+ professionally designed templates to choose from. What’s more, they have lots of business tools to help you market your blog and share it on social networks. In other words, Wix makes everything so simple, making it fun to build your own site.
4. Strikingly
Strikingly is another drag-and-drop site builder, as well as a hosting, subdomain, and e-commerce platform that offers a free tier, which means that it’s a great place to start blogging. A lot of designers, digital media creators, and artists love how simple it is to build a blog with this platform because aside from the fact that it’s super easy to use, it also allows you to create jaw-dropping blogs. You also don’t need to know how to code to create a stunning site – all you need is to use their template-based editor and start blogging. You also have the option to upgrade to a premium plan, which starts at $8 per month, to get rid of the subdomain strikingly.com.
5. Squarespace
This blogging platform offers an excellent venue for selling products and services. It offers one of the best all-around website builders with hundreds of stunning templates that let you set up an online store and blog that you can use together to grow your online business. This means that you can directly sell to customers without them having to leave your blog post. It’s simple and easy to use since it also has a drag-and-drop editor. It also provides lots of customization options that let you display your products in a separate column alongside your blog posts or use the product block in between paragraphs in your post.
6. Medium
It’s completely free yet has a high ceiling for virality with its 60+ million readers, which is why it’s considered one of the most polarizing platforms there are. Medium is a favorite among bloggers who are focused on crafting niche content for their audience. It’s basically built for communities of readers since people can browse a vast library of published posts and subscribe to whatever they like. You can also submit your post to other publications for it to be posted on other blogs on Medium.
7. Weebly
You can start with a free account to start creating your blog or online store. What makes it a solid contender on this list is that it has a straightforward interface with lots of customizable domains and easy-to-use tools to help you set up your blog quickly and easily. On top of that, it has attractive, professional-looking templates to suit every taste and preference. It also offers full commerce options, including the ability to sell goods online. Because its free tier comes with limitations, you can opt for a paid account that lets you customize your domain name.
Conclusion
With business blogging, you won’t see immediate results. Of course, you’ll still need to build your readership and wait for them to convert. Over time, you’ll be able to have a significant volume of website traffic and leads for your business. This demonstrates just how effective blogging is for business.