What platform do you blog on?
Hey there, hope all is great. I recently started my newsletter on Substack and got some serious traffic from HN. And this got me thinking whether I should really invest (long term) in a platform that I can't control. Substack is great and makes everything easy, but wouldn't be blogging on a personal website be 'safer' and look more professional? Thanks for your insights
Great question.
There are two main options at the moment.
Wordpress or Ghost.
Wordpress has a ton of plugins. However folks I know who use it complain a lot and it usually requires more time to maintain it than Ghost. You have to worry about database backups etc.
Ghost has a hosted version for $29 a month, or you can self host for $5 but then you have to run updates, backup the server etc.
I built http://versoly.com/ we handle all the hosting, allow you to add analytics and have a simple blogging CMS. You can get started in 5 minutes with a SEO optimised blog.
We also have world class support, me :)
My biggest issue with Substack is it only gathers emails not first name, or any other data you might want from your audience. However, it's so much easier and cheaper to get started than Ghost, WP or Mailchimp. Also, I heavily considered Revue for my MVP westcoastsports.substack.com
I use static site generators. If you're a developer it's probably the easiest way and the cheapest. (Edit: To be specific, I use Gatsby + Netlify)
But yes, being on your own domain is more important than whatever platform is below it :)