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5 High-Impact Alternative Blogging Platforms

I’m a huge advocate of having a blog, but you know what else is important?

People finding your content.

And the truth is, it’ll take time for people to find your blog content.

So how do you get your content in front of more people while your blog’s SEO does its thing?

Here’s where what I like to call alternative blogging platforms come in.

To get started building an online brand, you need to blog on platforms where there’s already an audience and drive traffic to your site.

That’s why today I’m sharing 5 alternative blogging platforms to get started building your online presence. 

 

What Is An Alternative Blogging Platform?

For the purposes of this article, an alternative blogging platform is any alternatives to WordPress and Blogger. 

Self hosted WordPress sites are the most common types of blogs and websites, but in order to drive traffic to them, you need a content distribution and SEO strategy.

The alternative blogging platforms in this article are sites where:

  1. There’s already an audience
  2. That you don’t have to build from scratch
  3. That don’t require a lot of tech knowledge to get started

In each section, you’ll find some basic information about each platform, pros and cons, and who I think the platform is best suited for.

 

Top 5 Alternative Blogging Platforms For Growing Your Online Brand

 

1. Medium

Medium is an amazing platform because it’s already full of writers who want to actually engage with you about your work.

For $5/month, you can get a Medium membership and read paywalled articles and join the Medium partnership program and make money from your writing.

I personally love Medium because it’s a great platform to actually have discussions about your industry and learn new things.

There are also over 63 million active users on Medium ready to discover you.

Here are some more thoughts on Medium:

 

Pros

  • It’s super easy to register and start creating content
  • Vibrant community with a ton of niches
  • People actually want to engage in discussions
  • The content is usually short and accessible

Cons

  • You have to amass a big following & lots of views to make real money there
  • It’s hard to find the most recent content vs trending content

 

Who Should Use Medium

Writers looking to build a following who want to have a big library of online content to showcase.

 

2. Substack

Substack is a newsletter-blogging platform focused on monetizing through paid newsletter subscriptions. You can charge monthly and annual fees to gate your best content.

I like this idea in theory because everyone deserves to have their work monetized, but starting out I wasn’t comfortable charging money when I didn’t even have any subscribers so I didn’t know what people wanted. 

The platform really pushes monetization and tries to get you to add a payment method every time you log on so that got annoying for me.

However, I really loved the content on Substack. A lot of people in my industry are on it so the options of content to consume were endless.

People also really value intellectual discussions on Substack, and from what I saw it was mostly respectful.

Here are some other pros and cons of this platform:

 

Pros

  • Easy to understand and setup monetization
  • All the content I read was honestly good across the board

Cons

  • May not make sense for someone growing an audience
  • They really pressure you to monetize
  • If you want to read other people’s content, you have to subscribe individually vs subscribing to the whole platform, which can make it expensive for users

 

substack homepage

Who Should Use Substack

Writers looking to monetize their content easily and write for an audience of engaged users.

 

3. Typeshare

Typeshare is a platform for atomic blogging created by writers Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole of Ship30for30. 

The platform is tied to their digital writing course and encourages users to create short “atomic essays” for 30 days to improve their storytelling and digital writing abilities.

typeshare homepage

You don’t have to be a member of Ship30for30 to join Typeshare, but you may get more out of it if you learn their online writing philosophy and go through the course. Ship30 is one of the few courses on online writing that I feel is actually valuable and current and is actually fairly evergreen in terms of what it teaches.

When you sign up for Typeshare premium, you can get access to a whole bunch of prompts and templates to make writing online easier. 

These are proven templates that Dickie and Cole actually use in their content (you can easily find a ton of them if you scroll through their X accounts).

The templates are great for content across platforms, so you don’t only have to post to Typeshare; you can share the content on other platforms as well.

Here are some of my closing thoughts on Typeshare:

 

Pros

  • Templates make it easier to get started writing online
  • Easy to share to other platforms
  • Built-in community who’s also interested in writing online
  • New templates constantly added
  • Great for getting started writing online

Cons

  • Little engagement on the actual platform, as far as I can tell
  • Limited formatting options when you share directly from Typeshare

 

Who Should Use Typeshare

Beginner writers looking to improve their writing quickly.

 

4. LinkedIn

Wait, wait; I know you’re already cringing, but hear me out.

LinkedIn gets a bad rap as a social media platform for being stuffy and bro-y, but it can also be super valuable if you want to get results from your content that improve your business or career.

What’s great about using LinkedIn as an alternative blogging platform is there are over 1 billion users worldwide but only 3 million post weekly. 

That means there’s a huge gap that you could fill with your content and become one of the top posters really quickly. 

With a ton of users but fewer people posting, the platform isn’t as saturated as other social media platforms, giving you a great opportunity to build your audience.

If you’re an agency or other business selling services to businesses, you absolutely need to be on LinkedIn. 

B2B providers who aren’t already posting on LinkedIn are missing out on major opportunities to network with and attract future clients.

Still not convinced? Let’s look at these pros and cons for writing on LinkedIn:

 

Pros

  • Ideal for B2B businesses
  • Not overly saturated and hard to grow on
  • You’ll be able to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry
  • LinkedIn profiles are ranked well in search results, bringing more traffic to your posts
  • Major lead generation opportunities through posting content

Cons

  • You have to engage to achieve growth faster
  • Content can get a little boring/templatized 
  • Big learning curve for figuring out what content works well
  • Limited formatting options

 

Who Should Use LinkedIn
Writers, bloggers, and business owners who sell services to other businesses. 

 

5. Ghost

Ghost is a fantastic platform for anyone who wants full control over their blog and a direct connection with their audience. 

It’s a bit different from some of the other platforms we’ve talked about because it’s really geared toward serious writers and businesses who are ready to take their blogging to the next level.

One of the best things about Ghost is how fast it is. 

This is super important for SEO because a fast-loading site increases positive user signals.

Ghost also gives you a ton of flexibility. It’s open-source, meaning you can customize just about anything—your site’s design, functionality, you name it. 

Plus, if you’re tech-savvy, you can even host your blog on your own server. This makes Ghost a great choice if you want a unique site that really stands out.

Another cool feature is the built-in membership and subscription options. 

If you’re thinking about monetizing your content, Ghost makes it super easy to set up paid newsletters, exclusive content, or even a full-blown membership site.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I love (and don’t love) about Ghost:

Pros

  • It loads fast
  • There are a ton of customization options
  • You own your audience
  • Easy to create memberships and offer paid content
  • It’s open source so you have full control over the platform

Cons

  • There’s a bit of a learning curve so you need to be tech savvy to use it
  • It’s more similar to having your own website, so you have to drive traffic to it

 

wordpress vs ghost comparison

 

Who Should Use Ghost

Tech-savvy writers who are further in their career and want more monetization options.

 

Ready To Start Blogging?

WordPress might be the most popular place to start a blog, but if you want to grow an audience more quickly, there are definitely some great alternative blogging platforms to use. 

Platforms like Medium, Substack, Typeshare, LinkedIn, and Ghost offer unique opportunities to connect with your audience, grow your brand, and even monetize your content.

Each of these alternative platforms has its own strengths, so the best choice really depends on your specific goals and the type of content you want to create. 

Start by exploring these platforms and see which one feels like the right fit for your brand and where you are in your writing journey. 

Next, start posting. If you’re stuck on what to write about and how to grow, check out the other resources on this blog to get started.

Why I Started A Blog In 2024 (And You Should, Too)

Should you start a blog in 2024?

If you’ve spent any time learning about blogging, you’ve probably already read 5,000 articles claiming blogging is dead.

And, this adage has only gotten worse after the rollout of Google’s Helpful Content Update last year that decimated lots of small publishers (aka bloggers) and tanked their income.

But let’s hold the doomsday talk for a second.

I’m a content marketer in my day job, and if the past year has taught me anything, it’s that blogging is still powerful.

I’ve still brought in leads from my clients’ blogs and people are still searching the internet for answers that they’ll probably find on…you guessed it, a blog.

I even started my own blog in 2024 despite watching several YouTube videos from website owners warning people away from doing so.

So why did I start a blog in 2024 and why do I think you still should, too?

Let’s get into it.

 

Why Start A Blog In 2024

  1. My Blog Is My “Library of Proof”

Proving you’re good at what you do through testimonials from clients is definitely important, but there are other ways you can gain people’s trust online, too.

If you want to prove to people that you’re knowledgeable and up to date about what’s happening in your niche, you need a blog.

I started this blog to share my thoughts on what’s happening in the world of content marketing and SEO, and to show that I can explain these things to people outside of the industry who might be intimidated by it.

My blog is the proof I show that I have experience and expertise related to the services I’m selling. 

To get potential clients and customers to trust and respect you, you need to showcase your expertise and prove you’re an industry authority. Your blog is the perfect way to do that because you can share your own thoughts on a platform you own.

 

 

2. To Attract The Right Opportunities

I’ve been blogging since 2012, and it’s gotten me some pretty cool opportunities.

When I first started blogging, I wrote about books and pop culture. This landed me an internship with a publishing house, and even got me the opportunity to interview for a job on a book bus. Later down the line, blogging is what helped me change careers to content marketing.

Writing online is a powerful way to attract the right opportunities to you because blogging:

  • Helps people discover you
  • Showcases your expertise and ability to solve their problems
  • Shows you take initiative 
  • Helps people get to know who you are as a person

With the right branding and plenty of content, you’ll be able to attract fewer people you don’t want to work with and more people who “get” you.

 

 

3. To Be More Creative With My Content

You’ve all heard it: AI is here. The robot takeover is imminent.

Since everyone can produce content with a single click (not that I’d recommend it…) it’s more important to be creative with your content, offer unique perspectives, and share actual opinions.

It’s not enough to rewrite the same stuff that’s already ranking in search results. 

With more and more one-click content generators launching every day (**eye roll**), I know it’s absolutely critical to learn how to say something different that an AI generator CAN’T say.

Instead of looking at AI with a doom and gloom attitude, I’m planning to use it as an excuse to really get clever and creative and create some killer content.

 

4. To Use Blog Posts On Other Marketing Channels

I find content marketing so much easier when I start with a blog post.

It’s much easier to create a bunch of short-form pieces like LinkedIn posts or Twitter threads or Instagram captions from a piece of content with a lot of meat vs creating all those tiny pieces from scratch.

One blog post can become 5-10 pieces of content that I use on the other channels I’m using to market myself. 

Blogging saves me a lot of work when it comes to my other marketing channels because it prevents me from staring at a blank page.

 

5. I Want A Platform I Completely Own

Owning your own website is never a bad business investment. 

Social media platforms can be shut down at the drop of a hat (remember Vine?) but your website is basically forever.

I don’t want to build a huge audience on a single platform and then have something happen to it that would be a major business loss.

The only platforms you really own are your blog and your email list (and I’m not talking about Substack). 

Don’t put all your eggs in one social media basket. Make sure that you have an audience on multiple platforms so you can protect what you’ve built.

 

6. To Help People Find My Business

The truth is, if your business website doesn’t have a blog, you’re losing reach and therefore money.

According to Hubspot, websites with blogs get 55% more traffic than those without.

All that traffic means more people are discovering your business.

Think about it: when you search something on Google, you land on a blog page, right? 

Branded searches (people searching directly for your business) are great if lots of people know about you already, but how do you get people to actually find your business who’ve never heard of you before?

The answer is your blog.

You can provide answers to questions people may have about the type of service you provide or about your niche with blog posts.

The more people see your blog posts ranking high in search results when they’re researching the problem you solve, the more they’ll grow to trust your brand.

Blogging helps people find your business and builds your brand’s reputation in the process.

 

The Best Time To Start Your Blog

…is now!

More people are online than ever before, and they’re looking for solutions and answers they could find on your blog.

Your blog is the perfect way to showcase your expertise and build trust with potential clients and customers.

Blogging isn’t dead, and can still have major benefits to your business in 2024.

Need help getting started?

I work with entrepreneurs to create and manage their content so they reach more people who need their services. 

Reach out today to learn more.