Many individuals would want to have a blog and publish it (so the world can access) but are hesitant to spend money. Is there a platform where you can create a blog without charge?

Yes, but majority of these sites would put advertisements on your contents or put a cap on storage and bandwidth. These limitations would force you to upgrade later should your site grow.

There is, however, a blogging platform that is offering almost everything you need to start a blog – for free. In addition, this platform has been providing its services without charge since 1999.

The platform is called Blogspot. Apparently, it was the one who started the idea that everyone should have a voice online. Blogspot provides professional blogging for free.

What is Blogspot

Blogger (known as Blogspot) is an online content management platform that was founded in 1999 by Evan Williams. Williams is the same individual behind the social media Twitter (now X.com) and Medium.com.

The service was acquired by Google in February 2003 for an undisclosed amount. The platform is known as free blogging option, easy to use, and accessible to all individuals having a Google account.

Blogspot is very convenient to use. You won’t have to do much to get started, simply go to the website https://www.blogger.com/ and sign-in using your Google account. Thereafter, you have the option to create a blog.

Menus are:

• Posts. This part allows you to create a blog post, sort, add tags. The editor is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), which allows you to create and format blog posts without needing to know how to code.
• Stats. Provides timely access to information on pageviews statistics.
• Comments. Manage comments on your blog.
• Earnings. Google has a program called Adsense. Content publishers can earn revenues as you allow the company to display advertisements within your contents.
• Pages. Create blog pages. Editor is WYSIWYG.
• Layout. Customize your website through adding, removing, dragging, and editing gadgets.
• Theme. This is a pre-designed template that controls your blog’s layout, colors, and overall appearance. You can select from the free themes provided, or purchase from services such as Sora and Themeforest.
• Settings. It allows you to edit blog title, blog descriptions, language, options to warn audience on adult contents, Google Analytics, favicon, search engine, domain, https redirect, more.
• Reading List. This is a feed of the blogs you follow, receive updates when other blogspot users publish contents.

Advantages of Blogspot

One of the top reasons why a person chooses the Blogspot platform is because it’s free. Once you’ve signed up for a Google account, you can start creating a blog.

Your account will be provided with a free subdomain, and you can connect it to a premium domain purchased on a third-party marketplace for free. The SSL to secure an internet connection by encrypting data sent between a website and a browser is also provided for free.

In addition, you won’t need to pay for web hosting, or setting up requires technical knowledge. Blog storage is connected to your Google Drive account; hence you’ve got 15GB free (that’s for an almost unlimited blog posts).

Aside from storage, bandwidth is also unlimited. Website loading is seamless.

The platform has simplified blogging.

The website is secure since a blogspot blog is connected to your Google account, and Google (a top technology company) is responsible for securing accounts under their services.

Disadvantages of Blogspot

Like many services, the blogging platform Blogspot has several disadvantages. First, the admin panel looks like old school and hasn’t received an update for a long time.

Theme designs and customization options are limited in comparison to CMS such as WordPress. Despite this, many software engineers have made way to create Blogspot templates that are at par with other CMS.

Enabling e-commerce features on your website is generally not allowed. Either you’ll have the transaction manually (e-mail/social media) or through third-party methods.

Google does not provide much customer support, and there is reportedly negative feedback on blogspot-hosted blogs’ SEO even if the product is owned by the world’s largest search engine.

There are reports that Google deletes Blogspot blogs without prior notice because of violation, this must be verified.

Google has the habit, too, of killing (discontinuing) products.

Uses of Blogspot

Blogspot is a blogging platform that can be used for individuals who want minimalistic, simple design. This is for those who care more about the actual blogging/writing rather than customization.

Moreover, there are templates that can be purchased to make it a portfolio website. E-commerce templates are available but without the plugin functionality in WordPress; in other words, only by design but transactions must be done on other platforms.

Whether for professional or personal use, the Blogspot platform is a great companion for individuals who want to start blogging without charge.

Final Thoughts

The Blogspot platform remains a viable option for individuals who want to start their own blog/website/portfolio, and this service is offered without charge.

Free does not always mean poor quality, Blogspot blogs are only synonymous with free that is why the perception of being lower compared to other platforms is there. It being the one who started providing voice online, only means it is well-adapted and has maintained only the necessary features for blogging. [much better than some paid blogging platforms]

WordPress.org is better in many aspects, but you’ll have to pay for a domain, a hosting, themes, and plugins; also include maintenance, security, etc.