There is a plethora of free blogging tools on the internet you can download and add to your blog easily, but loading up your blog with as many free blogging tools you can find isn't always necessarily the best idea.
While it may be tempting at first to add a new gizmo you find to your blog such as a visitor or hit counter, a bright funky background, a cool new font you discovered, or a handful of distracting animated GIF images to your blog, this kind of altering can actually do you more harm than good.
Be selective about the free blog tools you use on your blog - they have to serve a purpose to either get you traffic or convert that traffic into customers.
Anything else is not important and will do you harm.
While it is a not a bad idea to know about what's available in the kinds of free blogging tools so you can go get them when you or a friend need them, it is a bad idea to load up your blog with every new discovery of a new blog tool.
Stay alert of new blogging tools so you can make informed decisions about what to add to your blog when you need it.
Remember that just because you can add something to your blog for free doesn't mean that you need it - and you shouldn't have it if it serves no purpose.
I might look cool and seem like it could attract more visitors at first but think over it.
Only choose the free blog tools you think will really be useful to you or your reader.
Visitor or hit counters are no problem because they will give you an idea of how many readers you are getting to you blog because they let you check your traffic stats from right there on the page.
Be careful of the types of background and templates you use.
The visitors won't really care if it a plain looking site if your blog is content text-based.
They will stay and read and want to come back if the content is good.
A script that makes a flashy background is usually more of a distraction than an benefit.
It depends on your blog's theme however, because if you blog is about the stars, then a starry flashy background might add some originality to your blog.
Just think practically about what kinds of free blog tools and accessories you add to your blog.
Remember that even if it is a free blog tool that doesn't cost you any money on the outlay, may actually cause you to lose money in the long run.