In the technology-based world of today, starting a blog is a project that can be finished with ease, and with absolutely no financial output. That’s right, you can blog for free. There are several different options when creating a blog, and multiple starting points. Blogging has adapted over the years and become an outlet for every imaginable subject area. It is not uncommon for a blog to act as an individual’s diary, but at the same time, this media platform can also allow insight into businesses, politics, or even as an introduction to new cooking techniques. The shear variety of blogs is what makes blogging a flexible medium that can appeal to a wide demographic.
What are the Benefits?
Through free programs such as Blogger.com or WordPress you are able to get a start in the blogging world with absolutely no consequence on your wallet. The benefit of blogging for free using these services is the fact that you will have access to, and be provided with extensive tutorials on how to set up your page. All of these tutorials and guidelines are available while still allowing you to have complete creative freedom with the material you post.
It is possible to market your blog and increase traffic by exposing the content of your blog through services such as pingomatic.com, a website that notifies different search engines that you have updated your blog. You can also reveal your content on the website that your blog is hosted through, this way you can continue to attract new readers. If you are familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) you can also utilize your knowledge and get a step up in the rankings, if you are new to SEO it is easy to find free tutorials and information that can get you started.
An additional benefit that can be found through free blogging platforms is the advantage of having reliable hosting. The fear of having your blog crash or slow down is virtually nonexistent.
All of these benefits are available for free; paying for a site does not necessarily give you a head start or provide anything extra,
The Drawbacks
The primary downfall of blogging for free is purely aesthetic. When utilizing free blogging platforms you are restrained to a preassembled set of templates. You have the freedom to select different templates, and to adjust the color scheme, however; the flexibility in free blogging is limited.
Another drawback of free blogging is the fact that your blog will be attached to a predetermined domain name. When you create a blog through WordPress.org your blogs URL will be JohnSmith.WordPress.org, the issue with this is more evident when you are using a blog for professional or business purposes. If your blog is intended for a personal outlet the attached domain name will be less of a problem.
When you use hosts such as blogger.com the amount of plugins and add-ons you can use are limited, although; if you are new to blogging this will probably not have a large influence on your blog. However, if you are familiar with the use of plugins or add-ons you are aware that they can make the difference in creating a successful, and effective website.
Lastly, if you decide to transfer your blog to a paid program you will not be able to transfer any of your content or audience. You can attempt to make your transfer known, and try to hold onto your audience, but there is no guarantee they will follow.
What Steps Should You Take?
So now you know what benefits and drawbacks are present when you blog for free. Where do you go now? Many sites have a similar setup for new users; I will be using blogger.com in my example.
- Blogger.com is based through Google, and in order to effectively use every aspect of blogger.com you will need to set up a Google account. By using blogger.com you also get the added benefits of a Google email, and access to Google drive through your Google account.
- After you have a Google account setup you can create a blogger.com account.
- Now to title your blog, the title of your blog is the first impression. This is the first thing that prospective readers will read. If you are unsure of your title don’t worry, it is possible to go into your account settings at a later time so you can change it.
- This is where the real fun begins; now you get to choose your template and start working on the actual design of your blog. You can always return to your design and change your blogs appearance later, so don’t be afraid about messing it up.
- That’s all there is to it! Now you can start posting and working on building an audience.
Welcome to the world of blogging, you did it! Don’t hesitate to review tutorials and to move around aspects of your blog, you will get better with practice so don’t fret about making mistakes.
Free Blogging Websites
I have included a list of websites that allow you to blog for free, this way you can get a head start and a starting point for your research in free blogs. Some of the websites in this list will even pay you for the views you receive on your blog.
- www.WordPress.com
- www.Blogger.com
- www.Twitter.com
- www.Tumblr.com
- www.LiveJournal.com
- BraveJournal.com
- wikispaces.com
- Squidoo.com
- Skyrock.com
- blog.com
- Hubpages.com