Most bloggers in the world start their journey with a free blogging platform or by opting for own domain name and hosting. While blogging was largely a hobby some years ago, today it’s become an excellent way to make money while creating a brand name.
If you wish to start a blog but are confused about which is the best blogging platform to use to make money, don’t worry. Because in this article, I will be writing about how to choose the best blogging platform to make money as a blogger.
Therefore, here’s my quick guide to select the best blogging platform to make money.
Setting up Own Website
Personally, I prefer setting up my own website for starting a blog. That’s because we don’t have to depend on any platform to do so. This means, we’ve full control over what we post and the digital marketing processes we perform.
As a matter of fact, a paid domain name and hosting costs as little as $299 per month. Select WordPress hosting since it’s simple to use for every beginner.
It’s easier to make money from an own blogsite because you can accept native ads or sponsored posts, sell ad space to companies and businesses, leverage the power of Google AdSense, do affiliate marketing and do all the SEO and digital marketing processes yourself.
Therefore, I’m fully in favor of going for own website and domain hosting with other essentials to start a blog.
Using Free Blogsites
There are several free blogsites that you can use to open a blog. However, some of them don’t offer a lot of features that you would require to make money. Below, I will discuss what to look for to choose the best blogging platform to make money.
Easy to Use
A lot of free websites where you can host a blog aren’t really easy to set up. Therefore, you’ll have to find one where you can set up the blog easily and give it a superb theme. WordPress.org has a wonderful blogging platform that’s available as free and paid versions, You can use it to create a attractive website. Even if you’re a newbie in blogging you can easily set up a blog on this platform with minimum hassle.
Another thing to look for when you’re setting up a blog using free sites is the availability of superb themes that go with the genre or niche of your blog. Therefore, select a blogging platform that offers hundreds of such themes free. You could find one that suits your niche of blog and use it.
Freedom of Content
Freedom of uploading content of your choice is the main and perhaps the most important feature you should be looking for when opening a blog on any platform. Some blogging platforms restrict the type of content you can post. This leads to a severe disadvantage because you cannot take sponsored posts that might go against the policies of that platform. Also, you’ve to be careful while writing own content to ensure it’s in line with their policies. This also applies to otherwise harmless contents and not merely objectionable ones.
SSL Certificate
With your own website and domain hosting, it’s possible to buy and implement an SSL certificate for your blog. However, this isn’t always possible with free blogging platforms. That’s because they provide basic security and their settings don’t permit setting up own SSL certificate. In such cases, you’ve to be very careful since your blog might not be accessible to some readers operating behind secure software and computers. Therefore, look for blogging platforms that provide full SSL certification or where you could install one. However, instead of paying for the SSL certificate, it would be worth buying own website.
Use of Affiliate Links
Some free blogging platforms don’t permit affiliate links on your blog. As a matter of fact, bloggers can make a lot of money by affiliate marketing. To give you an example, some 42 percent of all sales on Amazon comes from its affiliate marketing network. If a blogging platform doesn’t allow you to post affiliate links, it’s definitely not worth using. Because you’ll be missing out on this superb way to make money from blogging.
Google AdSense
Furthermore, check if the blogging platform allows you to deploy Google AdSense for your blog. For years, Google AdSense has been the mainstream source of income for majority of bloggers. When you subscribe to Google AdSense, you’re actually permitting Google to display ads on your blogsite. And whenever anyone clicks on these ads, you stand to make some money. There’re some free blogging platforms that won’t allow you to use Google AdSense for any reason. This means, you can’t use Google AdSense to make money from your blog, which is rather undesirable.
Free SEO Tools
Free SEO tools are very essential if you’re a fresher at blogging. Because they would allow you to promote the blog and get it on top of rankings on Google SERPs. A veteran blogger would definitely know digital marketing techniques. However, if you don’t know them, it’s worth finding a blogging platform that provides such free SEO resources. That would make it simpler for you to promote the website and monetize it, where possible. After all, even if you have Google AdSense and affiliate links, it’s impossible to make money unless your blog is seen by audiences that would click on ads or make purchases through your affiliate programs.
Word Count
Writing reviews is one superb way to make money from your blogs. This means, the blogging platform should not place any limits on the number of words you can write for a blogpost. Tumblr for example, limits the number of words or length of your blogpost. In such a situation, you could find it hard to make money from such platforms. Therefore, go for a free blogging platform that has no such upper limits on the length of your articles.
In Conclusion
The above tips should guide you on how to choose the best blogging platform to make money. There’re lots of blogging platforms available but each comes with its own set of pros and cons. Therefore, be very careful while choosing one. As I mention earlier, if you’re opening a blog purely for making money, it’s advisable to go for own website and domain hosting. That means you won’t face any restrictions. However, if you opt for a free one, look at their pros and cons before signing up. There’re countless blogging platforms such as WordPress, Wix.com, Blogger.com, Medium.com and Tumblr. Take only the one that meets your needs easily.
Ends.
About The Author
Nicole Hinton
Nicole is a freelancer & passionate blogger. She has 4+ years of experience in digital marketing and specialize in content writing, content marketing and organic search engine optimization. She has worked with many brands from Canada as well as the USA. Currently, she manages content marketing team of freelancers and doing their business efficiently.
