Blogging is often seen as a way to publish personal content or information guides, but it’s also a good way to keep your team updated on what’s happening in your business. Blogs can also serve as CRM services by offering a private, password-protected database to which your customers can subscribe. Many blogging platforms offer some sort of password-protection for multiple users, so it really comes down to what is the best platform overall for your business needs. These are the top 8 best private blogging platforms you can utilize for both your team and your customers.

Top 8 Best Private Blogging Platforms

  1. WordPress – Best Private Blogging Platform for Customization
  2. Ghost – Best Private Blogging Platform for Security
  3. Squarespace – Best Private Blogging Platform for Mobile
  4. Wix – Best Private Blogging Platform for Quick Launch
  5. CMS Hub – Best Private Blogging Platform for CRM
  6. Weebly – Best Private Blogging Platform for Beginners
  7. Contently – Best Private Blogging Platform for Enterprises
  8. Drupal – Best Private Blogging Platform for Large Blogs

1. WordPress – Best Private Blogging Platform for Customization

PRICING: free, paid plans begin at $60 per year

WordPress is one of the largest names in blogging today, but most people know it as a source for personal blogs accessible to the public. You may be surprised to learn that it can also be used for businesses, and even password protected to make it completely private or accessible only to those you choose. WordPress prides itself on its customization, allowing both the installation of widgets and the use of traditional HTML coding to build a completely unique blog.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Insightful stat tracking
  • Large library of custom widgets
  • Pre-built templates and HTML-editing capability

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Active community support
  • Easy and affordable custom domains

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Learning curve for customization aspects

2. Ghost – Best Private Blogging Platform for Security

PRICING: free, paid plans start at $108 per year

Ghost has a whole section devoted to explaining its security and giving suggestions on how to keep your customer-facing and back-end utilities separate. With 5 different role assignments, you can control the level of access your users have in more detail than most blogging platforms.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Add 5 different roles for your team
  • OWASP authentication standards for passwords
  • Uses JSON for storage

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Minimalistic interface for ease of use
  • Highly customizable through HTML editing
  • ability to a byline to your posts with user roles

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Few plugins, requires coding knowledge

3. Squarespace – Best Private Blogging Platform for Mobile

PRICING: $19 per month or $168 per year

Though it doesn’t have as many as WordPress, every single one of Squarespace’s templates is optimized for mobile. You and your team – and anyone else you allow access – can read, edit, and publish on the go. You can password-protect the site but be aware that this function is best for internal use; you can’t create individual passwords, so giving access to clients as part of an exclusive subscription isn’t ideal. However, Squarespace is a quality platform in general, so if you’re just looking for a place to house your internal data, it’s a solid choice.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Live customer care support
  • Built-in analytics
  • E-commerce functionality

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Good for internal business blogging
  • Connects to social media account

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • One password for the entire site – unable to create unique passwords

4. Wix – Best Private Blogging Platform for Quick Launch

PRICING: free, paid plans begin at $45 per month

Wix includes over 800 pre-built design templates so you can start your blog right away. They also have an AI design tool that can create a template for you based on your preferences. Because it’s so focused on ease of use, Wix lacks the customization of some other platforms, but when you’re trying to get an internal or customer-facing knowledge base off the ground, it’s one of the fastest options.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Social media pushing on published posts
  • Wix Bookings – appointment and class scheduling for customers
  • ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) Editor – builds a template based on a questionnaire

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Intuitive editing system
  • Quick and easy set-up

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Limited customization

5. CMS Hub – Best Private Blogging Platform for CRM

PRICING: $25 per month or $270 per year

CRM is a great way to create a private blog for your subscribed customers. The themes are highly customizable, and you can easily connect to social media to keep your subscribers up to date. It also features great SEO tools and data analytics so you can provide the content your customers are looking for.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Pre-built themes
  • Connects to social media
  • Form and CTA creation

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Can create different language versions of posts
  • Built-in SEO tools

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Set-up can take long time

6. Weebly – Best Private Blogging Platform for Beginners

PRICING: $16 per month or $144 per year

Weebly is a super simple interface that doesn’t require extensive knowledge of coding to use. You can also password protect the entire website or just individual pages, allowing you to customize your privacy. They even offer membership features so you can more easily control who sees what and how you can monetize access to your site.

KEY FEATURES:

  • WYSIWYG – easy for beginners to understand
  • Large extension library
  • Built-in membership options

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Supports third-party apps and plugins
  • Drag-and-drop support

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • No source code editing
  • Password protection only available with Pro tier or higher

7. Contently – Best Private Blogging Platform for Enterprises

PRICING: contact sales for individual quote

Because it’s meant for large companies, Contently’s pricing is on a by-quote basis, and you can expect to pay a lot more than you would for more basic blogging platforms. However, if you’re already an enterprise-level business, Contently offers robust content creation tools to meet all of your blogging needs.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Customizable production calendar
  • Freelance writing services for purchase
  • End-to-end creation and publishing management

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Team collaboration
  • Checks for legal compliance

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Intended for larger companies – can be too expensive and expansive for smaller businesses

8. Drupal – Best Private Blogging Platform for Large Blogs

PRICING: not in bold

Drupal is a development-heavy platform, and while this can be intimidating for beginning bloggers or smaller businesses, it really allows for extensive creative freedom for your blog. It also features drag-and-drop capability, so even if you do start from the ground-up, it’s easy to build once you know what you’re looking for, and there’s no coding experience necessary.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Advanced user permissions
  • Multilingual functionality
  • Auto-optimization for mobile

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Large variety of organizational taxonomy
  • No unnecessary plug-ins – only download what you need

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Wide range of options can be too complex for basic or beginning blogs

References and Links

  • https://www.quicksprout.com/best-blogging-platforms
  • https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-blogging-platform
  • https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-blogging-sites
  • https://www.growthmarketingpro.com/best-blogging-platforms
  • https://www.intouch-marketing.com/blog/the-10-best-blogging-platforms-for-your-business
  • https://www.wix.com
  • https://www.fool.com
  • https://ghost.org
  • https://wordpress.com