The hosts with the most

As blogging becomes part of popular culture, the net seems to be saturated with free blog hosts.

There are even blog specific search engines to aid you in finding the perfect place to publish your thoughts, but even these return a seemingly never-ending list of results.

The best way to find a host that suits you is to consider the content of your blog.

Will it be text only or will you be including video, audio or photos? If so, how should these be displayed?

What other features would improve the usability and appearance of your journal?

A lot of these decisions will be based on your level of expertise and subject matter, so here's a run down of the best hosts across three categories:

Best for beginners: Blog.com

If you are new to blogging, a host that is unsurpassed in ease and accessibility is paramount and this makes blog.com an obvious choice.

Registration takes a couple of minutes, and once you become a member you can enjoy a host of features which are unrivalled.

As bandwidth is unlimited you can write multiple blogs, saving drafts and returning to them at a later date, until you are satisfied with what you have written.

Blog.com also has the largest selection of blog templates to choose from, allowing your creativity and individuality to flourish.

The best way to find a host that suits you is to consider the content of your blog. Will it be text only or will you be including video, audio or photos? If so, how should these be displayed?

Natalie Lambert

Rating: 4/5

Best for travellers: Blogabond.com

If you're considering travelling you might be wondering how best to keep in contact with friends and family.

The answer is a blog. Blogabond.com is not only accessible for beginners, due to its well thought-out layout and navigation, but has features that will also appeal to advanced bloggers, such as interactive maps which allow people back at home to follow your journey.

As well as this, photo uploads are unlimited, so every step of your adventure can be shared and remembered.

Rating: 5/5

Best for originality: Wordcountjournal.com

This host is for the blogger who wants to publish their memoirs with a twist. On the first day of joining you write one word, on the second two words and so on, culminating in a total of 66,795 words at the end of a year.

Whilst this may sound like fun and games, this host is in fact excellent due to its first-class user-friendliness - it's easy to navigate and joining couldn't be more simplistic.

It also has all the features you would expect from a blog host (picture storage and user profiles), as well as a few extras, such as writing groups you can join, making you feel as if you are part of a wider blogging community.

Rating: 4/5