Blogging has become such a natural way of communicating to the world that almost everyone wants to create a blog. The influx of blogs and blogging platforms has surged a popularity contest like sprouting mushrooms amongst many companies, which are now offering free blogging services to everyone, just to earn their share of the market.
Joining a free blog site has advantages and disadvantages and this article attempts to address these issues with a clear understanding of what can be achieved and what cannot by using a free blogging service such as WordPress or Blogger.
For novice bloggers (as I once was), especially those who have no extensive knowledge in building websites, and those with limited capital to pay for hosting, free blogs sites are great. They have user-friendly interface with various tools that allow new bloggers to configure blogs in a breeze. Very useful tutorials about creating and updating blogs are also available.
Free blog sites also have large number of members which allow you have instant followers of fellow bloggers. It would be very easy to find other bloggers and vice versa. This will help generate traffic to your site and improve your ranking.
Of course, some bloggers (even new ones) want to generate income from their blogs. Some free blog sites like Blogger, provide tools for generating income such as AdSense.
However, there are also downsides in joining free blog sites. These are not good options for those who take blogging seriously. Many blog experts say that if you want search engines to take your blog seriously as well and rank you higher on the search results, paid blogs are better.
First, paid blogs have multitude of tools, themes, and plugins to make your blog look professional. With free blog sites, the appearance of blogs is not as unique as you want them to be, unless of course you are really good and can provide a unique theme to your blog. Many argue, and I also believe, that blogs should be distinctive and should show what you really want to convey through your blog. Blogs have more personal approach and this can’t be shown if your blog looks like somebody else’s.
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