As a tried-and-tested digital marketing strategy, blogging helps companies and startups accomplish multiple goals – increase website traffic, generate leads, drive sales conversions, and foster customer relationships. At the same time, blogging creates opportunities for individual content creators to earn $0.01 – $0.25 per page view.

In addition to publishing blog posts regularly, enterprises and individuals monetize their blogs in several ways. But can earn recurring income by creating several types of blogs. However, you cannot create, publish, manage, and monetize blogs effectively using specialized software and services.

Blogging sites make it easier for you to earn recurring income by sharing your thoughts or ideas with the target audience by publishing blogs. They help you set up blogging websites by providing a variety of themes, plugins, and add-ons.

Also, they make it easier for you to optimize blogs for search engines and promote blogs on social networking platforms. You can create and run blogs using several widely-used blogging sites. But you can control costs and increase blogging ROI by opting for one of the best free blogging sites.

Overview of 16 Best Free Blogging Sites for Beginner Bloggers

1. WordPress

At present, WordPress is used by 63.2% of websites powered by content management systems. In addition to being an open-source blogging platform, WordPress allows users to choose from over 1000 themes and 55000 plugins.

The themes and plugins help you design and customize the blog site without writing longer lines of code. At the same time, you can use specific WordPress features and plugins to optimize the content for search engines.

The WYSIWYG editor provided by the blogging platform enables you to create, update, and modify content without writing any code. Also, you can monetize the blogs without any restrictions. But you have to invest in a web hosting plan to connect your blog site to the internet.

2. Wix

Wix is currently popular as a website-building software. However, it was initially launched as a blogging platform. It helps users create, modify, and optimize content by providing a WYSIWYG editor. At the same time, users can avoid writing lengthy code by choosing from over 900 free and customizable website templates.

Wix makes it easier for beginners to set up blog sites by providing free storage and bandwidth. Hence, you can opt for Wix to start a blog without putting in extra time and effort. However, the free blogging site requires you to display the Wix brand on the website. Also, it does not allow you to run third-party ads on the website. Hence, you will find it challenging to monetize the blogs developed using Wix.

3. Weebly

Weebly is a premium website-building tool. The free edition of the platform helps you create blogs using a drag-and-drop solution. You can use the WYSIWYG editor to create and optimize content in minutes. Also, you can change the look and feel of your blog site regularly by changing themes. Weebly enables users to add e-commerce functionalities to the website on demand.

But Weebly requires you to show its branding and ads on the website. You have to upgrade to a premium version of the blogging site to connect the blog to a custom domain. Often beginners experiment with Weebly to acquire and hone blogging skills. However, they opt for Weebly alternatives to monetize and customize the blog.

4. Medium

Unlike other best free blogging sites, Medium does not help users set up personal blog sites. However, content creators can leverage Medium as an online community to share their ideas and views by posting blogs regularly. The members of the community make the content popular by sharing and reposting it on other platforms.

Also, many bloggers popularize their content by republishing them on Medium. In addition to being a free-to-use and easy-to-learn platform, Medium helps bloggers reach out to an existing audience. However, bloggers lack the option to customize and monetize their blog posts. Many bloggers opt for Medium as an alternative to guest posting.

5. Drupal

Drupal is an open-source content management system (CMS). The free-to-use platform helps users save the time and resources required to build websites and blogs. Drupal popularizes blogs by making the content accessible on desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

Also, the Drupal community helps bloggers resolve clear doubts and solve issues in a short amount of time. However, bloggers find it challenging to customize Drupal blogs due to limited customization modules. Also, bloggers proficient in web technologies find it easier to leverage Drupal as a blogging site.

6. Google Blogger

Many seasoned bloggers consider this popular free blogging platform outdated. But, the blogging platform supported by Google is still popular with many beginner and seasoned bloggers. Blogger is one of the beginner-friendly blogging sites. It simplifies the creation of new blog sites by providing ready-to-use templates.

Unlike other best free blogging sites, Blogger makes it easier for content creators to monetize their blogs using Google AdSense. However, it does not provide the options and tools required by a user to customize his blogs. Many bloggers find the interface provided by Bloggers to be inferior to the interfaces provided by modern blogging platforms.

7. Ghost

Ghost is a commercial blogging platform. But you can use the self-hosted version of Ghost without subscribing to any pricing plans. Ghost was developed as an easier-to-use alternative to WordPress. It comes with features and tools to make it easier for bloggers to create, publish, and monetize their content.

Many bloggers opt for Ghost to create content in a clean space. However, they find it challenging to customize blogs due to limited customization options. Also, they find it challenging to host their blog sites as Ghost is written in JavaScript. Bloggers have to pay additional fees to run independent blog sites by getting domain names.

8. Webador

Webador is commercial website-building software that is hugely popular with small businesses. Individuals and hobbyists can use the free edition of Webador to set up in less than 30 minutes. They can set up a website without writing code using customizable templates and a drag-and-drop editor.

Also, they can link the website to a .com domain after the development process. Webador boosts the website’s user experience and search engine performance by adopting responsive web design. Bloggers can monitor the website’s performance regularly by generating custom reports.

But they have to upgrade to a paid edition of Webador to avail of additional features like add-free websites, multi-language websites, customizable forms, and Google Analytics integration. But beginners can use the free edition of the platform to speed up blog site development.

9. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a hugely popular business-focused media platform. Professionals access the platform regularly to expand their professional network and find job opportunities. The massive popularity of LinkedIn with entrepreneurs and working professionals creates opportunities for bloggers to publish and promote content.

Many bloggers even prefer LinkedIn as the best free blogging site to reach out to B2B customers and influence their purchase decisions. However, LinkedIn does not provide the features and tools required by a blogger to set up independent blog sites. Also, bloggers can leverage LinkedIn fully only by publishing original and insightful blog posts.

10. Penzu

Penzu helps writers and content creators maintain customized online journals. Over 2 million writers currently leverage Penzu as an alternative to other free blogging sites. They use the mobile version of Penzu to record ideas, experiences, and activities on the go.

The smart search option provided by the site helps them find relevant journals instantly. Also, the platform safeguards the content and journals using advanced encryption technologies and double password protection. Hence, writers leverage Penzu to create journals that can be extended to blogs in the future.

11. Jimdo

Jimdo is a premium website-building tool. Bloggers can use the Play edition of the software to build websites and online stores free of cost. The built-in design features of Jimdo enable users to customize websites by adding their images and logos. Jimdo makes the website look good on both computers and mobile devices.

Also, bloggers can connect the blog directly to their Google, Facebook, and Instagram profiles. But they have to upgrade to a premium version of Jimdo to use a free domain, increase the number of web pages, access advanced SEO tools, and provide ad-free experiences.

12. Joomla

Joomla is an open-source CMS supported by a large developer community. The flexible interface provided by the CMS helps users set up a blog site without putting in extra time and effort. A blogger can customize the website by using a wide variety of templates and extensions.

Also, he can customize web pages by choosing his preferred font, color, background, and emotions. Joomla makes it easier for him to increase website traffic by optimizing the blog site for mobile devices and search engines.

However, he has to purchase a domain name and hosting services to host individual blog sites. Also, beginners can leverage Joomla as one of the best free blogging sites only when they are familiar with commonly used web technologies.

13. SITE123

SITE123 makes it easier for content creators to set up a variety of websites. Bloggers can leverage the free website-building tool to develop a simple blog site in a short amount of time. The design templates provided by the platform enable them to avoid writing longer lines of code.

SITE123 scores over other free blogging sites in the category of Multilanguage content management. It boosts the blog site’s user experience by adopting responsive web design. Also, it helps users divert organic traffic to the blog site by providing SEO tools. Many bloggers opt for SITE123 to set up a blog site in a straightforward way.

14. Postach.io

Evernote is used widely by bloggers to capture ideas on the go. The popular note-taking application enables content creators to create notes by combining text, images, and audio. Postach.io creates opportunities for writers to convert their Evernote Notebook into a blog site.

A user can use Postach.io to set up a blog site for free simply by connecting it with the Evernote application. Also, he can add new posts regularly from the note-taking app. Bloggers also have the option to use custom domains and share blog posts on popular social networking platforms.

15. Write.as

Write.as is a premium content writing and publishing platform. Bloggers can use the free edition of the platform to set up a blog site for free. They can create and publish content quickly using the options provided by the site. Also, they can promote blog posts by sharing URLs using emails, blogs, and social networking platforms.

Write.as keeps readers engaged by not distracting them by sending likes, comments, and other notifications. However, the free edition of the site provides users with a plain text editor and requires them to show Write.as branding. Bloggers have to upgrade to paid editions of the platform to use custom themes and get photo-hosting facilities.

16. Jekyll

Unlike other widely used blogging sites, Jekyll helps users convert plain text documents into static websites. The open-source site generator is hugely popular with bloggers who write blogs using popular word processing tools like Microsoft Word.

In addition to creating informational websites, writers can use Jekyll to deploy the websites for free using GitHub. Also, writers can migrate their existing blogs to Jekyll effortlessly. But Jekyll processes templates using a templating language called Liquid. Beginners can leverage Jekyll to save the time and effort required to set up a new blog site.

Conclusion

These best free blogging sites help you create and run blog sites without incurring upfront and ongoing costs. Some of these popular blogging sites are available as open-source software. At the same time, you have the option to choose from the free editions of several commercial blogging sites.

But you should remember that the best free blogging platforms differ from each other in many aspects, including built-in features, the number of themes and plugins, and community strength. Hence, you must compare these best free blogging sites elaborately to choose the platform that meets your short-term and long-term needs.