About a year ago I decided I was going to start writing a blog because my career goals are to work in a publishing firm. I thought it would be the best thing to add to my portfolio and to show people I can create content. So, my first step was to read about how to start a blog. I took to Pinterest, where all bloggers go to promote their blogs, and started to see that all these bloggers where promoting BlueHost, who works directly with WordPress. So I bought a promotion package and received my own domain and free services to WordPress.org.
Next, was actually setting up a website. Now even though I have a premium WordPress account I still had to buy a templet unless you could find a free one that you like. As a broke college student, I went for the free templates. I also just spend $140 to have BlueHost/WordPress for a year. I returned to Pinterest hoping to find a cool looking free template. I found a decent one and added it to my WordPress account.
I should tell you that I have experience setting up websites on Wix. I find it easy to use and I can change the template up as much as I want to the point it doesn't even look close to what it did before. I have used it for school a total of five times for numerous classes. It is free and you can do a lot with it. Using a Template on WordPress is not as easy. Unlike Wix, to really get to what your website wants to look like, you need to know how to code, if you decide to go with a free template. I found it difficult to relocate and delete some of the inserts to the template.
Lastly, I did not know how to create a blog post on WordPress. I found it too hard cause I did not understand how to get the words to form correctly on the page or what a widget was. On Wix, you just hit creat post and you type. You can also just type on a blank page if you wanted to.
So in the end, if you are a new blogger and want to get started I recommend using a host like Wix or SquareSpace to set your blog up and get some content on the site before you pay money. Also, after you have a few posts you can decide to buy your own a domain and publish it from Wix or Squarespace. I don't mean to hate on WordPress but there are definitely easier and cheaper ways to start your own blog.
Special thanks to Liska for showing me how to post on WordPress.
Hey Franchesca! I really liked the description that you made about these two platforms. I’ve only been familiar with WordPress and just like you, I found it tricky and hard to follow. I think that as a blogger, a person must be familiar with the platforms they are working with in order to create a striking blog.
I definitely agree with you that WordPress is much more of a commitment, and quite overwhelming in the beginning. The personal problem I have had with website builders like Wix, SquareSpace, etc., is that the customization is limited to the codes of block that they have in the template you are using or in their add-on widgets. You can always inject code into the page, but unless you know how to code it yourself, you have to find a source for that code or watch a tedious tutorial on it. What I’m getting at is that although I agree with you that full-service website builders are amazing for an introductory phase, one can very quickly run into serious growing pains on those platforms, something that happens much later on with intermediate services like WordPress.