Wednesday, March 14, 2018

BLOG SPECIAL ....The best platforms for making a mark with your blog


The best platforms for making a mark with your blog

You can trust these blogging sites for marketing ideas on the internet, enhancing your professional image or keeping your personal journals private

Blogging sites have come a long way, and it’s now easier than ever to create a professional-looking blog to share a hobby with likeminded people, express your opinions, and establish an online presence. If you want to create a self-hosted blog, here are some of the best options that promise flexibility, support for third-party plugins and popular features:
WordPress
Advanced features, plugins and a generous storage allowance
Unlike some blogging sites, WordPress isn’t a drag-and-drop affair, and you’ll have to familiarise yourself with its system of menus. It’s worth the effort, though, and enables you to create something truly personal. The post-writing interface is much like an ordinary desktop
word processor. As your blog grows, WordPress lets you track its stats, including page views, visitors, likes and comments over time. You can also see how readers reach your site, which content they viewed, and where they are in the world, so you can tailor your content accordingly.

Blogger
Boasts mobile-friendly features and Google app integration
Blogger is not quite as powerful as WordPress, but more accessible for new users, which comes as no surprise when you learn that it’s owned by Google. Blogger offers an excellent selection of templates, all of which include mobile versions optimised for smaller screens. Blogger’s post-editing tool is much like WordPress, but offers fewer options. As a result, its toolbars are less confusing — a trade-off between power and usability. You can monitor comments via Blogger’s dashboard, which also lets you see visitor stats.

Wix
Great for new users, with free stock photos to get you started
Wix is a popular general-purpose free website builder, and is great for creating stylish blogs too. Its chief drawback is storage — you have just 500 MB for your files and data traffic is restricted to 500 MB per month, so you will need to upgrade to a premium plan if your blog takes off. One of its best features is its choice of image sources, including your hard drive, social media, etc. If your blog posts are text-heavy, these free images are a great way to make them look more appealing.

Weebly
Drag-and-drop your way to a smart looking blog
Weebly takes a modular approach to blog-building, with a drag-and-drop editor that lets you choose which elements to add to your site, and where. Pick a basic template, then plonk various
types of content onto the page, including social media links, text, images, maps, and sections of code. It’s a simple way to build a blog that feels unique to you, but doesn’t require any messing about with menus.

Penzu
A secure journal for your private thoughts
Whereas the other free blogging sites are designed to get as many eyeballs on your posts as possible, Penzu is the equivalent of a locked diary stashed in a safe. It is a journal platform that makes your posts private by default and locks them down with passwords. There are
free apps for iOS and Android that enable you to update your Penzu diary anywhere, but the contents are for your eyes only.

techradar.com
ETP6MAR18

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