Saturday, July 25, 2015
Wix
Wix is a cloub-based
web development platform whose brand name stresses originality, simplicity and
above all, free. For this reason the platform is popular among musicians,
photographers, entrepreneurs and other small business owners who want a
quick-fix website on a very low budget. The catch with Wix is the premium
features, which of course cost money, which you’ll almost definitely need as
you expand your website. The main difference here between a Wix and a WordPress
is with Wix you enter for free and pay more as you go, and with WordPress you
enter for a cost (domain name and hosting) and afterwards all resources are
free.
Ø Stats:
Ø Recommended for: Quick fix small-business budget websites
Ø Released: 2006
Ø Founder: Avishai Abrahami
Ø Total users: 57 million
Ø Pros: Drag and drop website builder which uses HTML5, little
to no coding knowledge necessary, free to get a basic website online, text
editor and free fonts, free templates, mobile friendly, login through Facebook
or Google + accounts, and more.
Ø Cons: Charges for many features one would expect to be free.
Difficult to transfer away from.
Ø Costs: Premium version of the software and additions, domain
names, hosting capability. Unclear exactly how much you might spend but it has
been reported to often cost several hundred dollars per year.
Ø My verdict: Obviously a very successful company with a wide
marketing budget and clean look. But I’d never recommend Wix. There is just no
situation I can bring to mind in which I would recommend Wix because of their
pricing structure and decreasing market share among respected online brands.
SquareSpace
All
over television with beautiful and encouraging ads, SquareSpace offers a nice
solution for the business owner in need of a web presence. Get online quickly
with a free trial, setup a cool design and start attracting clients – that’s
the motto. If a more complex blogging platform were snowboarding, SquareSpace
would be skiing, in the pie wedge stance
Stats:
§ Recommended for:
Individual and business blogs and websites
§ Founded: January 2004
§ Founder: Anthony
Casalena
§ Total users: ?
§ Pros: Elegant designs
setup with a couple of clicks.
§ Cons: Less
customization – you’ll pay for things that may come free at a place like
WordPress
§ Costs: 14-day free
trial with plans from $8 and up afterwards
§ My verdict: Less
hands-on than WordPress but arguably better advertising and accessibility –
Squarespace gets your business site up quickly. A good quick solution.
Tumblr
Introduction to Tumblr:
At a time when
WordPress and Blogger were neck-and-neck for new users, Tumblr showed up as the
3rd guy to the party. They received lots of sign-ups from users wanting a
totally refreshing take on blogging, and have grown ever since. Tumblr was
recently bought by Yahoo, who has interesting plans for the whole blog
advertising thing.
Stats:
§ Founded: February 2007
§ Founder: David Karp
§ Total users: 152 million
§ Pros: Ease of use and ability to share your friends’ work
through re-blogging.
§ Cons: Less customization, just a shade less professional and
not ideal for conducting business.
§ Costs: Free, pay Tumblr to get your own domain name without
the “.tumblr” addition
§ My verdict: Great for photography and other forms of art.
Super-simplistic designs and a whimsical vibe make Tubmlr a great choice for
any new blogger.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com
is a free blog-hosting site with roughly half the features of .org. The general
idea here is less maintenance for you, but less control of the blog. Get a
.wordpress domain name like “dearblogger.wordpress.com” or pay to use your own
domain name. Need a niche? WordPress.com sees 100,000 posts published each day
so you’ll surely find like-minded thinkers. Not a full company website but a
loyal companion for one. Write posts, try a free theme, set up social media
buttons and learn blogging at WordPress.com.
Stats:
§ Recommended for: Mass community blogging
§ Released: November 21, 2005
§ Founder: Matt Mullenweg of Automattic
§ Total users: 56 million blogs
§ Pros: Ease to use with little you can mess up.
§ Cons: Less customization and a bit fussy with
adding certain features.
§ Costs: Free, you can pay WordPress.com to get
a domain name without the “.wordpress” addition.
§ My verdict: A lovely intro to blogging that
about 1 year in takes us all to a crossroads: stay put, or transfer to
WordPress.org.
Blogger.com
Blogging.
The thing your friend does
that you could do better. The hobby of the century. Your key to boss-less
freedom and your cat’s one shot at fame. So do your homework with this list and
start a blog the whole world, and your mom, will love.
Ø Recommended for:
Blogging
Ø Founded: August 2013,
1999
Ø Notable events:
Bought by Google in February, 2003
Ø Founder: Evan
Williams of Pyra Labs
Ø Total users:
Ø Pros: Publish
anywhere, huge community, images, video, edit HTML/CSS, template designer,
track traffic stats in Blogger, Adsense at no charge
Ø Cons: While Blogger
is where many writers (including Dear Blogger) started publishing, it’s designs
appear a bit childish today. Google owns your blog – they axed Reader – so acknowledge a
bit less control upfront.
Ø Costs: Pay $10/year
for a domain name without the “.blogspot” extension – otherwise totally free.
Ø Future predictions:
May merge with Google+.
Ø My verdict:
Everything blogging should be and more – Blogger was the sandbox for names now
headlining in tech. The only real negative comes from outgrowing Blogger, at
which point many (like myself) transfer to WordPress. Less popular today – even
Google’s PR Mogul Matt Cutts runs a WordPress site.
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