We live in a tech savvy world where the spoken word is no longer the only means of communication. Many forms of media have taken over and one among them is blogging.
Blogging is a platform for anyone to have their say and be heard. It started in a very personal way as a means of self expression and has gone on to become a kind of web journal of reputed individuals and organizations. Some blogs are just personal diaries of individuals, and others are authoritative and reliable sources of information for the niche they write about.
At an individual level, blogs are a means to connect with like minded folks, a means of reaching out to help others, to promote your expertise in a particular area or simply to stay connected with a close circle of family and friends. At a commercial level, blogs help in advertising and branding reaching out to an internet friendly population.
A quarter of the websites the world over use WordPress as their content management system. This is not surprising at all, given the great advantages that WordPress offers. WordPress needs no coding knowledge at all, but even coders and developers go for it, as it is open source and highly customizable. It is easy to download and install. Comprehensive tutorials are available at Codex as well as across the web. There is solid community support for WordPress and it is kept constantly updated based on feedback from users and developers.
That’s not all. WordPress has a user friendly dashboard to manage your blog or website. You can incorporate your favorite theme, both free and premium, to give your blog a distinct appearance. You can extend functions by adding plugins. WordPress is SEO friendly, with many plugins to aid search engines. It is scalable and your blog can also be monetized as it grows in readership.
You should also be aware that not everything will be smooth sailing with WordPress. Normally, WordPress operates without a hitch. But in case you do encounter an error, you will end up chiding yourself for not picking up a little WordPress knowledge. This is where Codex, the WordPress Support forum, web based tutorials and other WordPress resources can bail you out.
Google’s Blogger is also a popular blogging platform, especially for newbies. It is a secure platform that offers free hosting. However, a blogger has no control or ownership over the blog. You can only choose from a limited number of templates, with little scope for customization. The support for Blogger is also not something you can rely on.
Just in case you want to check out alternatives available to you, learn about other Content Management Systems from this helpful article on Colorlib.
WordPress is used as the content management system in many popular and top ranking blogs. And you can take a closer look at 25 such blogs here to see WordPress in action.
Reuters Blog
The blog of Reuters News Agency covers a great deal of ground by way of information. There are many geographical editions to this blog. Its Alexa ranking at 368 places it right there among the most popular blogs. It has a solid reputation as an authoritative news source and is widely followed all over the globe. The blog is super filled with highly readable information.
The Cranky Flier
The Cranky Flier is the blog of Brett Snyder who has allowed a childhood fascination for air travel to grow into a full fledged blog. He keeps close tabs on the trends, events and happenings in the airline industry. He has gained a deep insider knowledge of the industry, making this blog a must read for airlines and air travelers.
After Ellen
Started originally by Sarah Warn, After Ellen takes a closer look at the feminist LGBT community and how it is represented in the media. It gets the name After Ellen as it was started right after Ellen DeGeneres came out on her popular show Ellen. It is a one stop forum to fathom the views of lesbian and bisexual women, especially in entertainment.
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is a technology news blog that doubles up as a guide for all tech related stuff. It keeps you informed on events in tech companies, whether large or small, and carries opinions about and analysis of these companies. Whether Yahoo is slashing its workforce or earnings of tech companies or breakthrough advances in technology- this is where you will find the news. You can tap data on funding for tech companies and startups here. TechCrunch Daily and Weekly Newsletters and interviews with big names in technology can be also be accessed here.
Perez Hilton
This is the blog to beat all blogs for celebrity gossip. Its author Perez Hilton, earlier called Mario Lavandeira, was named the Number One Web Celeb for 2007, 2008 and 2009 by Forbes Magazine. Like it or not, this blog is raking in the greenbacks for Mario. For truth or for gossip about your favorite celebrity, you now know where to look.
The Sartorialist
The idea of this blog is so simple, you’ll wonder why it never occurred to anyone before. Others have tried it out, but have not been so successful as this 39,899 Alexa ranked blog. The blog is only a scroll down of full length photographs of people around the world who have taken a little care to be well dressed. But they have caught the eye of fashion designer Scott Schuman and have found a place in his ‘street fashion’ blog.
Spoon and Tamago
Japanese design in all forms – from fine art to product design is what has caught the fancy of Johnny Strategy. It is a favorite read with designers, artists and architects. This blog is not simply a place for showcasing design. It is much more- it provides a context to the design in terms of its significance, relevance and unique content.
Darren Hardy
This is the blog of the author/publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, Darren Hardy, a success mentor to CEOs. He has interviewed a number of highly successful people like Richard Branson, Jack Welch, Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. You can read a number of inspirational posts and watch motivational videos on his blog.
The Positivity Blog
You can use this blog of Henrik Edberg to make your life more simple, happy and fulfilling. He experiments with his own life and shares the tips, tricks and knowledge that he gains from it in his blog. For Henrik, both he and his blog are a work in progress. You will find a load of practical and easy to adopt and follow tips in his blog, that can truly turn you life around.
My Nintendo News
Nintendo is the world’s largest revenue earning video game company. The blog My Nintendo News is updated regularly with the latest news on NX, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS news.
PlayStation Blog
For the thousands of fans and gaming enthusiasts, PlayStation.Blog is the place for meeting the creators of the PlayStation experience. The blog is updated with content on an almost daily basis. Each game commands its own post and the blog actively promotes two way conversation with fans.
The Martha Blog
The Martha Blog is the place where you will find posts by Martha Stewart, an American businesswoman with varied interests in writing, cooking and television. Her blog covers wide ranging topics such as recipes, holidays, family, garden, pets and more. Her latest offering is a wedding guide book that will help couples plan for their big day.
Matt Mullenweg
The world of WordPress users would be well aware of Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress. He is an avid speaker, ready to share his thoughts and knowledge at many conferences across the world. His blog is filled with many personal thoughts, borrowed quotes and photographs that he likes to take. Some videos of his interviews in languages other than English are also posted in the blog.
Windows Blog
Windows Blog is the official blog for Windows and devices at Microsoft. The latest products available at the Windows Store, the trailer for the latest version of the Tomb Raider Game, an Insider Preview of Windows 10 and much more is shared on their blog page. The blog is a window to the happenings at Microsoft and has a robust following among the tech loving crowd.
The Mozilla Blog
The Mozilla Blog is the place to go to for all information, news, updates, opinions and events at Mozilla. With detailed articles on Firefox and the additional features constantly added to it, it can help you get the maximum from your Firefox Browser, keep you informed of corporate events or educate you on data privacy issues.
Rafael Nadal Fans
Rafael Nadal is among the top ranking professional tennis players. Though not an official site of the player, this is a popular blog filled with information and inspirational quotes from the famous Spaniard. The blog follows all his matches and off court action as well.
The Official Rackspace Blog
The official blog of this America-based managed cloud computing company keeps readers updated on the latest offerings, as well as on the latest news and announcements form the company. The posts are neatly arranged with small size images against them and a sidebar that carries the more popular posts. Posts are categorized so browsing and finding what you want is easy.
The Last Refuge
The Last Refuge is a blog that follows elections in the United States in particular and politics in general. Calling themselves the Conservative Treehouse, the blog undertakes exhaustive research and analysis to bring facts before the readers. Their stand on political issues is well established and their predictive analysis is often on the dot. The blog is intended to be a substitute for a conversation on a porch among friends.
Watts Up With That
Watts Up With That was started by Anthony Watts, a television meteorologist for 25 years, to present data about climate and weather in a manner that readers can grasp and appreciate. He does not merely preach green living, but practices it in his daily life. The blog contains original articles on science news from Watts as well as other writers related mostly to weather, technology and climate change.
Boing Boing
Boing Boing writes about seemingly unimportant stuff. But by doing this, it stresses the role of the internet as a global medium that should not be controlled by governments or corporations. It acts as the voice of the small blogger, taking up issues that they may find too huge to handle, such as the Homeland security legislation that was introduced post 09/11.
Dooce.com
Dooce.com is the personal blog of Heather Armstrong. She earns sufficient income from this blog to run her family of two girls and two dogs. She is completely honest with her audience and this has led to her loyal fan base. Heather and her website became well known after she was fired from her job for writing about her place of work in not so flattering terms. Now, do you get what being dooced means ?
Hello Fashion Blog
Christine Andrew started Hello Fashion in 2011 as a way to reach out to, inspire and advise the everyday woman on fashion. You can tap the blog for fashion tips and ideas.
TED Blog
TED has one simple mission- spread ideas. The goal is to make ideas accessible to all and generate a spark. The ideas are usually packed into less-than-eighteen-minute speeches delivered at TED Talks. For a world of ideas you can read their posts and dig into their archives on this blog.
Official LinkedIn Blog
LinkedIn is a forum for professionals all over the world to connect and be more successful. With an Alexa ranking of 16, it has 400 million members across the world. The blog contains a load of information relevant to professionals in their career. LinkedIn aims to provide a level playing field for professionals.
The Change Blog
The Change Blog is a forum where more than 50000 members share their experiences in dealing with change. Started by Peter Clemens, it has evolved into a community blog as Peter realized that he was not alone. He reached out to many others like him who had gone through bad patches in their lives. You can find solace in the more than 800 stories shared in this blog.
And Finally
Now that you have seen top quality blogs publishing content via the WordPress Content Management System, any doubts you have about WordPress as the CMS for your blog must have vanished. If any doubts remain, feel free to write in about it.
