How to Get a Free Blog
Luckily for you, sites like Blogger.com have made it easy to set-up and make posts on a blog. In this newsletter, we will go over everything from signing up for a blog on Blogger.com to choosing a template (look) to finally making a first post.
What is Blogger.com?
Simply put, Blogger.com is a site that hosts blogs for free. This makes it even easier for you to have a blog because there is no need to set up a web site and host the blog yourself. All you have to do on Blogger.com, once you’ve signed up, is login to your blog, write a blog post and click submit. It‘s that simple.
What will my web address be on Blogger.com?
Your web address will be http://yourname.blogspot.com. One thing that people dislike about Blogger and other free blog sites is that they don’t have as great of a freedom in choosing a name. You are limited to choosing only what is available. So if you’re looking for http://yankeesfan.blogspot.com, you probably won’t be able to find that.
Signing up for a blog on Blogger
The first thing you’ll do is go to blogger.com. Next, you’ll scroll down the page and click on the button labeled “Create Your Blog Now”.
You will then be taken to a page where you will enter an email address (used to log into your blog), a password, and a word verification. You’ll also have to check “I Accept Terms of Service”. Click continue.
Next, you will be taken to a page where you will choose the blog title, blog address, and another word verification (which is done to prevent auto-signups). When you type in your blog address, you can click a link that says “check availability”. This will tell you whether or not the desired name is available. If the first name you wish to have is not available, keep typing in different variations of the name until you find one that is available.
After you have put in all the information, click “Continue”.
Choosing a Template
After you click “Continue”, you’ll be asked to choose a template. The template can be changed at any time after you sign-up for the blog, so you don’t have to choose an “official” template now.
If you scroll down, you’ll see a variety of different templates.
Click on the one that you like best and then click “Continue”.
Your First Blog Post
After you’ve chosen a template, you’ll see that your blog has been created and that there is a button to “Start Posting”. Click that button.
You’ll be taken to a page that is similar to the posting page at a message board. There is a “Title” field, where you can put in the title of this particular blog posting. Then there is a bigger field, which is the body of your post. Type all you want in this “Body” field, as there is no limit.
Note that there are options above the field to bold, italicize, underline or spell check the text. There is also the option of changing the size and color of the text, plus the ability to add bullet points, numbered lists and even pictures. For now, you’ll just do a simple “Welcome” post.
In the “Title” field, type “Welcome!” In the “Body” field, type your message. You could start with a simple introduction, talking about yourself and the purpose of the blog. When you’re done typing the message, click the “Publish” button. It is worth noting that you can choose to save the post as a draft, if you want to go back and later finish the post.
After you’ve clicked “Publish”, you’ll see that your blog has been published successfully. Click the “View Blog” link to view the results of your work. You’ll now see your post.
Logging into Blogger after the first post
You’ll go to Blogger.com and click on the “Old Blogger” link at the top right of the page. Type in the email address and password that you signed up with. You’ll be taken to the “Dashboard” of your blog. If you want to enter a new post on your blog, click “New Post”. Then follow the instructions mentioned in the previous section. Or if you want to edit the template, add/edit elements to your page, you’ll click “Settings” and then “Template”.
That’s all there is to it. Blogs, whether they are hosted at blogger.com or another free blog site, are incredibly useful and fun.
Blogger makes setting up and running a blog very easy for those who have never done it before. So what are you waiting for? Sign-up for a free blog at Blogger.com today and enjoy posting!
Deciding on a Remote Blog or Self Hosted Blog
So you’ve decided to blog, but aren’t sure whether you should host the blog yourself or sign up for a free service like blogger.com. It’s a dilemma that many bloggers face. There are pros and cons to both, which makes the decision difficult for many. Neither is perfect, and neither is for everyone. Fortunately, you should be able to make the best decision for you if you are armed with adequate knowledge of both. In this newsletter, we’ll go over services like blogger.com and others, plus software that allows you to host your own blog. We’ll also go over the pros and cons of each. After reading this, you will know which is best for you.
Who offers free blog hosting?
Many sites offer free blog hosting. Among them are Forumer, Blogger, BlogEasy, Aeonity, BlogThing and Blogates. A quick search for “free blog” on Google reveals many possibilities.
What software can I use to host my own blog?
Like free blog hosting, there are many possibilities for software that makes hosting your own blog easy. Most of them are free to use. These include:
Word Press(the most popular software)
Apache Roller
Blosxom
Geeklog
Textpattern
LifeType
There is also blog software which you can purchase for use on your site. These include:
Community Server
Movable Type
Radio User Land
One negative about using software and hosting your own blog is that the process can often times be complicated. You have to download the software and install it to your server, which doesn’t always go easily. It’s particularly hard for those who don’t have a lot of experience installing things on servers.
Why should I remotely host my blog at a place like Blogger?
Places like Blogger allow you to host your blog there. It’s a good option for many people.
The Pros
• It’s easy to set up and maintain a blog. You don’t have to go through the trouble of installing software and configuring it to work on your server. All you have to do is sign up for an account and start posting.
• It’s friendly for beginning bloggers. Sites that host blogs offer good tutorials on how to make your blog postings, so that even someone who is completely new to the concept of blogging can do it easily.
• Most blog hosting sites are completely free to use. There is no need to pay for things like a domain name and hosting.
• Monetizing your blog is easy. Rather than having to manually put HTML/Javascript codes on your blog to manually set up things like AdSense and Pay Per Click advertising, you can select an option on most blog hosting sites that does much of the work for you.
The Cons
• You don’t have as many options to customize your blog.
Remotely hosted blogs are admittedly somewhat limited in terms of what you can actually do on them. You have to stick with what is provided to you in terms of look and features.
• The URL you get is always yourname.BLOGSITE.com. You don’t get to have a custom domain name like YOURNAME.com. This can possibly hurt traffic to your blog.
• Blogs hosted on free blog sites don’t look as professional as self hosted blogs.
Why should I self-host my blog?
The Pros
• You have more options and more flexibility. You are able to tweak the blog to your liking.
• Your URL is your address for your blog. Rather than having go to where your blog is hosted to read it, they can read it right from your site.
• The ability to make your blog look professional. Blogs that are hosted on sites of their own tend to look a lot better than those hosted on free sites.
• More space for your blog. Free blog sites usually place a restriction on how much space you have for things like photos and music. By hosting your own blog, you are able to use as much space as you need.
The Cons
• There are sometimes problems with setting up blog software to run on your site and server. If you aren’t experienced when it comes to working with mySQL, the process will be hard.
• Updates aren’t as easy to post.
• You have to manually set up programs to monetize your blog.
However, if you are good with HTML/Javascript, this shouldn’t be too hard.
• You have to pay for your own hosting and domain
As you can see, there are pros and cons to both. Which should you choose? Well, it depends on who you are and what you intend to use your blog for. If you intend to use it for business, then a self-hosted blog is the best idea. If it’s a personal blog, then a free hosted blog will probably be fine for you.
Closely examine all of the pros and cons mentioned above.
That way, you’ll be able to make the best decision for you!
