Blogging is a great way to share your thoughts, stories and ideas with the world. To create a blog for free in 2023 is quite easy, just pick an interested profitable blog niche idea and start doing the necessary work.
The best Free Blogging platforms differ in various features and benefits. All these blogging platforms are free but comes with limited benefits. Paying a little investment will double if not quadruple your writing profits.
What is a blog?
A blog is an online space where people share their personal, marketing, business or scientifique knowledge and experiences.
An online blog can be used for many purposes like personal brand marketing, affiliate marketing content, a freelance portfolio or career job profile.
Blogs are usually maintained by one individual who may or may not be an expert on the topic area that they’re writing about.
There are many benefits to blogging as a business, but some of the most obvious ones are:
- grow your audience
- increase your brand awareness
- Improve your site’s traffic
- Boost your site’s SEO
- Increase your business revenue
- Diversify your income streams
What is a blogging platform?
A blogging platform is a website or software that allows bloggers focus on creating content and publish it for free or for a small fee.
The paid option is always a way of showing support to the benefits, features and tools offered by that platform. But also, it can be a must if you want more control, big storage and customization features that can meet your business needs.
How to make a profitable blog?
Here are 9 tips to follow up if you’re looking to make a profitable blog.
1. Be consistent
Once you’ve created your website and started blogging, being consistent is one of the most important things you can do. If you start off by giving great content once a week, then you will fail to improve upon this.
Your readers expect new content every day so if you don’t deliver what they want, they will find other sources.
It is hard work but for good reasons; people are more likely to return to a site that updates with fresh content or finds ways to attract them through special offers or seasonal promotions.
Keep delivering value throughout the year through annual holidays, unique experiences and offering bonuses for joining up.
The whole purpose of having a blog in the first place is to provide extra content for visitors and customers.
If you have a popular blog, you’ll also need to promote it through social media, ads or other marketing strategies.
2. Choose a niche
Once you’ve created a professional website (you don’t need any coding skills here— just install an amazing free WordPress theme will do the job), updated it regularly and had some traffic, choosing a target market is extremely important.
You will want to choose a topic that relates to your interests and then work out what you know about it.
If you are interested in writing, research some popular blogs for this area of interest and see if there is a need for information.
You can also consider special topics or holidays for next year. There are so many possibilities how to find useful and interesting content for blogging.
The best way to determine what people want is by looking at analytics over time. By doing this, you will be able to tell which posts have received the most clicks and views.
These will be the articles that people prefer the most. In order to get more clicks and views on these articles, they must be providing a valuable service as well as being informative.
It is impossible to provide value without reading about other peoples’ experiences. It is hard to write about things that haven’t happened to us. We read personal stories from others to help us connect with them and their issues.
One great way is heading to Medium and start building your blogging business and also improving your knowledge by investing a $5 monthly membership to read unlimited high-quality articles exclusively for Medium Pro readers.
Content that provides a solution to a problem is far more helpful than advertising. People don’t click on ads because they feel no connection to the brand or the product.
3. Follow your passion
Even if you’re not professional at writing, there are still ways you can make your blog more successful. One of the biggest tips I give is to just write down what you love and believe in. It may even be easier than you think.
There are two reasons why talking about yourself in detail is a good idea). First, it gives you a way to connect with your audience.
You can talk about your passions, hobbies, stories from your life, things that interest you, or whatever topic you like most. By putting this information out there, others may begin to view you as an expert.
Second, by telling your story, it creates a roadmap for your readers. They know where your story is going, so they can start getting prepared.
It also helps people understand you and your words. You will learn how to communicate more effectively through blogging.
And don’t worry about being funny or stating the obvious-most people have ideas around things that matter to them.
4. Offer value
Even if you have an online forum where people can ask questions, it’s not enough to simply tell them about your product and how to use it. You need to let them know what that product has got and don’t be too marketing-y.
People are much more interested in hearing about something when they’re told it will help them, like buying food or clothing. It makes them feel better by making them think of other things they might want or need.
You can provide value even without saying anything. Here are some ways to add value to your posts:
- List examples. Instead of telling someone to “ get out there and do it,” why not show them what works?
- Explain how others did it. What worked for them?
- Share tips that helped you. Your readers love learning new tricks and shortcuts. And they respect a good trick.
- Post testimonials from customers who appreciate their content. Give away products you’re promoting. Let people try them for free then offer to pay for it.
- End with a call to action. Tell visitors to go somewhere or buy something.
- Don’t forget to update your posts regularly. People check your page to learn more about what you sell. If you put up a post once a week, they’ll start to expect less from you.
5. Focus on marketing
If you have a successful blog, then you probably spend a lot of time writing and researching topics, sharing your ideas, and commenting on other people’s posts.
However, without active promotion, readers will not find your blog. You can write the best content in the world, but it won’t do anyone any good if no one is reading it.
The hardest part about setting up a blog isn’t actually creating the site and running it, it’s getting traffic to the site. Without traffic, there’s nothing for people to read.
So how do you get traffic?
That depends on who you are as a writer and what you do with your blog. Are you willing to put in the work to build up a community of followers so they will come to you?
Some people prefer this more passive approach and don’t want to go out looking for conversations or comments, which is fine.
But I would suggest that if you’re going to sit around waiting for people to give you attention, maybe you should be doing something else too?
Probably the most effective thing you can do from someone who doesn’t seem to generate much interest is to ask others for help. More often than not, the problem lies within the person rather than the product.
6. Encourage interaction
Now, I’m not talking about throwing parties for your readers where you sell things (though if you do, those parties might be pretty cool).
But what I am saying is that one of the best ways to attract people to visit your site is by interacting with them.
Reply to comments they make or questions they ask. Some of the best conversations happen when there are no words – just gestures.
You can achieve this by using photos too!
7. Make commenting easy
Though it may seem like people want to comment on your blog to show support for you, most comments are simply meant to promote your content, whether they’re sponsored or not.
To keep people engaged and allow them to comment, make sure that you have done your homework before asking readers to comment on your blog. They should be able to find information about your topic in order to add value through their comments.
According to research, successful commenters are those who provide answers. People love reading comments that offer help or guidance; they feel more satisfied than when they read simple comments.
If you’ve covered all possible angles, then don’t worry about making any assumptions. Your readers won’t think of questions as “too risky” to ask.
They will trust you enough to ask questions and expect honest responses. That being said, here are some question tips to get you started:
Ask questions that require little context. Questions that demand too much background info can turn someone off.
And remember that though blogs are great way to connect with others, they’re not the best place to reach out to strangers.
Your friends might close their eyes and pray that no one notices the mistakes they’re making. But chances are, everyone else has at least one friend who is also struggling with similar problems.
8. Don’t worry about negativity
There is no reason for you to worry about your work being stolen or negative comments from people who don’t like what you have to say.
You can completely ignore these things and focus on what you want to do with your life, but sometimes you need to be aware of others and their feelings.
It’s not all about you!
There are many reasons why we should care about other people’s opinions. Even if they are bad, there is still a way to deal with it.
The first thing to remember is that nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes, so maybe this is just one step towards perfection. The second thing to remember is that everybody has different tastes, values, and beliefs.
What works for someone else might not work for you, and vice versa. Lastly, remember that your success does not depend on them. They are only a small part of the story as to how successful you are.
Keep these tips in mind and feel free to add more ideas as needed!
9. Believe in yourself
Now you have a great topic, write an article with that topic or do a video review of your blog page. Do not worry about format (how it is written) just yet, you will work on that later.
First thing first, learn how to use YouTube, Google+, Facebook, Twitter and any other social media platform to promote what you are writing. By doing this, you are also getting exposure to your article/topic and possibly more information to include next week.
Google+ is a good place to start as most people have at least one account and users who want to share content usually end up promoting their content through links they provide for others.
You can also join groups related to your topic or interest so you can meet other people sharing similar interests and topics.
The Best Free Blogging platforms for Beginners
If you’re looking for a platform to use for blogging, there are plenty of free options out there!
1. Blogger.com
Blogger is a free blogging platform where you can create blog spots as subdomain sites. The platform is easy-to-use and has great benefits for people who are just looking to test things out.
As an honest advice, starting with this platform will help you test a lot of things without any worry of site health issues or financial risks.
Your journey on the platform will give you tons of golden experience you can take huge advantage of when you decide to start a serious blogging business..
2. WordPress.org
WordPress is a popular free blogging platform that’s been around since 2003. It’s open-source software, meaning anyone can access its code and make changes to it.
WordPress is great for people who want to build their own website, as well as those who just want to publish some content online. It’s free with limitations, but the paid version is always a great jump-start.
How to start a blog on WordPress?
Unlike WordPress.org, there’s also an interesting paid blogging platform— Ghost.org.
In fact, Ghost is an amazing professional blogging platform best-fit for content creators, publishers and businesses who are looking to build strong interested members and monetize them with memberships and subscriptions.
So, Ghost.org is not a smart choice for beginners. But it’s good to know different blogging business ideas and websites.
Like Ghost.org, SquareSpace.com is also offers paid plan for hosting, building and managing your website or blog on its CMS software.
SquareSpace offers amazing features but it has some limitations in features. It’s not a good option for beginners. It’s paid after all!
According to Themeisle.com:
With WordPress.org, you host your own site (we recommend this). You’ll purchase your own web hosting service and then you’ll install the WordPress software on that hosting.
With WordPress.com, on the other hand, it’s WordPress.com that takes care of all of this for you (easier to start, less freedom). You just register for an account and you can start building. And that’s the m9ajor difference.
Recommended: how to start a profitable blogging business in 2022
3. CMS Hub
HubSpot CMS is one of the best free blogging platforms that has been designed by HubSpot to help you get started with your blog. It offers the following features:
- Free hosting and domain name registration
- A drag and drop editor for creating content
- A drag and drop website builder
- A customizable mobile experience -Integrations with other HubSpot products like Sales, Marketing, CRM, Social Media, etc.
4. Tumblr.com
Tumblr is a microblogging platform that lets users post text, images, links, videos, audio files, and even live streams. Users can follow each other, subscribe to topics, and comment on posts.
5. Medium.com
Medium is a publishing platform that makes it simple to share stories online. It gives authors great benefits and significant control over their content and how to monetize it.
Authors just focus on creating high-quality content without having to care about any technical issues or marketing efforts.
Meduim automatically do most of the marketing, technical and monetization job.
However, you can do better by sharing your articles on social media and your other sites and adding affiliate links or your sales landing pages to grow your income.
Medium is one of the best free blogging platforms for aspiring beginning writers.
6. Google Sites
Google sites is a free website builder created by Google in 28th February, 2008. This application helps you easily create websites without having to learn HTML or pay any fee.
You can use it to create a basic website like, an event page, freelance portfolio, landing page, affiliate products listing or you can get creative and build something unique.
Google sites is a good option for blogging, but it benefits you in many ways like showcasing your experiences, listing your business links and more.
But anyway, Google sites can be a great choice for
7. Wix.com
Wix is a website builder that’s similar to SquareSpace. You can use it create a professional looking website or blog full of custom designs.
Building a Wix free blog is available for beginners with limited customization tools and features.
Wix offers two plans; Basic and Business. The Basic plan costs $9 per month, while the Business plan is $19 per month.
Besides paid plans to build your business this CMS, Wix is one the most popular free blogging platforms after Blogger, WordPress, Medium and Tumblr.
8. Weebly. Com
Weebly is a customized website builder that makes it easy to create a professional website. Their drag-and-drop editor makes building and designing your blog or personal site fun and intuitive.
Weebly is an easy free blogging platform for beginners.
Weebly offers three different plans; Free, Standard, and Plus. The Free plan is free forever and comes with limited features, while the Standard plan is $8 per month and the Plus plan is $15 per month.
9. LinkedIn.com
LinkedIn is not only a great social media network but also one of the best free blogging platforms for professionals.
LinkedIn.com has over 875 million companies’ members around the world. It’s true that LinkedIn is not an ideal choice for bloggers to make money online.
However, building a strong profile and audience there can bring in great benefits like driving back good traffic and strong authority to your website or blog.
LinkedIn is like WordPress.org, Joomla or Blogger.com, yet it’s considered as one of the best free blogging platform for creating free blog sites for students who are looking to showcase their profession, expertise and experiences.
10. Joomla.org
Joomla is one the best open-source platforms that allows bloggers and developers to build websites and other apps.
Joomla.org is powering around 2 million websites on the internet, making the second wide-spread popular CMS (content management system) softwares.
Honestly, Unlike WordPress.org, Joomla is not that powerful blogging platform for bloggers who are looking to build real blogging businesses.
However, as a beginner, Joomla.org can be a good fit for your blogging testing needs. After all, building a profitable blogging business is no shortcut to success but a long-term learning and growing journey.
Conclusion
Free blogging platforms are a great way to get started with your new blogging adventure. They are easy to use and offer many customisable templates and SEO-friendly themes to choose from.
Based on our experience, the best free blogging platform for beginners is Google’s free blogging software— Blogger.com. It is a great option for building the best free blog sites.
However, if you’re looking for the best
Some of the most popular free blogging platforms include Blogger.com, WordPress.org, Medium, Tumblr, Weebly and Wix.
FAQs
Can I do blogging for free?
The answer is yeah. Most of the best blogging platforms we shared with you above allow you to create and publish more than one blog for free.
You may not find all the features and tools that can help you build a profitable blogging business, but it’s the best choice for beginners.
You must learn and grow first, then upgrade your blogging efforts to make it a real business that brings in good profits.
How do I post a blog for free?
Meduim, Blogger.com, WordPress.org and HubSpot are the best free blogging platforms to post your blog.
Is there other blogging platforms?
Yeah! There are different couples of content management systems like WordPress.org, Joomla.org, Medium or Blogger.com.
The truth is other blogging platforms have small community, that’s why they are not known to many blogging interested people.
Some examples are: Silverstripe.org and Getgrav.org
