There are two ways to add a blog to a website you already have. You can turn on the blog that comes with your website builder, or you can run the blog on a separate blogging platform at an address like blog.yourcompany.com and link the two sites together.
If your site runs on Squarespace, Wix, Shopify or WordPress.com, the first option is already there and costs nothing extra. Webflow and Framer need their CMS feature, and a plan with enough room for it. The rest of this post helps you choose between the two routes, then walks through the separate-blog route, which is the one with more steps.
A disclosure: I run JustBlogged, which is a separate blogging platform. The builder facts below come from each company's own help pages and pricing pages, checked on 31 October 2026, and they are linked so you can check them yourself.
What your website builder already gives you
| Builder | Blog included? | Where to add it |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Yes. Blogs are listed on every plan on the pricing page. | Pages panel, the + icon, then Blog under Showcase (help page) |
| Wix | Yes. The Wix Blog app is free to install. | In the editor: Add Apps, search for Wix Blog, then Add to Site (help page) |
| Shopify | Yes | Content -> Blog posts in the admin. It is under Content, not Online Store (help page) |
| WordPress.com | Yes. Posts are built in. | Posts -> Add new post (help page) |
| Webflow | Only with the CMS. The pricing page describes Basic as "for simple sites that don't need a CMS". The free Starter plan allows 50 CMS items. The first paid plan that includes the CMS allows 20,000. | Build a CMS collection for posts, plus a page template to display them |
| Framer | Yes. The CMS is on every plan, but each plan caps how many collections and items you get (pricing page). | Create a CMS collection, then add a collection list to a page |
So whether you can add a blog is rarely the issue. The real decision is whether you want the blog to live inside the same tool as your website.
When the built-in blog is the right call
Use it if one person maintains the website and will also write the posts, and that person is comfortable in the site editor. You get one login, one bill, one design and one domain, and nothing needs connecting. For a small shop or a solo service business, that is usually the end of the decision.
When a separate blog makes more sense
These situations come up often in small companies, and each one is a reason to keep the blog apart from the website:
- Someone else built the site, and you don't want writers in the site editor. A designer or agency owns the layout, and every person who logs in to publish a post can also move or delete a section of the homepage. A separate blog gives writers an editor with nothing else in it.
- Several people write, and someone checks posts before they go live. Website builders control who can edit the site. Check whether yours also lets a draft wait for someone's approval before it goes live. If it doesn't and you need that, compare blogging tools on their review features, not their themes.
- You are on a plan without a CMS, or near its limit. On Webflow Basic, adding a blog means upgrading the whole site plan. On Framer, the blog counts against the same collection and item caps as everything else on the site.
- The website is likely to change. If a rebuild or a move to another builder is coming, posts stored in that builder have to move as well, along with every URL people have already shared. A blog on its own platform is unaffected when the website changes.
Not sure? Start with the built-in blog and publish three posts. If the editor or the approval process is getting in the way by then, you will know exactly what to look for in a separate tool.
Adding a separate blog: three jobs
Whichever blogging platform you choose, connecting it to your existing site comes down to the same three jobs.
1. Put it on your own domain
Run the blog on a subdomain such as blog.yourcompany.com. This takes one DNS record (a CNAME) wherever your domain's DNS is managed, and you never touch the website itself. Your blog platform will tell you what the record should point to.
Many people bought their domain through their website builder, so the record goes in the builder's domain settings:
- Squarespace: Domains, then your domain, then DNS -> DNS settings. Scroll to Custom Records, click Add, choose CNAME, and enter blog as the name (help page).
- Wix: Domains, the Domain Actions icon, then Manage DNS Records. Under CNAME, click + Add Record (help page). Wix reserves the www name for the Wix site, which is fine because you are using blog. These settings only appear in Wix if the domain uses Wix's nameservers.
- Shopify: Settings -> Domains, then the domain, then Manage next to DNS settings, then Add custom record and CNAME (help page).
- WordPress.com: Domains, then the domain, then DNS records -> Add record (help page). This works only while the domain uses WordPress.com's nameservers.
- Webflow and Framer are not domain registrars. A domain bought through them is held by a partner registrar (Framer says its bundled domains are managed through Hover), so the record goes in that registrar's DNS settings.
The record can take a few hours to take effect. The blog's HTTPS certificate is issued once the record resolves, so a security warning in the first hour is normal.
The alternative is yourcompany.com/blog, a subfolder. That isn't a DNS record. It needs a routing rule on whatever serves your main website, and most website builders don't let you add one. If you want the subfolder anyway, know that it usually means a reverse proxy or a host that can rewrite paths, which is more infrastructure than most small businesses want for a blog.
2. Link the two sites in both directions
Readers should be able to move between the website and the blog without noticing that two systems are involved. You need two sets of links.
From your website to the blog. Add a menu or footer link labelled Blog, pointing to the blog's full address:
- Squarespace: in the Pages panel, click the + next to the navigation section and choose Link (help page).
- Wix: Pages and Menu, then Add Menu Item, then Link (help page).
- Shopify: Content -> Menus, open the main menu, then Add menu item (help page).
From the blog back to your website. This direction gets forgotten, and it matters more, because many blog readers arrive on a single post from search and have never seen your homepage. Give the blog's header the same few links as your main site, such as Home, Pricing and Contact, and add one clear button that leads to sign-up or booking. Most blogging platforms let you set those as title-and-URL pairs in theme or site settings; full URLs to your main site work there.
3. Make it look like the same company
Upload the same logo, use the same name in the blog title, and set the accent color to match your site. That gets you most of the way. A pixel-perfect copy of the website header is rarely worth the effort, because readers mainly need to see your name, your logo and a way back.
Before you add the Blog link
Publish two or three real posts before the link goes live, so the first visitor doesn't land on an empty page. Pick questions customers already ask you by email or on calls. Those posts also give you something to check: open one on your phone, paste its link into a chat app to see the preview card, and click every link in the header.
If more than one person will be writing, decide who approves posts before anything is published. Split drafting, review and publishing the same way you would for any public page on your domain: the writer shouldn't be the only person who reads a post before it's live.
Top comments (0)