Evaluating Ghost vs WordPress

Neville Hobson

Neville Hobson

— 2 min read
Evaluating Ghost vs WordPress
Photo by John Schnobrich / Unsplash

I've thought out loud about this in my previous posts here. Here's another way I'm looking at this, a simple comparative view:

(I haven't figured out yet how to add a table to a Ghost post, so this is a screenshot from a markdown text instead.)

I'm not including a comparison with self-hosted WordPress as I don't see that as realistic: if I do move to Ghost Pro or hosted WordPress, comparing features with self-hosted WordPress is like comparing apples with oranges.

My driving forces remain Ease of Use (simple, minimalist, writing-focused) and Maintenance (Ghost handles everything behind the scenes).

There are significant practicalities to address as well, such as what to do with current content and domain.

My current thinking is to archive the current site (ie, its content) and start afresh on Ghost or WP.com.

What are the pros and cons? I see them like this:

Option A: Migrate All Content

  • Pros:
    • Retains the full history of my blogging journey.
    • SEO benefits from maintaining backlinks and indexed content.
    • Offers continuity for long-term readers.
  • Cons:
    • It could feel overwhelming if the site structure needs a significant clean-up (which I think it does).
    • Migrating a large site to Ghost or WordPress.com might require technical effort (the site has over 5,500 posts so I think it probably will).
    • Some considerable work before migration will be necessary, eg:
      • converting all WP categories to tags as Ghost doesn't support categories
      • thoroughly checking plugin use for ones where no equivalent exists for Ghost
      • looking at how to replace shortcodes, which are not supported by Ghost

Option B: Create an Archive on Ghost or WP and Start Afresh

  • Pros:
    • It gives me a clean slate to redefine my focus or tone.
    • Keeps my historical content accessible without cluttering the main site.
    • Reduces ongoing maintenance for legacy posts.
  • Cons:
    • Potential loss of organic traffic to the archive if not handled properly.
    • It may confuse long-time readers if not clearly communicated.

If I archive older posts, it could align well with the idea of shifting to a simpler, more focused platform like Ghost. Alternatively, staying within the WordPress ecosystem with hosted WordPress will allow me to use familiar tools while achieving a similar result.

Next Step

  • Continue exploring Ghost Pro on the current trial which expires on 20 January.
  • Test Ghost by manually importing a handful of posts from the current blog.
  • Look conclusively at hosted WordPress.

Read more