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Introduction
When starting a side income blog and choosing a blogging platform, there are a few leading options.
A self-hosted WordPress site, also often referred to as a WordPress.org site, is a free and open-source content management system (CMS). About 45% of websites on the internet use WordPress.org and it is recommended.
Another option for blogging that is free is using a WordPress.com site, which uses a modified version of the WordPress.org CMS.
Another option is Blogger, which is also free. Your blog will be built on a blogspot.com subdomain, or can also be used with your own domain name.
Ghost is another free CMS platform somewhat specialised for blogging and as such is very fast.
Some other options include Joomla and Drupal and Wix.
Self-hosted WordPress Site (WordPress.org)
WordPress is a CMS that can be downloaded for free from WordPress.org and to get it up and running, you will need to register a domain name or use an aftermarket one, as well as purchase webhosting that you will upload the WordPress files to.
When acquiring a good domain name, it’s a good idea to find a short and memorable one that aligns to your blog’s niche and there are many benefits to having a good domain, such as it being memorable and giving a good first impression. You can register a domain through a registrar such as Namecheap or buy it in the domain aftermarket, such as at Namecheap marketplace.
A webhost plan can also be found at Namecheap starting at about $2 per month. It will be used to host your website files so that your site can be retrieved through your domain name.
Once you’ve started to get familiar and setup the WordPress, as it is a CMS, creating content will come intuitively. An important next step after getting the WordPress files uploaded is to create an appealing layout for your site, somewhat dictated by the WordPress theme you use.
A theme can be coded from scratch, a theme with customisable options can be downloaded from a WordPress developer and then customised, or alternatively a theme can be created with a page builder plugin such as Beaver Builder.
While it may take some time, I recommend finding a theme created by a developer that has features that align to your blog’s needs, either free or paid. As such a large majority of websites on the internet use WordPress.org, there is great supply and demand for such themes being developed and many available to choose from if you do due research.
The WordPress.org platform is also frequently updated, ensuring the CMS is kept up to date.
WordPress.com
For a budget friendly option when starting a side income blog, WordPress.com can be used. It uses a modified version of the WordPress.org CMS and your blog will be hosted for free on a WordPress.com subdomain, unless you want to use your own domain name, which can be done when using their paid plan.
Blogger
A free option is Blogger, which offers users a free blogspot.com subdomain but also has the option to be used with a registered or acquired domain name.
Blogger is easy to set up and beginner friendly and using it with a paid domain is a step up to using a subdomain, however due to its limited design options, its banner and as it is a closed platform created by Google, lacking options like using plugins, it’s limiting nature can impact your blog’s progress.
Ghost
Ghost is a CMS that is specifically designed for blogging or publishing and is well known for being modern and fast.
While WordPress.org was designed to create more general-purpose CMS websites, one of the reasons it’s recommended to spend your time learning it is due to its popularity, even if as a beginner it involves a steep learning curve.
Conclusion
While around 45% of websites on the internet using the wordpress.org, it is the recommended platform when starting a side income blog. However, other platforms than the WordPress.org CMS that can be used include WordPress.com, Blogger and Ghost.
There are also many other options that haven’t been covered in detail here, including the Joomla and Drupal CMS that are free to download but require hosting and a registered or acquired domain name and another option is also Wix, a website building platform that offers a free plan that must be upgraded to a paid plan for it to work with your own domain name.