How To Start a Free Blog [Advantages & Disadvantages]

Is it possible to start a blog with no money? Do you think that you can create a blog without paying anything? The Simple answer is YES! You can start a blog for free. 

And in this post, I’m going to show you how you can start a blog for free and also answer questions like:

1. Where can I create a free blog?
2. Is it safe to have a free blog?
3. Can I make money with a free blog?
4. What are the Advantages & disadvantages of having a free blog?

So without further ado, let’s get started.

 

What is a blog?

A blog is an online journal where people can write articles about their interests or experiences.

Blogs often write individuals who want to share their thoughts with others online. They may be professional writers, hobbyists, students, business owners, or anyone else with something interesting/knowledgeable to say.

Some blogs have a single author, while others have multiple authors. Some blogs focus on one topic, while others cover more than one. 

Blogs are usually updated regularly, although there are exceptions. Some bloggers update their content only when they have a new blog post idea, and others update their content daily, weekly, monthly, or even less frequently.

Before I walk you through the entire process, let me tell you what it takes to set up a blog. 

What does it take to set up a blog?

Setting up a blog requires A domain name, hosting, a theme or template, and a set of blogging tools. If you have these tools & services, you can have a blog. 

But buying these services isn’t the goal of this post. Because if you purchase these services, it’s no longer a free blog. Right?

So, how do you start a blog with no money? Simple…look for platforms where you can get these services for free. 

And this is what I’m going to share next.

Bonus: If you decide to start a professional blog, check this slideshow

Free Blogging Platforms To Get Started?

Several free blogging platforms allow you to create a blog for free, and these platforms offer all the essential features required to run a successful blog.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a hosted solution where you get all the essential features to use the service. It offers a wide range of themes, plugins, and customization options. It has a simple interface and allows you to publish your content quickly.

*Please don’t confuse wordpress.com with wordpress.org. WordPress.org is the self-hosted platform where you install WordPress on your server. It provides you with more freedom than WordPress.com, but it costs you money to set up your server.)

For those who don’t want to invest so much time and money in setting up a blog, I recommend WordPress.com. 

 

How To Get Started With WordPress.com For Free?

To get started with WordPress.com, follow the below steps:

Step 1: Head over to WordPress.com 

 

Step 2: Signup to create an account

Step 3: Choose ‘Domain name’ 

Remember, WordPress comes with a free subdomain. So if you want a free domain, you need to choose a domain name following WordPress.com as a subdomain. Although it looks ugly, long, and unprofessional, you need to compromise if you want a free domain. 

 Step 4: Skip the pricing page 

Once you choose your domain name, WordPress redirects you to a pricing page to force you to purchase one of its paid plans. But you can skip this step by clicking the “start with a free site” anchor link available on the page. [SEE The Screenshot]

 Step 5: Set Up your WordPress blog

After that, it takes you to a “site set up page” where you can choose to set up a blog, website, or online store. 

For instance, If you choose to build a website, click ‘start building’, then select the “blog” option from the left sidebar, and choose a theme. 

You can preview any of these themes and install one that fits your needs. Later, you can customize it. 

That’s it! your Free WordPress blog is almost ready to go live. The last thing you need to do is go to Dashboard and click the coming soon button that appears at the top left corner of the sidebar. It’ll make your site live. 

Medium.com 

Medium is another free yet powerful blogging platform to create your profile and start publishing your content.  And the best thing is that you don’t need to deal with plugins, themes, or other technical stuff to set up a blog. 

Just create an account, name your profile, and add your bio, and it’s done. You are ready to start blogging. To write your first blog, first head over to your profile and select the ‘Write a story’ option from the menu. 

You can even monetize your content with the Medium Partner Program. 

 

LinkedIn.com 

Similar to medium.com, LinkedIn is another excellent place to start a blog. You need to signup and create a profile. After that, you can start posting your ideas and grow your following. The only downside is that you can’t monetize your content with LinkedIn directly. But you can use affiliate marketing to make affiliate commissions. 

Blogger.com 

I launched my first blog on blogger.com. It was a free way to start a blog as you don’t need any technical knowledge to set up a blog here, and all you need is an email address and a username. And you’re good to go.

 

Wix.com

Wix.com is another website builder that lets you build a beautiful website without coding skills, making it easier for beginners to create a website. 

You can easily customize your site by choosing from different templates and adding your images and text. You can also choose from different layouts, such as a portfolio or blog page. 

 

LiveJournals

LiveJournal is one of the oldest blogging platforms around. You can create a free LiveJournal account and start writing posts. 

The only downside of Livejournal is that it doesn’t have a lot of customization options like theme selection. But still, a great opportunity if you want to start a free blog and monetize your content with Google AdSense.

GoogleSites

Google sites are easy to design and come with an intuitive user interface. On top of all, these are mobile-friendly and flexible.

Because of these features, more and more webmasters are showing their interest in New Google Sites. When I first learned about Google Sites, I couldn’t stop myself from creating a blog with Google site.

With this, you can create a simple free blog/landing page without programming skills, but Google sites are technically less flexible when it comes to servers.

Google controls the server side of your site; as a result, you can’t upload files, custom code, or themes/templates to your root directory except for features that google allows you to insert on a single page.

Related – Google Sites Tutorial: How To Verify Google Site Ownership With Search Console

 

Is it safe to have a free blog?

Yes, absolutely! Many websites provide free hosting solutions, and they let you host your blogs for free. So, you don’t need to worry about the domain, hosting, and security issues while using them.

However, free blogging platforms come with some limitations. These include limited storage space, limited bandwidth, and restricted access to advanced features like customizing the theme, creating custom pages, etc.

Related – How To Start A Successful Blog In 2022 [Advanced Guide]

What Are The Best Features Of A Good Free Blogging Platform?

Here are some of the essential features of an excellent free blogging platform.

1) Easy-to-Use Interface 

2) Customizable Theme

3) Multiple Layouts

4) User Friendly

5) Simple Setup Process

6) Unlimited Storage Space

7) Unlimited Bandwidth

8) Advanced Features

9) SEO Optimized

10) Social Media Integration

11) Easy to Publish Content

12) Secure

13) Easy to Manage

14) Powerful

15) Safe

16) Fast Loading

17) Easy to Understand

18) Easy to Share Content

19) Easy-to-Track Statistics

 

Can I make money with a free blog?

Absolutely yes! There are many ways to monetize your blog, and here are some of the top options to earn money from your blog. 

Affiliate Marketing

In affiliate marketing, you promote products or services offered by third parties. If someone buys something because of your recommendation, then you get paid.

 

AdSense

Adsense is Google’s advertising network. You can display ads on your blog and earn revenue when people click on those ads. The only downside is that you can’t monetize your medium, LinkedIn, and WordPress.com blog. 

Helpful: How Much Traffic You Need To Drive Traffic To Your Blog

 

What is the advantage of having a free blog?

There are several advantages of having a free blog.

• You do not have to pay anything to run your blog.
• You can share your thoughts and opinions freely.
• You can quickly post content on your blog.
• You can leave at any point in time.
• No risk involved
• You can make money with a free blog
• You don’t need to worry about security, site maintenance, and backups. 

 

What is the Disadvantage of having a free blog?

There are a few disadvantages of having a free blog too.

• It’s hard to track statistics.
• You cannot add social media buttons.
• You have less control over the server.
• You can’t monetize a free wordpress.com, medium.com blog with AdSense, or other contextual ad monetization networks. (However, you can start affiliate marketing to monetize your blog)
• You can’t build brand value with a free blog.
• Free blogs are less customizable, less flexible, and lack features.
• Free blogging platforms come with certain limitations. For example, they may restrict the amount of data you store and stop you from changing your blog’s appearance.

However, you can always upgrade to a premium account once you feel comfortable with your blog. If you want to avoid these restrictions, you should consider paying for a premium service version.

 

Conclusion:

If you are looking for an easy way to start a simple, free and influential blog, you must try out medium.com. It has all the tools you need to create a simple blog within minutes.

Medium is a great place to write, read, connect and engage with others online. It allows you to publish articles, videos, links, photos, quotes, and more.

It also offers a wide range of tools to help you grow as a writer, including analytics, commenting, social media integration, and newsletters. 

Medium makes it easy to find interesting topics, build communities around them, and connect with other writers. It is a fantastic tool to start a blog and monetize your stories or blog posts.

You can even choose to start a WordPress.com blog for more personalization and customized features.

So, what are you waiting for? Just signup now and start a few blogs today.

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