Free Blog
One way that many people start a blog site is to use a free blog. Many websites offer a free blog. The most well known among these is the free Blogger platform that is owned by Google. This is actually how I got started in blogging and is actually an excellent service.
Another choice is a free wordpress blog (hosted at wordpress.com). This is not to be confused with a self hosted WordPress blog – which I will explain in more detail later.
Social networking sites also offer free blogs. This includes a MySpace blog, a FaceBook blog, and a whole host of others. Whatever your interest, there is sure to be a social networking site built around that interest and with your free account you will get a free blog.
Before you choose a free blog you need to do a little introspection.
Why are you starting a blog?
If you are creating a business blog, then a free blog may not be the choice for you. Rightly or wrongly, there is still a bias against a free blog as being not as professional as a self hosted blog. In my opinion, the tide is turning somewhat and I have seen many excellent blogs with strong followings on free platforms.
If you are creating a personal blog and intend to keep it that way – then a free blog may be the best choice for you. Friends and family won’t much care what blog platform you are using.
The Benefits of a Free Blog
Must I say it? Free! That’s right a free blog is free – no blog hosting fees. Blog hosting has very inexpensive these days but it is still something to think about.
Another benefit is that a free blog is low maintenance. You may not realize it but blog software is constantly being updated and upgraded. If you run a self hosted blog like a WordPress blog, you will have to take care of upgrading from one version to the next. Not usually a big deal, but time consuming nonetheless. The host of a free blog (like Blogger’s BlogSpot) usually takes care of the upgrading – behind the scenes. You usually don’t have to do anything to be running the most current version.
The Cons of a Free Blog
A shared domain is usually the biggest complaint. When you first sign up your blog site address will be something like http:// yoursitename.blogspot.com instead of the more desirable http:// yoursitename.com. Many services now let you use your own domain name – which you will need to purchase separately – so this point could be moot.
Regardless of whether you use your own domain name or not for your blog site – on a free platform you still don’t own your blog. If the free host doesn’t like your content or thinks you have a spam blog, they can shut you down and it may take some begging and pleading for them to reinstate your account. All that hard work – gone.
And finally some free blog hosts are very strict about monetizing rules. If you plan to blog for money you need to make sure you will not be in violation of these terms.
