Free and popular blogging platforms to try
Years ago, people used to tell us we all have a book inside of us. Rephrased in today’s terms, that would mean we all have an infinite batch of cool tweets, semi-random comments, and snarky Facebook posts.
And while everyone is allowed to write and distribute content nowadays, people seem to be looking for more thoughtful content, especially such that doesn’t restrict them from sharing it with other passionate readers. That’s exactly why there are so many popular blog sites nowadays.
Blogs might have fallen out of fashion a touch, due to the onslaught of social networks, but there’s something about having a space that’s properly yours, potentially free from the distractions of a billion adverts and countless competing status updates. And the best thing is, there are a load of free blogs out there to get you started.
Are you looking to start your own blog, but can’t figure out how to choose the best blogging platform? It’s a tough choice since there are several different great and free blog sites out there. How do you find out which one is right for you?
In this article, we’ll help you choose the best blogging platform by going over the pros and cons of the most popular options. But before going into that, you need to know how to start a blog with no mistakes.
How to choose the best blog sites?
What can really help before going for a test drive is to define the exact features you’d expect you’re your future platform.
And since it is your first time, it might be a good idea to preselect easy, codeless blogging platforms and see how things will go.
It is also compulsory to have a clear idea of what type of blog you are about to run, and whether there will be the need to repurpose the platform for other kinds of blog websites.
You should also keep in mind that your blog will grow and develop once you promote it, and you will eventually need to change its looks or extend its functionality. This means you should be looking for a flexible platform that can be repurposed at any time and in any way.
Remember that you are at a critical stage of your blogging career: Had you chosen the wrong platform, there is little you can fix to make it work for you.
Finally, even if you don’t expect your blog to generate revenue for you, you may change your mind in the future. By then, your blog should be fully enabled to respond to it.
All this being said, let’s give the top-performing and best free blog sites, and help you find the right one for your needs:
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is definitely the leading open-source website where you can create blogs and pages for free. As intuitive and easy to use as it is, WordPress.org will eliminate all need to hire professional developers and designers.
All it would take is to sign up using their hosting provider and start dragging and dropping elements to make the blog look the way you want it.
You can easily find WordPress themes online, and you can customize the site with various free plugins as well. If you’re a passionate blogger looking to supply readers with fresh content, you should look no further than WordPress.
WordPress.com
WordPress heads the list of top blog sites as the most responsive and absolutely free blogging tool. Website owners choose to work with it because it delivers high quality and secure services, but also because those services can be easily expanded, or migrated to a different accommodation in less than no time.
Which one should you choose between WordPress.org and WordPress.com? According to Scott Chow from The Blog Starter, the decision ultimately boils down to three factors – whether you want free hosting, or a paid one; if you need your own top-level domain name, and finally if you need formal support from WordPress to run your blog.
Blogger
Blogger is another free and popular blogging solution used by millions of experienced bloggers around the world. It is developed and maintained by Google, so there is no hassle when it comes to quality service.
Go on their official website blogger.com and sign up for a free account. You can also use an existent Google username unless it has already been registered for a blog. Once you’ve done that, it will take you only few hours to prepare and publish your first stunning post.
Blogger works the best for supplying information or establishing connections with family and friends. If you’re looking for an e-commerce platform, this is probably not the most suitable solution for you.
Tumblr
Those of you who are already familiar with Tumblr would probably describe it as a mix of Twitter and WordPress functions, white a scope wider than a social network, but favoring a more succinct output than a real blogging platform.
The trick with Tumblr is that you can ‘blog on the go’, namely submit content from all devices, and customize a theme as soon as an idea comes to your mind.
The social undercurrent of Tumblr is also quite powerful, having in mind that it supports following, favorites, and notes. Nevertheless, you should be careful with all those porn bots being lumbered about, as they may end up checking favorites off your amazing posts.
Medium
Medium is Twitter’s brand-child, or if you prefer, the network’s attempt to substitute microblogging with ‘longreads’.
More precisely, the platform is designed for writing, but its strict, locked-down setup will hardly allow anyone to post content that is not remarkably useful. Instead, you’ll be expected to deliver polished, well-written content, and to do so without the customization and configuration possibilities provided by similar platforms.
Ghost
Ghost is an open-source system, which means you can use it for free as long as you choose to install it on your local system. What this means is that you don’t have to pay to download it, but all traffic fees and maintenance charges will still be up to you.
Still, there are many bells and whistles that make Ghost better than a number of platforms: to start with, it will provide you with a live preview of how your published post is going to look like. Compared to WordPress, Ghost suits more technical-minded users and may require some coding skills, but in case you have those, there is no reason not to consider it.
Svbtle
The writing approach specific for Svbtle reminds of Medium, as this is another blogging site that can be used for inspiration rather than plain content arrangement.
Everything is once again striped back, and experience is streamlined and styled to help you enjoy your writing and push your words to the fore. If you’re not looking for a highly customizable and complex platform, Svbtle has you covered.
Postach.io
Postach.io’s developers like to believe they’ve create the easiest blogging platform, and knowing it is the same people that brought Evernote to daylight, we have no choice but to agree with them.
As expected, the two tools are well-integrated and highly-dependent on each other, which means you can connect all your notes to Postach.io, and mark them as published to make sure everyone sees them.
There is an array of advanced options that make Postach.io attractive: you get to choose between a variety of themes, customize posts to your wish, easily embed content from third-party sites, comment with Disqus, and store your work directly in WordPress.
Anchor
Here comes another open source CMS that you can use for free. Anchor is extremely rich with customization possibilities, and allows you to make posts look just the way you wanted them with few simple HTML, CSS, or JavaScript codes. Installation is fast, hassle-free, and ownership is protected.
Bogdan Sandu, a seasoned designer with 15 years of diverse experience, has been designing websites since 2008.
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
Renowned for his expertise in logo design and visual branding, Bogdan has developed a multitude of logos for various clients.
His skills extend to creating posters, vector illustrations, business cards, and brochures. Additionally, Bogdan's UI kits were featured on marketplaces like Visual Hierarchy and UI8.
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