Blogging Basics # 3 - Going Free?

So you’ve decided to save and go free on your first blog? Not a bad idea if you are new to blogging and still undecided if you will be blogging for a long time.

Going free for the first time is a good idea if you are unsure of your desire to blog because it is definitely cheaper than going for the paid route if you end up not wanting to continue blogging after a few weeks of starting one. Having a free blog is perfect if you started to feel like stopping blogging for some time and decide to continue again after a few months or years because it will most likely still be there (unless the blog site that you joined with closed down), unlike self-hosted blogs whose existence in the world wide web depends on how long their domain name is registered and how long their hosting plan is paid for.

There are many free blog sites that offer basic accounts for new bloggers. Here are a few of the the free blog sites I’ve tried:

1. Live Journal is one of the first blogsites I joined. Its clean and easy to use. There are available upgrades also if you are interested in them.

2. Wordpress is one of the best free blogsites I’ve tried. Its easy to understand and it allows upgrades so you can get your own domain while still hosted, and other additional features. When I checked, there were around 61 available theme/layouts to choose from and there are also a few plugins that you can use as widgets to customize your blogs. You can’t have ads and sponsored posts though so that might be a factor to you if you are interested in placing ads on your blogs. I think amazon is allowed though.

3. Blogger is another free blogsite which is easy to use. There are some pre-installed themes you can choose from, or you can change it by editing the html and stylesheet. You can also add several page elements, such as javascript codes and another good thing is you can have ads there. You can have adsense and other ads as well as sponsored posts although some companies prefer non-blogger blogs for sponsored posts. You can also easily redirect a domain you bought and use it on your blogger blog.

4. Friendster - If you already have a profile there and is interested in creating a personal blog its quite easy.

5. Myspace same as #4

6. Multiply same as #4

Remember that free blogs are best if your purpose are not related to monetization as well as controversial issues. Some blogsites suspend or terminate free blog accounts if they violate their company’s TOS (Terms of Service) and policies. Make sure that you read their TOS before making blogs related to monetization and controversial issues so you would be sure if your planned content is within their accepted use.

Note: You can choose and read the next article of this tutorial series from the Blogging Basics Category.