Blogging is a great way to express yourself. Your personal website speaks volumes about who you are, and it’s natural that we all strive to create exceptional, personalized websites to state our uniqueness. I think blogging shouldn’t be a tedious occupation, it should be a labor of love and dedication, and it shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg :).
Many people are dreaming about running a full-fledged blog, but reject the very idea of launching a website because of the probable difficulties associated with building, publishing and maintaining a website, saying nothing about the ongoing expenses. With this thought in mind I’ve decided to write a post depicting the most effective, flexible and cost-efficient platforms to build a blog. I can vouch for these platforms, as I’ve personally tested all of them.
#1 uCoz
This site creator is the most popular SaaS (software as a service) platform in Eastern Europe. It can be a great candidate for those who are looking for a freebie, as uCoz offers some of the most attractive free packages.
Pros: Their free plan never expires, and they don’t require entering your credit card details. What’s more, you can connect your own domain name and generate a custom email for free.
Cons: Their selection of default templates is a bit outdated, as for me. Another drawback is the presence of ad on your website in case you’re using their free package.
#2 Webydo
Webydo web suite will be the perfect destination for creative bloggers. In fact, this website builder is primarily targeted at graphic designers seeking for a code-free web design suite. So, if you’re a creative professional – don’t hesitate to give it a try.
Pros: You can design and publish as many blogs under their subdomain as you need. Their strongest side is their smart CMS allowing designers to manage multiple clients/projects simultaneously.
Cons: You can’t use your own subdomain when on their free plan.
#3 Wix
Wix is a recognized website creator with an audience of millions. This web service is loved for its simplicity and great, designer made templates.
Pros: Its editor is based on the very user-friendly What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get and drag-and-drop editing principles. This platform can be effectively used even by completely HTML-illiterate users.
Cons: On Wix you can’t change templates (you can customize the one you’ve chosen, but you can’t swap it). Another possible drawback is that you can’t make your inner URLs human-readable on Wix.
#4 Moonfruit
Moonfruit is a UK-based site maker, one of the first website builders on the market (it was launched in January 2000). Similarly to Wix, it also offers a very intuitive interface and a great selection of stunning websites.
Pros: The most unparalleled feature you can get on Moonfruit is a free e-shop (it comes in their free plan). They also have a very responsive technical support and numerous introductory tutorials.
Cons: Their pricing is a bit confusing. Even when you sign up to their absolutely free plan, you’ll see a message in your account that your trial expires in 15 days. However, later you’ll see another message – saying that you can keep your website for free (in case you update it regularly). Another possible drawback is that their free version has 20MB storage only.
#5 Weebly
Weebly is also one of the best solutions for building, publishing and maintaining a successful blog. I’ve seen enough sites built on this platform, and I must say they aren’t inferior to WordPress-powered blogs.
Pros: It has a very easy-to-navigate dashboard, and they’ve just recently updated their editor. Another positive side is their pricing. Besides their feature-laden free plan, there are two plans (Starter and Pro) which aren’t very expensive. So, in case you’d like to take your blog to the new level, upgrading won’t break your budget.
Cons: Weebly lacks freedom of customization. For instance, it does offer drag-and-drop, but you can drag the virtual objects only to the specified areas.
Final Thoughts
I recommend using sitebuilders since they can significantly cut your costs on building, publishing and maintaining your blog. Surely, in case you’re a pro, you may want to use something more advanced, like WebMatrix website builder, for example. But in case you have no idea about how websites are being made and published – site builders are the optimal destination for you.
My name is Howard. I enjoy exploring and reviewing top website builders and other kinds of software that have something to do with site creating. In case you consider launching a website, you may want to visit my personal blog http://superbwebsitebuilders.com/ to get inspiration and practical advice on selecting the optimal website builder for your particular case.