Ghost is a CMS solution that helps businesses create engaging content and websites. It provides users with an open-source website builder to publish their posts and reach a wider audience. It offers all the necessary functionalities for people to make the platform their own and to manage their content properly.
Ghost is suitable for the following people:
For Entrepreneurs
One of the main advantages of using Ghost is that you’ll be able to reach a wider audience. This is crucial for entrepreneurs, as with the help of this software solution, they get to build a real audience who will sign up and log into their sites. This increases and helps drive customer engagement. Ghost offers free membership registration to its audience and depending on your plan, you can have thousands of members enrolled in your site.
For Developers
Ghost is designed for developers since it provides a powerful CMS. This allows users to utilize a default admin client and if you users want too, you can also switch them with your personal JAMstack. This works faster than WordPress and is independently audited compared to other publishing solutions.
For Publishers
Ghost’s platform is catered for publishers, providing them with great technology and good design. You also don’t have to worry about broken website builders and traversing social networks as with Ghost, you’ll get to experience an intuitive, minimal editor with fast content management, built-in SEO features and native desktop and mobile apps.
Ghost Features
Ghost provides many intuitive and engaging features for users, including:
Rich Text Editor
Simple and intuitive, Ghost offers a seamless authoring experience when it comes to creating the content you need for your business. You can add dynamic posts and ensure your audience can engage properly with what you’ve posted. As the editor is built on an open-standard platform, you get to fully enjoy its extensive features.
Content Management
Having this feature makes it easy for you to control your posts as you can categorize your content and structure your site based on your standards with the help of a configuration layer called dynamic routing. Additionally, you can tag your content to make it easier to find later.
Content Scheduler
This is a new feature offered by Ghost. As the name suggests, you don’t have to worry about forgetting daily or weekly posts for your website. Instead, you can rely on the scheduler to plan and ensure your content is posted on the right day and right time.
Optimized Distribution Channels
Using Ghost, you can post across many different channels simultaneously. This ensures your content is simultaneously posted, making it easier for your readers to find them.
Open-source Platform
As Ghost is an open-source blogging platform, you can benefit from powerful third-party integrations. It also offers a modern technology stack, making it a favorite among developers across the globe.
Ghost Benefits
Ghost also offers users many benefits from using the platform, including:
A variety of professional themes
You can rely on Ghost’s professional themes to set the mood and create an engaging theme for your website. The templates offered are popular choices and can help define your website for the type of content you’re offering.
Greater Control
When it comes to designs and integrations, Ghost offers a multitude of related features. This makes it easier to build blogs and sites to their preferences. Since Ghost offers access to API, businesses and developers can synchronize their applications, platforms and websites with third-party services. If you ever need to migrate or transfer your data, Ghost has tools to make it easier for you to handle the switch.
Dedicated Support Team
If you’re having difficulties in setting up your site or navigating through the editor, Ghost offers a dedicated support team to help you out. Depending on your subscription, you can have email support or priority support.
Ghost Pricing
Ghost’s pricing packages are based on how many readers you have. The more people who read your content or visit your publication, the higher Ghost charges you for their platform. These limits are set on a three-month rolling average, which means you aren’t expected to upgrade plans if you’ve experienced traffic spikes. You also don’t have to worry about any extra charges if you’ve exceeded your limits.
Before you decide on a pricing package, Ghost offers a 14-day trial where you can test out its features. This helps you set up your website first before you pay for the services you’ve subscribed to. You can ask for help from Ghost’s support site, which lets you read helpful guides and articles. It should be noted that if you choose the annual plan, you get to benefit from a 20% discount. Here are the three pricing packages you can choose from:
Basic
This first plan is priced at $29.00 per month under the annual plan. For the pay monthly plan, the price changes to $36.00. Basic is suitable for publishers who expect an average of 100K views per month. With this plan, you get to employ two staff users and have 1,000 members enrolled. Other than that, it has SSL and CDN features included.
Basic also has automated tools such as managed installation and setup, automatic weekly updates, threat and uptime management and server maintenance. Its platform has the following features: worldwide CDN, automatic SSL certificate and enterprise-grade security. Overall, it’s a good place to start publishing your content. If the volume of your visitors increases, you can always upgrade your plans.
Professional bloggers often choose this pricing bundle for their content.
Standard
The second plan is priced at $79.00 under the annual plan. If you go for the pay monthly plan, you’ll be charged $99 per month. Standard is suitable for businesses that experience 500k views per month and have 5,000 members involved. It’s also perfect for thriving businesses that need to manage a growing publication. As compared to the first plan, five staff users can be added.
Standard has all the features mentioned in the previous plan. The only difference is you’ll be charged with $25 per month when you use a custom SSL certificate. You’re also given priority support in case you need help and can migrate from a self-hosted Ghost server.
Business
The last plan, Business, is priced at $199 per month if billed annually and $249 if billed monthly. It’s perfect for enterprises and businesses who have expected 1M views per month. Notable features include being able to add 15 staff users, employ 15,000 members and have a 99.9% uptime SLA. You get all the features found in the previous plans with a few additional advanced ones.
Business’ platform charges you an additional $50 per month if you want to run sites on a subdirectory using a standard CNAME record. This feature should only be used by teams and companies who are well-versed with complex technical infrastructure. If you have other platforms, Ghost assists you in migrating them.
Conclusion
To reach a wider audience across the globe, you need a publishing platform that caters to your business needs well. It needs to have the proper tools for you to set it up to your standards and to have complete control over its features. What Ghost offers is a completely open-source and adaptable platform where publishers can easily edit their site, schedule their content and work with your entire workforce.
