Blogging is no longer a diversion or a hobby like it used to be. The discovery that a professionally managed blog can make money has changed the hitherto negative perception about blogging. A cursory look at the top performing blogs including Huffington Post, Perez Hilton and Mashable reveals that these platforms have managed to carve a niche in the internet platform and their founders are making cool bucks.
On the other hand, there are business blogs hosted on corporate websites by companies which have realized the potential of a blog. With increasing competition on the internet platform, businesses are doing everything to gain better ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs) for ranking keywords. Blogging is now core in every search engine optimization (SEO) campaign and the numbers support its inclusion on your website.
A 2015 HubSpot Study shows that 43% of internet users admit to skimming blogs when online. Websites that feature a blog enjoy higher conversion rates. Better still, 79% of shoppers in a similar report say they spend 50% of their time reviewing products on blogs before making a purchase. The fact that even Fortune 500 companies are now harnessing the power of blogging proves that this is one of the most effective marketing tools every business should consider.
With a high-performance blog, you are able to engage more with your target audience. More importantly, you can enhance your brand’s visibility on social media by sharing informative content. If your posts are being shared on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media networks, you are guaranteed of more brand mentions. This will in turn lead to higher traffic and eventually conversion. Whether you want to make money from affiliate programs, selling services, advertising or any other option, make sure you get more insight on how to get started.
Well, a successful blog is highly dependent on the blogging platform you choose. Drupal is one of the most powerful content management systems (CMSs) around and if you are looking to build a professional blog, it is time to evaluate it.
Drupal Blogging at a Glance
There is no denying the power of a well-run blog, but for you to have such a platform, you need a platform that will easily fit your needs. Drupal was released in 2001 and today boasts over 15 million downloads. It is considered the go-to platform for bloggers who want to give their platforms a cutting-edge appearance.
While it requires some knowledge of HTML, CSS and PHP, there are a lot of free resources and support from the user community to help you unlock the CMS. There is a growing community of over 1.3 million users as of April2017.
Creating a Drupal blog is easy and fast but it is what happens afterwards that you should be concerned about. Drupal not only makes it easy for you to set up with a single-click installation but you are also assured of a high-performance blog once you get things running.
Traditionally, most people have opted for WordPress (WP) for their blogging needs. However, if you are looking for a more sophisticated blogging platform which stands out from the WP crowd, it is time to consider Drupal. The growing community of Drupal bloggers has made it easier for adopters to scale the learning curve much faster.
If you have been wondering which blogging platform to use, it is time to check out why Drupal takes the first place:
- Open-source blogging platform – As a beginner in blogging, you are most likely looking to cut on costs. Drupal is a high-performance CMS which requires no license to start using. Anyone can access the source code for the blog. If you are worried about the cost of building your blog, why not try Drupal?
- Scalability – One of the most outstanding features of Drupal is the fact that it is scalable and this is something anyone who is serious about blogging must consider. Bloggers can start with a few pages and add on more pages as their blogs grow without any limitations. There are over 16,000 free customizable modules which give you the power of choice when working on your blog. The dream of every developer is to grow their platform and as more followers join up and the content grows, you will easily scale upwards using these modules.
- SEO-friendly CMS – Search engine optimization (SEO) mattes greatly for any blog. You need your blog pages to be indexed and to rank highly and this is where an SEO-friendly blog platform such as Drupal comes in. Drupal boasts a clean code and cutting-edge web publishing features. All these features work towards making your blog stand out.
- Best performance – Drupal websites and blogs load faster and this contributes to a better user experience. Internet users are looking for fast loading pages and this will boost your reputation in your niche.
- Customization – It is important to make your blog stand out. The best blogs are not the ones using ordinary templates that litter the internet. With Drupal,it is easier to give a personal touch to your blog. Readers will find it easy to identify with your blog.
- Security – Drupal wins hands-down when it comes to security settings. The CMS boasts enterprise-level security with in-depth security reports. Security should rate highly on your considerations when looking for a blogging platform. Depending on what you are using a blog for, you might end up collecting personal data from readers. Such information should be protected and this is only possible when you are using a secure platform.
There are other factors that make Drupal the blogging platform of choice including compatibility with all browsers, frequent updates, and thousands of free themes among others. Drupal modules make it easier for your readers to find the content they require and provide tools to enable readers to engage with your content. There are social sharing tools which make it easier for readers to share your content. These include Disqus andSocial Media Module among others and they make it possible to constantly boost the performance of your blog to meet the desired goals.
Author Bio: Jimmy Rohampton is a digital marketing guru with over 3 years’ experience in the field. He is also a prolific writer and this is an abridged version of a presentation titled ‘Creating a Drupal blog is easy and fast’ that was made in Chicago. Jimmy lives in NYC with his family.
