Tip 24: Why Ghost is better than WordPress for blogging in 2023
Out of frustration with WordPress, Ghost was born. Learn why Ghost is simply the best solution for growing a blog.
Table of Contents
This post is for you if you want to run a blog and nothing else.
An introduction to Ghost.org
WordPress doesn't know what you want to use it for, so it allows you to do pretty much anything - from a huge e-commerce website to a microblog and everything in between. It's a jack-of-all-trades 🤷🏻♂️
If you only want to blog, WordPress may be overkill and doesn't include the essential tools you need.
You can use WordPress plugins to add functionality to a WordPress website, but this comes at an additional cost, and plugins need maintenance.
Ghost (intro below) squarely focuses on its users building an online publication and membership base.
Note: you can sell on Ghost using add-ons such as:
and Ghost is built for monetising a membership base. Read on to find out more!
- Ghost themes look beautifully modern
- Ghost has SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) functionality baked in and is highly optimised for SEO
- Ghost is significantly faster than WordPress
- Ghost has much tighter security
- Ghost themes focus on users subscribing to content, thus becoming members
- Members can be labelled, so you can segment your members when posting
- You can write a post (as a standard post or a newsletter) and send it directly to your members when published
- You can connect Ghost to Stripe and charge members for your content
- You have the option of adding multiple payment tiers, starting at free
- You can give users a free trial on premium content
- You can hide content from users to encourage them to subscribe
- Ghost doesn't charge for taking payments (Stripe does, but any payment gateway will charge, and it's only a tiny percentage of each sale)
- Members sign in to your website with only their email address - a 'magic link' is emailed to them. No passwords needed
- There is a dedicated members dashboard in Ghost, and you can watch the growth trajectory of your members, which is highly motivating
- Ghost has a minimalist editor, so there is no clutter and therefore a more enjoyable writing experience
WordPress provides none of this out of the box.
WordPress is just so WordPress
WordPress websites look very WordPress. Boring. Dated 🥱
Check out WordPress themes from StudioPress, a leading theme supplier:
And now look at the Ghost themes on the Ghost theme marketplace:
Sure, good design is subjective - to a point. If you think the WordPress themes look better and have a better UX, there is no hope for you 🤣
My favourite Ghost theme developers
Alex Boasesparrow.science
The cost of running a Ghost site vs WordPress
Never go cheap when investing in a website. You get what you pay for. I recommend managed hosting, which eliminates the hassle of getting involved in host maintenance and security.
Ghost costs approximately £260 for one year of hosting with the Creator plan on Ghost's hosting service, Ghost Pro:
For WordPress websites, I recommend Flywheel, which costs the same as Ghost hosting at approximately £260 per year for the equivalent plan (Starter plan):
Additional costs:
- Theme (approximately £60-£99 as a one-off payment)
- Email (I recommend ProtonMail at approximately £80 per year)
- DNS management (I recommend ClouDNS at approximately £30 per year for the Premium S plan)
- Domain name (I recommend 123-Reg at approximately £40 per year for .com and co.uk domains. I always advise buying both to protect your IP)
- If you're serious about protecting your IP, you could apply for a UK trademark for £250, which includes one class. A trademark is renewed every 10 years
The total approximate cost (excluding trademark and website installation/design services):
- Theme cost as a one-off payment (let's say £99)
- Annual costs of £410
💡 The costs are the same for both WordPress and Ghost installations.
Moving from WordPress to Ghost: key considerations
- WordPress allows unlimited staff members, such as administrators and editors. Ghost does not and limits you to 2 staff members on the Creator plan. If it's only you writing (or you and another person), this is not an issue. Ghost does allow unlimited contributors
- Ghost updates require some technical ability, which is very straightforward. I will be posting about this shortly
- Ghost provides a free migration service if you are on an annual plan (excluding the Starter plan):
Try Ghost for free, for 14 days
Ghost offers a free trial for 14 days. You need to add your card details, but you will not be charged unless you buy a plan after your 14 days, so there is no auto-renewal 👍
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