Rising Creators Forum

I'm starting a blog and trying to decide between wordpress, medium, blogger, or other platforms

Which platform is best for SEO and growing organic traffic? i've heard wordpress is best but it seems more complicated than the others

(note: wordpress.org = self-hosted, wordpress.com = limited hosted version)

why wordpress wins for SEO:

• full control - you own your content and website completely
• seo plugins - yoast, rankmath, etc make optimization easy
• speed optimization - can use caching plugins, CDNs, optimize everything
• customization - can do anything you want with themes and plugins
• scalability - can handle millions of visitors

why NOT to use other platforms:

medium:

• you don't own the domain or content
• limited seo control
• can't monetize with ads
• harder to build your own brand

blogger:

• outdated platform
• limited features
• google could shut it down anytime
• looks unprofessional

yes wordpress has a learning curve but it's worth it. took me a weekend to learn the basics

my setup:

• bluehost hosting ($3/month for first year)
• free wordpress installation
• free theme (astra or generatepress)
• free seo plugin (rankmath)
• total cost: $36 for first year

invest in learning wordpress properly. you'll thank yourself in a year when you have full control of a growing site

I’m going to give a different take: start with medium if you're a complete beginner

wordpress is great IF you're technical and willing to deal with:

• hosting issues
• security updates
• plugin conflicts
• speed optimization
• backups
• technical problems

medium advantages for beginners:

• start writing immediately (no setup needed)
• built-in audience discovery
• can make money through medium partner program
• zero technical knowledge required
• mobile friendly automatically

my suggestion: start on medium, write 20-30 posts, figure out if you actually enjoy blogging and will stick with it. then move to wordpress

too many people spend weeks setting up a perfect wordpress blog, write 3 posts, and quit. medium removes all barriers to starting

you can always migrate to wordpress later once you've proven to yourself you're serious about blogging

platform matters less than consistency and content quality. better to actually publish on medium than to plan on wordpress