Medium vs WordPress
So you are thinking of starting (or restarting) a blog (by the way, if you aren't blogging yet you should be). You’ve heard of popular blogging platforms like Medium, WordPress, and HubSpot CMS. Which blogging platform should you choose? In this article we pit two of the most popular blogging platforms against one another to reveal their pros and cons. Medium vs WordPress, which is the best choice for your blog, business, or nonprofit? The answer to this question will differ for each blogger, business owner, and leader. So we're sticking to facts in this comparison and breaking the whole thing down into six rounds: Ease of Use Branding Aesthetic Monetization Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Ownership But first, what is a "blogging platform" anyway? [text_with_frame id="368c1dbfefba91dceb946d322e0e86bc" content="‹¨›p‹˜›‹¨›em‹˜›If you find this article helpful consider giving it a share‹¯›nbsp;‹¨›/em‹˜›?‹¨›/p‹˜›" line_color="rgba(0,0,0,.07)" text_font="body" heading_font="heading" animation="none" animation_speed="2" animation_delay="0" __fw_editor_shortcodes_id="e6852c2dacc162bc8c34ba646905e841" _fw_coder="aggressive"][/text_with_frame] Blogging Platforms In short, a blogging platform is any online software or service that makes it easier for you, the blogger or business owner, to launch and maintain a blog. The best blogging platforms make publishing posts intuitive, reading posts pleasurable, and monetizing your brand possible. Both Medium and WordPress are pro blogging platforms. They're both helping people put their great content on the screen and deliver it to readers. Medium Medium is a relative newcomer to the blogging space. Evan Williams (former CEO of Twitter and founder of another popular blogging platform, Blogger) launched Medium in 2012. Originally, Medium was branded as a publishing platform for content longer than Twitter's then 140 character limit. Medium has grown up in the six short years since then to become a well known publishing platform with a…
Top 10 Blog Posts Your Business Blog Should Include
We’ve been talking a lot recently about why your brand needs a blog and how to schedule time for accomplishing your creative to-do list. But before you sit down to write, it’s important to know what you’re going to write. While your editorial schedule should have you covered here, what happens when your ideas run dry? What do you do when writer’s block strikes before you even sit down to write? If you’re looking for some ideas to fill out your editorial schedule, consider some of the following ideas for your business blog posts: [text_with_frame id="368c1dbfefba91dceb946d322e0e86bc" content="‹¨›p‹˜›‹¨›em‹˜›If you find this article helpful consider giving it a share‹¯›nbsp;‹¨›/em‹˜›?‹¨›/p‹˜›" line_color="rgba(0,0,0,.07)" text_font="body" heading_font="heading" animation="none" animation_speed="2" animation_delay="0" __fw_editor_shortcodes_id="e6852c2dacc162bc8c34ba646905e841" _fw_coder="aggressive"][/text_with_frame] 1. Top 10 Lists Share your favorite accessories for the products you sell, leaders in your industry, productivity tips, or anything else you think your audience will find helpful. People love lists! If you are famous for your beauty tutorials, consider sharing a list of the top 10 products you always have in your makeup bags. If you do HVAC work, consider sharing your top 10 favorite air conditioners of 2018. Top 10 lists are easily sharable, and lend themselves well to distribution on other platforms. For example, they translate easily into pinnable images for sharing on Pinterest, can be made into infographics or are a fun way to drive some traffic to your YouTube channel. 2. Interviews Get out there and talk to someone else in the industry whom your audience would love to learn more about. You don’t have to interview the most famous person in your industry to get attention. Start with someone local with a business that does something complimentary to…
Does Your Blog Need a Web Developer?
Blogging is a great way to share your brilliant insights to the world. But if you’re a writer and not a web developer, you probably don’t particularly enjoy all of that technical stuff that comes along with maintaining your blog's web presence. (I know I don’t.) Setting up a blog, managing hosting (including security and backups), customizing your theme and webpages all take time. And when you’re trying to live the life or run the company that your blog centers around, the things you need to do to maintain your blog can easily sap the precious moments you’d rather use for writing. That’s why your blog needs a web developer. So you don’t waste your time managing the technical details of keeping your blog running. Here are some of the key areas where a web developer can improve your web presence and boost your blog’s reach: [text_with_frame id="368c1dbfefba91dceb946d322e0e86bc" content="‹¨›p‹˜›‹¨›em‹˜›If you find this article helpful consider giving it a share‹¯›nbsp;‹¨›/em‹˜›?‹¨›/p‹˜›" line_color="rgba(0,0,0,.07)" text_font="body" heading_font="heading" animation="none" animation_speed="2" animation_delay="0" __fw_editor_shortcodes_id="e6852c2dacc162bc8c34ba646905e841" _fw_coder="aggressive"][/text_with_frame] Let Your Web Developer Handle Hosting, Backups, Uptime Monitoring and More Right out of the gate, there are some technical issues that a blogger must handle before even drafting a first post. From choosing a domain to finding a reliable host and putting systems into place to maintain security, it might take a few hours or days before your blog is up and running. And that’s before you even do the fun stuff, like choosing a theme or sticking your logo on everything. Depending on how much research you want to do to find the best host or security plan, you might spend a good amount of time trying to figure out just…
Say Hello to Your Virtual Front Office Staff: Your Blog
When you have an online business, it can be challenging to convey a personal connection with those who enter your online store. Whether you’re selling high end clothing or virtual coaching services, you need a front office staff that lets your customers get to know you. After all, personal connections go a long way when you’re trying to make sales or retain clients. If your brand exists exclusively online, you need every page of your website to welcome visitors to connect with you at a deeper level. And you need a central location where visitors can engage more deeply to get answers to questions and learn more about the products and services that you offer. This is where your blog comes in. It's helpful to view your company blog as your front office staff. Here are some ways that your blog can act as your virtual receptionist and sales staff, so you don't have to do all the heavy lifting on your own. [text_with_frame id="368c1dbfefba91dceb946d322e0e86bc" content="‹¨›p‹˜›‹¨›em‹˜›If you find this article helpful consider giving it a share‹¯›nbsp;‹¨›/em‹˜›?‹¨›/p‹˜›" line_color="rgba(0,0,0,.07)" text_font="body" heading_font="heading" animation="none" animation_speed="2" animation_delay="0" __fw_editor_shortcodes_id="e6852c2dacc162bc8c34ba646905e841" _fw_coder="aggressive"][/text_with_frame] Say Hello to Your Receptionist For many visitors to your site, your blog is the first place where they’ll be introduced to your brand. Sure, there’s a lot of hype about custom landing pages, but in truth, there are still loads of customers who will visit a company blog before interacting further with the brand. It’s critical that your blog acts as an attentive receptionist to capture new audiences and guide them to the pages that’ll answer their questions. Just as a receptionist in a physical office location gives direction and helps field simple questions, your…
How to Monetize Your Blog: Building Your Subscriber List
Recently we talked about monetizing your blog without driving your readers crazy. We discussed some of the more annoying ways to make money blogging, including through pushing ads and promoting affiliate programs. [button id="4fd9b4f4b32921647383bf92ba393ba3" text="Read part 1 here" url="https://www.rystedtcreative.com/copywriting/monetize-blog-without-driving-readers-crazy/" target="_self" alignment="center" alignment_mobile="default" image="" icon="ti-book" icon_alignment="left" style="1" size="large" radius="0" border_size="2" shadow="simple" full="false" tale="none" margin="0px 0px 15px 0px" text_color="#ffffff" text_hover_color="" background_color="rgba(31,120,230,1)" background_hover_color="rgba(31,78,136,1)" border_color="rgba(152,255,161,1)" border_hover_color="rgba(120,246,131,1)" animation="none" animation_speed="2" animation_delay="0" __fw_editor_shortcodes_id="1cd8293c16122c55834fefd72712dc03" _fw_coder="aggressive"][/button]If you want to make money blogging, you probably want to steer clear of these money making methods - at least to a degree. At the right time and under the right circumstances, an affiliate program, for example, might make a lot of sense for a blogger. But for the most part, we recommend choosing other money making methods if you’re serious about turning your blog into a lucrative income stream (even if it’s just to supplement your coffee addiction). Cashing in on Your Unique Products Again, as we mentioned previously, offering products to your digital audience is a reliable way to earn a sustainable blog income - even while you sleep. But getting to the point where you’re ready to cash in on the buying potential of your audience takes far longer than it does to get through Google’s AdSense screenings and so forth. The foundation of your blog’s marketplace is your subscriber list. And that’s what we’re going to talk about in this post. Why should you build a subscriber list? How does social media factor into the equation? What should you expect from your subscribers? Most importantly: what should you deliver to your subscribers? Let’s get started. Unpacking the Basics of a Subscriber List You’re probably familiar with the concept of…
How to Monetize Your Blog Without Driving Your Readers Crazy
Many people are drawn to blogging and boosting their online presence by the allure of earning an extra bit of cash - or even a viable living - from their website. While blogging is definitely a great foray into online money making, it can be more than a little frustrating to learn exactly how the money is made. A good number of bloggers make some kind of money from their online activity. But only a handful of bloggers make anything near what they’d like to make from their blogging venture. And often, it takes a long time to get to the point of profitability. So how do Bloggers Make Money? There are many ways to turn your blog into a stream of revenue, including: Affiliate Programs - you sign up for a program with a vendor that you frequent and get a cut of the cash when someone makes a purchase from that site through your link Sponsorships - a company that aligns with your blog’s purpose sponsors a blog post, usually in the form of sending you a complimentary product in return for a themed post featuring that product Ads - companies pay to rent a portion of your blog’s space in order to display their own ad information If you’re a blogger, you’re probably familiar with one or all of these methods of deriving income from the blogging platform. If you’re anyone who reads anything on a webpage on the internet, then you’re almost certainly familiar with these income generators - and you probably hate them. I personally hate ads so much that I have two ad blockers installed in my browser and find “adwalls” (companies that refuse…