As we have progressed further into the realm of new, intriguing, and diversified content, we have found that the idea of a blog per se has been replaced by media hubs: a centralized platform where brands and individuals can share their ideas on what they believe in and what aligns with their company’s purpose. However, when done right, a blog can serve as an incredible asset to your company as you move forward with creating content that aligns with your beliefs. When moving forward with the concept of either blogging or creating a media hub, these are the sites that any marketing agency professional should have in their toolbelt.
WordPress.com
One of the most well-known blogging and hosting services is rightfully one of the best options out there to work with. Being incredibly user-friendly (once you figure out the basic building blocks of your website), customizable to anything one can think of, and free, it puts WordPress.com at a pretty high spot on our list. With the platform, you can customize your user’s experience in whatever way you want, giving you complete control over the end result. Also, with over 5,000 plugins available at your disposal, the possibilities are truly endless.
WordPress.org
At first it may seem as if this is a duplicate, but there is a large distinction between org and com in this case. WordPress.org is an incredible platform designed for individuals to build their site from the ground up: hosting is not included, but there are also over 500 themes and over 47,000 plugins available to make your blog or media hub into exactly what you want. A little more geared towards developers and technologically savvy individuals, but it can be done by anyone willing to learn.
Squarespace
Also making it’s way into the market is Squarespace, an incredibly user-friendly workspace that gives anyone the power to create a beautifully designed website without any kind of coding or backend knowledge. The raw HTML customization isn’t as vast as WordPress, however users can add any number of predefined content blocks to their site that have been tested and retested to ensure the best experience possible for your user on any device: create one site and it’s immediately optimized for web, mobile, and anything in between.
Blogger
Although it feels geared more towards personal blogging and individual usage rather than professional or corporations, Blogger is still a valid option when discussing the creation of a personal blog or company media hub. The platform is a bit stripped down when compared to the others mentioned with no plugins available, however there are still well over 500 themes that you can use to customize your site to your liking. This is a great option for brands and companies looking to test the waters when it comes to writing or for industries that may be looking to break into the market by creating a media hub.
Medium
This is not necessarily a blogging site in the traditional sense of creating a custom domain with a predefined user experience of your choosing, however it’s still a great alternative to hosting a separate website with your written content. Medium serves as a cultivation of writings from individuals across all industries in one simple place. There is no customization, no plugins, no frills: just a platform to host your writings. This isn’t bad, by any means, in fact, because what Medium succeeds in is discoverability: something our other sites mentioned don’t have the ability to do. Medium is more like a social media network for writing than anything else, but it also allows you to create experiences and relationships with other writers in and outside of your industry.
No matter the platform, creating a blog or media hub is an excellent way to drive traffic to your business while also utilizing writing as a way to capture your audience on what you believe in. As companies progress into the future of content, a media hub will ensure you stay aligned with your company’s greater purpose. Need help setting up a company media hub? At Mabbly, we are one of the leading Chicago digital marketing agencies and would love to help you out!
