Free Blogging Websites

Creating a weblog or blog is increasing in popularity and is done for a number of reasons - both personal and professional. I have created (and deleted) several blogs. My first few blogs were created and deleted due to lack of time to commit to writing, and lack of actually wanting to blog. Blogging is not a hobby that everyone enjoys - in my case it was a combination of acquiring a taste for blogging and finding the right blogging host for me. Once you decide to create a blog (or maybe you already have) chances are you will go through the same process I did of creation, deconstruction, deletion, and creation all over again.

Here is a listing of four blogging sites that are ideal for new and advanced bloggers alike. I am or have been a member of these sites at one point or another, so as I pass along information to you I can give you my personal experience as well as a description of what the site has to offer.

LiveJournal
Was the first blogging site I ever joined. It's an okay web site, and it's a good place for a beginner to start out. They offer basic blogs for free, but in my opinion the better blog set up is through a paid account. This is the primary reason I actually left LiveJournal. When I first joined, several years ago I started with a free blog. At the time there was not much difference between a free blog and a paid account for blog. But as time passed the differences became much more significant. I would recommend the site to beginner bloggers and those who blog for fun or networking. I deleted my account because I essentially "outgrew" the site, was frustrated with my inability to customize my page as I wanted it as a free blog, and at the time had limited spare time to devote to blogging. The most unfortunate feature of this site is the inability for new users to have a preview of the site to give an accurate idea of what the site is like before joining. But since the site is free there to nothing to lose.
www.livejournal.com

Blogger
This site is the blogging host I currently use. It is very user-friendly to the beginner and is completely customizable as you become more familiar to computer formats such as HTML. It also offers a number of templates that can be used so your blog does not look like everyone else. I like this site because it allows you to preview your post before it is listed on your blog, and you can edit your post after it's posted. Also, it allows you to easily add widgets (such as Twitter) and RSS feeds easily without having to be computer expert. Even though it is free, there are number of ways to personalize your blog and the features that you want to use. For example, adult blogs can be set with a warning indicating adult content, blogs can be set to private, and you can choose to include or not include your blog in search engines. Finally I would like to mention that this web site give you a full and comprehensive tour of the features it has to offer without having to sign up.
www.blogger.com

Wordpress
I am currently experimenting with Wordpress and next to Blogger.com is my favorite blogging web site. The primary reason for this is because of the ease-of-use. It is very user-friendly to the beginner. They offer the most free templates out of any blogging web site and have the most free features. In addition to having a strictly blogging web page, you do have the option of adding additional pages which is a feature that no other free blogging web site offers. And for those who do not want start your blog over but find they like Wordpress better, there is the option to import your blog into Wordpress as long as it uses a Wordpress format. It also has a built in tracker (which normally has to be added into the HTML code on other sites) which makes tracking visits much easier for those like me who have very limited HTML knowledge.
www.wordpress.com

MyTypes
I found MyTypes web site by complete accident. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to use this site very long or explore all of its features, but it seems like it has a lot of potential for personal and business use. Like LiveJournal the site tour is extremely limited and you really don't get a good feel for what the site can offer. This blog is excellent for those who want to expand their blog and past personal use, and offers a number of marketing tools for those who want to popularize their blog. For those who do not know HTML it offers a number of templates that can be used so you do not have to stick with the basic appearance. It also offers a paid tools for business bloggers at a relatively inexpensive costs.
www.mytypes.com

If you are interested in blogging, these are four excellent web sites to visit and possibly try. You have nothing to lose because all four of these blogs are completely free. Some of them do offer upgrades either free or paid that will allow you to expand and set up your blog specifically to your taste. So take a look, and start to blog!