How to start a blog
Do you have a website? Blogs are one of the most popular kinds of websites. A blog can be part of a website, or your whole website.
You can use a blog however you want. You can post as often or as little as you want. You can write whatever you want. You can write journal entries, book reviews, or lists of things. It can be whatever length you want. You can link to it. It doesn't need to have ads or sponsors. It doesn't have to be themed, but it can be. Maybe you don't think anyone will read it, but that's ok. Write it for yourself.
Blog vs Social Media
What makes a blog different from social media? You can post many of the same things on a blog as you would on social media, so what's the difference? Why isn't Instagram considered a blogging platform?
A blog is a type of website. You should be able to visit your blog from any web browser with a reasonable url. You shouldn't have to open an app other than a web browser to view your blog. Visitors should not have to log into a platform to view your blog, unless you decide to set up your website to require logging in. While the ease of migrating between blogging software varies, you should be able to import posts to your blog, and export your posts for backup or importing somewhere new.
Where to Start a Blog
These are all hosted blogging platforms that have at least a reasonable level of free tier. Some are completely free. Others have paid tiers that get you more features.
Big Names
You might already know about these.
- Blogger - Yes, Blogger still exists! It is easy to use and has custom domain support included for free. Blogger is owned by Google.
- Tumblr - Tumblr has lots of social features, but you can customize your blog, import and export your posts, and even get a custom domain name. That makes it a blogging option.
- WordPress.com - Hosted WordPress blogs with free and paid plans available. Custom domain support and other features start at $4/mo. WordPress is also open source software that can be hosted on another server.
- Vivaldi.net - Vivaldi is a browser company, but they also offer free hosted WordPress-powered blogs and a Mastodon instance when you sign up for a free Vivaldi account.
Small to Medium Blogging Platforms
I haven't tried all of these, but I'm hoping to test more of them in the future.
- Bear Blog - A small blog host. Bear Blog provides free minimalist blogs, but inserting media is a pro feature. (Here's my review of Bear Blog).
- Mataroa - Get your own simple blog in 1 minute.
- Pagecord - Your own words, written your own way, on your own corner of the web.- Smol.pub - tiny blogging service.
- Pika - "Pika is a pretty good blogging and newsletter platform, by the people at Good Enough. It’s pretty and easy and pretty easy."
- Leaflet.pub - Delightful publishing to connect with your community, whether you're writing a blog, newsletter, or secret third thing. Powered by AtProto, so you can log in with a Bluesky account. Free custom domain support(if you already have a domain name).
- pckt - "A blog in your pocket." This is another AtProto blogging platform, so you can log in with a Bluesky account.
Why?
You can post photos and words on social media, but you have no control over it. Your account could suddenly be cancelled and all of your content would be gone. Why not have a copy on your website? Most Instagram posts could easily be blog posts.
The internet is filling up with artificially generated slop, and newspapers are publishing reading lists filled with made-up books. One way to combat this is to write your own human-made words. Blogs are a fairly easy way to share your words on the internet.
More Links
- Where's Your Website? - How to have a proper small web website within minutes; free, lightweight, easy. Compares Mataroa, Pagecord, and BearBlog
- List of Blog Platforms by Manu
- People and Blogs - People and Blogs is a weekly newsletter series where interesting people talk about themselves and their blogs
- 100 things you can do on your personal website
- Nobody cares about your blog
- Free Blogging Platforms, Engines & Static-Site Generators - resource list at 32-bit Cafe
- PorkBun.com - If you want a custom domain name, PorkBun is the registrar I recommend.