Source url: http://www.onlinebloggingincome.com/can-you-start-a-free-blog

I've seen many so-called internet experts in Nigeria dish out blogging advice that looks like this: start a free blog, scrape few articles from other website and paste on your blog, apply for Adsense and gbam ... the more will start pouring into your account on a daily basis.

Well, everyone would have been a billionaire if that was true and the thing about Nigerians is that: they want everything for free! They want a domain name for free, web hosting for free, even blog posts for free.

I even saw a thread where someone was asking how he could get a free traffic automated software for generating traffic on autopilot, can you imagine?

The fact is: if you really want to build a successful blog these days, that will earn you reasonable cash (not crumbs), you've to avoid free blogging platforms like and blogger.

Do you want to why? Here you go:

1.It doesn't make you serious

You know how people take things that comes for free: no value. You won't have a blogging schedule, no plan etc. After all, you got the blog for free, so you have nothing to lose. But this is going to delay your success in true reality because you won't be committed towards what you're doing.

Look at it this way: if you had invested some cash into starting your blog, won't you be committed towards making it successful?

This is so because you won't want your money to down the drain so the zeal and focus will be there.

2.Your blog url looks ugly and sometimes confusing

When you start a blog on a free platform, it usually comes with the host name at the end. You can imagine an url like www.myblogisgood..com or www.myfineblog.. This is very long, confusing and looks very unprofessional. You can imagine someone trying to visit your blog and forgot to put the . or ..com at the end.

They head straight to another blog. And that's free traffic to your competitors. You know the worst part? Some people may not even click through when you share your url with them!

3.You can't customize your blog design

Do you wonder why most free blogs look alike? Well the answer is simple: no customization, no tweaking. Though, you could be lucky to get a good template on blogger but on , you must be kidding me.

4.You don't own your blog

If you think you're the owner of the blog, then you're totally mistaken. Your blog and all of its content is owned by the host, which is why you see the domain name ending in the host's name.

5.Search engines dislike free blogs

Have you ever wondered why free blogs don't get listed in search engines pages (SERPs) when you run a Google search? They are generally ranked lower which is too bad. So, how are you going to get consistent traffic to your blog? Now, If you doubt this: Then tell me when last you saw a free blog listed in the first page of Google when you ran a search.

6.Your blog can be deleted anytime

I'm sure you must have heard the story of Jide Ogunsanya's blog, Ogbongeblog.com, which was deleted mistakenly and that of Linda Ikeji which was deleted because some envy folks falsely reported her blog for copyright issues.

7.Readers won't listen to you

You can imagine someone claiming to be making money online and yet runs a free blog, would you even click through to his blog? I doubt it. People are now smarter even if you're an expert in your niche, you'll struggle to get readers.

Conclusion

I'm not a sworn hater of free blogging platforms. As a matter of fact, I started on Blogger myself but the truth is: the blog was taking me nowhere and that was a very long time ago. I had to abandon the blog and make good use of my precious time.

I can't even remember the url, can you imagine? If you intend to run a successful online business, you need to forget about free blogs - you'll waste your time and efforts.

No kidding! I know... your next thought: Linda Ikeji runs a free blog and she makes it, why should I not.

Just like one of my coach will say: She's an exception, not the rule. She started blogging when blogging was not popular in the foreign countries - let alone Nigeria. The competition was less then and trust me if she wasn't passionate about what she was doing, she would have quit.

So, my advice is this:

If you want to blog for fun or as a hobby where you write stories and share with friends ...a free blog will suffice but if you intend to start an online business on a serious note, then forget about free platforms and get a self-hosted blog, preferably on Wordpress. This means you get full control and monetize your blog according to your taste without restriction.

(This is just a summary of the original post, the source url contains 11 compelling reasons, go check it out and get enlightened)

I would love hear your thoughts on this, lasasticlala, do you agree or did I miss something?

Source url: http://www.onlinebloggingincome.com/can-you-start-a-free-blog

1.It doesn't make you serious

Seriousness is an attitude not based on the platform you are. In fact, being on blogger saves you from distractions of hacks, security issues, plug-in updates, server downtime and annoying hosting coy customer care.

Just focus on creating and promoting content

2.Your blog url looks ugly and sometimes confusing

Get a domain name of your choice and link it to your blogger

3.You can't customize your blog design

If you are not willing to learn some html, forget about customizing your blog. Take a look at this fully customized responsive blog design (Click Here) and tell me why you couldn't customised your 'forgotten' blog

4.You don't own your blog

Of course you don't own your blog but you own your content. You can always backup your blog content and export everything including comments to WordPress or any other platform

5.Search engines dislike free blogs

My blog is on blogger and it ranks well even ahead of WP counterpart. What search engines don't like it yourblog..com. If you are too lazy to get a domain name then you shouldn't expect search engines to rank you.

And why should they rank you when your url is constantly changing from .com.ng to .uk to .za depending on where the visitor is coming from.

Get a domain name for your blog and grow your content. Search engines will be so eager to rank you

6.Your blog can be deleted anytime

Your blog cannot be deleted at any time unless you have breach the terms and conditions. Those blog you mentioned, are they not back online? If you are wrongfully deleted, you can always appeal

7.Readers won't listen to you

Readers are listening to Ogbonge, Linda, Shelaf, ITy Unit, not because of the platform they are but because of the contents they have.

Offer correct information and solutions and people will listen

The secret to optimizing blog on blogger for best results for to know your way round the dashboard. Click here for detailed guide to blogger dashboard

Bro, this is real trash

HowWriter:
Bro, this is real trash

Your signature says it all!

ITbomb:
1.It doesn't make you serious

Seriousness is an attitude not based on the platform you are. In fact, being on blogger saves you from distractions of hacks, security issues, plug-in updates, server downtime and annoying hosting coy customer care.

Just focus on creating and promoting content

2.Your blog url looks ugly and sometimes confusing

Get a domain name of your choice and link it to your blogger

3.You can't customize your blog design

If you are not willing to learn some html, forget about customizing your blog. Take a look at this fully customized responsive blog design (Click Here) and tell me why you couldn't customised your 'forgotten' blog

4.You don't own your blog

Of course you don't own your blog but you own your content. You can always backup your blog content and export everything including comments to WordPress or any other platform

5.Search engines dislike free blogs

My blog is on blogger and it ranks well even ahead of WP counterpart. What search engines don't like it yourblog..com. If you are too lazy to get a domain name then you shouldn't expect search engines to rank you.

And why should they rank you when your url is constantly changing from .com.ng to .uk to .za depending on where the visitor is coming from.

Get a domain name for your blog and grow your content. Search engines will be so eager to rank you

6.Your blog can be deleted anytime

Your blog cannot be deleted at any time unless you have breach the terms and conditions. Those blog you mentioned, are they not back online? If you are wrongfully deleted, you can always appeal

7.Readers won't listen to you

Readers are listening to Ogbonge, Linda, Shelaf, ITy Unit, not because of the platform they are but because of the contents they have.

Offer correct information and solutions and people will listen

The secret to optimizing blog on blogger for best results for to know your way round the dashboard. Click here for detailed guide to blogger dashboard

I know you're a die hard fan of blogger! So, trying to convince you is a waste of my precious time. But, let me try and explain something to you:

1. The blogging platform you use speaks volume of how serious you are. If you start a free blog, it's very obvious you're just testing the waters of blogging!

2.I know you can buy a domain and link it to your blogger but the truth is: it's good to do that right from the start. Do you know that Linda Ikeji couldn't register lindaikeji.com.

Why?

Because, someone has already registered it before her when her blog got popular. So, you see what I'm talking about! In fact, she ran her blog with the ugly domain name for years before settling for lindaikejiblog.com. The reason she wasn't affected by this is because: she is one of the pioneer blogger in Nigeria. You can't try that today!

3. When I say customize I don't mean how the blog looks. I mean: true flexibility! Can you run a forum on a free blog? Can you redirect people that leaves comments on your blog to a specific page to thank them on a free blog? Can you lock your content and force readers to share your content before they read them on a free blog? Can you set up an email funnel that you own on a free blog? ...I can go on and on. That what true customizing really mean!

4. Your blog will be deleted without your consent, so you mean you'll have to go through the stress of backing up your blog every blessed day. This still bowls down to the fact that you don't own your blog. When Jide's blog was deleted, he lost a lot of revenue! Do you want to go down road!

5. Free blogs don't rank on search engines. Your blog can never outrank a self hosted blog in SERPs, quote me anywhere: I checked your blog on semrush.

6. There are thousands of blogs that have been deleted by the over zealous bots of blogger which was not restored back when when they appealed, do not spread ignorance!