Here is list of free sites for blogging

http://www.blogger.com

http://wordpress.com

http://www.livejournal.com

http://www.blog.com

http://www.xanga.com/

http://www.vox.com/

http://www.weebly.com/

http://www.blogsome.com

Of course there are other free sites for blogging. But the above sites are most used free blogging sites on internet.

You need to have a google account to create a free blogger blog. If you already have a gmail.com account then sign in with your gmail account otherwise click on “create a blog” button and create a google account.

In the next step fill up a display name, blogger will display this name in your profile on all your blogs. Click on the continue button.

Now fill up the ‘Blog Title’ and ‘Blog URL’ for your blog. Blog title is the topic of your blog and can be like ‘Weight Loss Guide’ or ‘Internet Marketing Blog’ or about anything you want to create a blog. Blogger blog will show the title in the web browser’s title bar as well as in the main heading.

Blog URL is the address of your blog. You can put your name here or you can write something related to your blog. Your blog URL should be like EasyWeightLossGuide.blogspot.com or yourname.blogspot .com. But here you will have to check the availability of your blog URL.

Choose a template for your blog. You can see preview of these templates by clicking on the ‘preview’.

You are done; your free blogger blog has been created. Click the on start blogging button.

Now create your first blog post. Here you will see several options. We will take all those one by one.

Write a title for your first blog post. The post title should give a brief idea about the content of the blog post.

Write the full content of your first blog post. In the content you can also insert images, videos and HTML code.

Now click on the ‘Publish’ button.

Your first post is online now and you can see it by clicking on the ‘View’ button.

Congratulations! You have created your first blog. Start telling your friends and family that you are online now.

• How to set up a domain name on your hosting account?
• How to design a website?
• How to upload website content on your hosting account using FTP?
• How to change nameservers? (In case hosting and domain companies are different.)

With a free blog site you don’t have to deal with these issues.

I think if you are a newbie in internet marketing then it is better to start with a free blog rather than purchasing a domain name and web hosting to create a self hosted blog. Once you acquire some experience in online marketing then you can start with your own domain name and web hosting.

Two major free blogging platforms are Blogger and Wordpress.

Pros and cons of free blog and self hosted blog.

Free Blog

Pros

• Don’t need to spend a single buck to create a blog
• Don’t need to have technical knowledge to set up a blog
• Creating a free blog is fast and easy

Cons

• You have a blog name like YourBlogName.FreeBlogSiteName.com
• Limited functionality and access
• You are dependent on the free blog site service. It’s a risky situation.

Self Hosted Blog

Pros

• Having a blog like yourblogname.com increases your reputation as a blogger.
• You have full control over your blog.
• You are the owner of your blog so you can do whatever you want.

Cons

• You will have to spend a few bucks to create a self hosted blog(for domain name and hosting)
• Must have technical knowledge to design a blog
• Need to know technical details on how to set up a domain name with web hosting

Designing a blog is not a big issue even if you are not a technical person. You can use wordpress to create your self hosted blog. It is very simple to install wordpress on your domain name.

There are generally two types of blogs:

Personal Blogs

Some people use a blog just to keep in touch with family and friends.

Business blogs

Business blogs are created by those people who want to promote their products and services on the internet.

Today many companies and individuals are using blogs to create awareness about their businesses and services. Creating and managing a blog is
fairly easy and it doesn’t cost much as well.

If you are an expert on any subject  then create a business blog, post useful information, recommend other people’s product to the visitors of your
blog and earn commission on the products you sale through your blog.

Some characteristics of a blog:

• Blog content is updated regularly
• Contents are generally arranged in chronological order
• Blog visitors can post their opinions in the form of comments
• Blogs are generally written on a particular topic
• Contents are generally written by a single person.

There are various websites where you can start a free blog.

Wordpress and Blogger are one of the most used free blogging platforms.

There are also paid blogging services like Typepad.

One can also create a self hosted blog using wordpress.