How to Build a Blog App Using MERN Stack (With Code)

| June 4, 2025 | affoweb
Blog App Using MERN Stack

In today’s digital age, having a blog is more than just a passion project—it’s a powerful tool to build a personal brand, share ideas, and even showcase technical skills. If you’re looking for a practical way to level up your full-stack development skills, building a blog website using the MERN stack is an excellent project to undertake. This beginner-friendly guide to MERN blog app development will walk you through how to build a blog website using the MERN stack step by step, including user authentication, commenting, markdown support, admin panel, and deployment.

Whether you’re planning a blog website in MERN for a portfolio, your final year project, or just to learn something new, this comprehensive tutorial includes everything you need—from code samples to deployment strategies. You can also integrate tools like a Landing Page Builder to enhance conversion for your blog’s front-end

What is the MERN Stack?

MERN stands for MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js. It’s a powerful combination of technologies used to create modern full-stack web applications using JavaScript across both client and server sides.

  • MongoDB serves as a NoSQL database to manage and store blog content and user information.
  • Express.js is a lightweight web framework built on Node.js, used for routing and managing middleware.
  • React: Frontend JavaScript library for building interactive UIs.
  • Node.js: A Backend runtime environment for running JavaScript on the server.

For more advanced solutions, consider integrating it with Web Development Services to scale your MERN blog into a commercial-grade platform.

Why Choose MERN Stack for a Blog App?

Single Language Across the Stack

JavaScript powers both frontend and backend in the MERN stack, making development and debugging much simpler.

Rapid Development & Scalability

MERN enables faster development and is easily scalable for growing applications like blogs or CMS.

Why Use the MERN Stack for Blog Development?

The MERN stack is a collection of technologies—MongoDB, Express.js, React, and Node.js—that enables developers to use JavaScript end-to-end. It is ideal for dynamic, single-page applications like blogs.

Benefits of MERN Stack

  • JavaScript Everywhere: Using One Language Across the Stack Streamlines Development.
  • Flexible and Scalable: Easily adapt your blog to support more features and users.
  • Large Ecosystem: Active communities and tools to speed up development.
  • Great for Beginners and Pros: From academic projects to production apps.

Creating a blog website in MERN for portfolio use or a real-world application becomes seamless with these tools.

Tools & Technologies You Will Use

MongoDB for Content Storage

MongoDB is used to store blog posts, users, and comments efficiently.

Express.js for Server-side APIs

It handles routing and middleware for REST API with Express and MongoDB.

React for User Interface

React and Tailwind CSS will help you craft a sleek, responsive user interface.

Node.js Backend for Blog App

The core of the backend that connects all the layers together. 

You may also explore cloud deployment options like Next.js to AWS as an alternative to traditional hosting platforms.

Project Overview: MERN Stack Blog Application

Here’s what we’ll build:

  • A full-stack blog app with user authentication
  • Create, Read, Update, and Delete (CRUD) functionalities
  • Markdown editor and rich text formatting
  • Commenting system for blog posts
  • Responsive design with Tailwind CSS
  • Admin panel to manage posts
  • Deployment on Render or Vercel

This is a complete MERN stack blog application tutorial for beginners and beyond.

Step 1: Setting Up the Project Structure

Backend: Node.js + Express

Start by creating the server folder:

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mkdir blog-backend && cd blog-backend npm init -y npm install express mongoose dotenv cors bcryptjs jsonwebtoken

  • Create the folder structure:
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/blog-backend  /models  /routes  /controllers  server.js

  • Set up your server.js file to create an Express app, connect MongoDB, and define basic routes.

Frontend: React App

Now create the React app:

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npx create-react-app blog-frontend cd blog-frontend npm install axios react-router-dom redux react-redux tailwindcss

Use tailwind.config.js to customise your styling. Tailwind helps create a responsive UI with React and Tailwind CSS.

Step 2: MongoDB Schema for Blog and User

MongoDB Schema for Blog

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// models/Blog.js import mongoose from 'mongoose'; const blogSchema = new mongoose.Schema({  title: String,  content: String,  author: String,  slug: String,  comments: [{ body: String, date: Date }], }, { timestamps: true }); export default mongoose.model('Blog', blogSchema);

MongoDB Schema for Users

  • Add password hashing for secure storage and support for MERN authentication with JWT.
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// models/User.js import mongoose from 'mongoose'; import bcrypt from 'bcryptjs'; const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema({  username: String,  email: String,  password: String, }, { timestamps: true }); userSchema.pre('save', async function () {  this.password = await bcrypt.hash(this.password, 12); }); export default mongoose.model('User', userSchema);

Step 3: Express.js Routes for Blog Post API

REST API with Express and MongoDB

  • Create routes/blog.js for blog CRUD operations:
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import express from 'express'; import { createPost, getPosts, getPostBySlug, updatePost, deletePost } from '../controllers/blogController.js'; const router = express.Router(); router.post('/', createPost); router.get('/', getPosts); router.get('/:slug', getPostBySlug); router.put('/:id', updatePost); router.delete('/:id', deletePost); export default router;

This enables CRUD operations in the MERN blog.

Step 4: Authentication – MERN Stack JWT

JWT-Based Login and Signup

  • Implement user authentication in your MERN stack blog project using JWT.
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import jwt from 'jsonwebtoken'; const generateToken = (id) => {  return jwt.sign({ id }, process.env.JWT_SECRET, { expiresIn: '7d' }); };

In your user controller, return the token after successful login or signup.

Step 5: Frontend – React Blog Template

Use Redux to manage state and create a smooth user experience.

React Rich Text Editor Integration

  • Install react-quill or @uiw/react-md-editor:
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npm install react-quill

This helps create a markdown editor blog using React and MongoDB.

Step 6: Blog Post Commenting System

Allow users to comment on blog posts:

  • Create a comment field in MongoDB
  • Create a comment form in the React blog template
  • POST route in Express to add comments

This feature enhances the SEO-friendly blog application using the MERN stack by boosting user interaction.

Step 7: Admin Panel & Role-Based Access

Create an admin panel route that allows authorised users to:

  • Add/edit/delete blog posts
  • Approve/delete comments
  • View user analytics

A MERN blog app with an admin panel provides real-world functionality for content management systems (CMS).

Step 8: Styling with Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS offers utility-first classes to quickly design a responsive UI with React and Tailwind CSS.

Example for a postcard:

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<div className="bg-white p-4 shadow rounded-xl">  <h2 className="text-xl font-semibold">{post.title}</h2>  <p className="text-gray-700">{post.excerpt}</p> </div>

Step 9: Deployment – Host on Render or Vercel

You can host a MERN blog app on Render or Vercel easily.

Steps:

  • Deploy backend on Render
  • Deploy a frontend React app on Vercel
  • Add environment variables
  • Ensure CORS and route handling are properly configured

Bonus: Firebase Auth + MERN

If you prefer, you can build a simple blog using MERN and Firebase Auth by replacing JWT with the Firebase Authentication SDK.

Bonus: Free Blog Template MERN Stack

Use prebuilt React blog templates like Gatsby or custom ones for your UI, then integrate with your Node backend. Additionally, to grow your audience and boost engagement, integrate Email Marketing Tools for automated subscriber communication and campaign tracking.

Project Ideas & Use Cases

  • MERN stack personal blog example
  • Blog project in MERN for the final year
  • Create a blog with React and Node backend
  • Build a blog CMS using the MERN stack and Redux

This tutorial covers all those use cases and more.

Final Folder Structure Summary

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/blog-backend  /models  /routes  /controllers  server.js .env /blog-frontend  /components  /pages  /redux  App.js  index.js tailwind.config.js

Project Goals and Key Features

SEO-Friendly Blog Application Using MERN Stack

Design your blog to load fast, use semantic HTML, and support markdown formatting.

Blog Project with Authentication in MERN Stack

Secure your routes and content using JWT.

Comment System, Markdown Editor, Admin Dashboard

Additional real-world features to enhance your project.

Conclusion

You’ve now learned how to make a dynamic blog site with the MERN stack, with rich features like JWT-based authentication, markdown editor, commenting system, Redux state management, and Tailwind CSS styling. From project setup to deployment, this guide provides the complete source code for a blog app in the MERN stack.

This hands-on guide is perfect if you’re looking to create a full-stack blog app with MongoDB, Express, React, and Node.js or a MERN stack personal blog example to add to your portfolio. With its rich feature set, you’re also ready to build and deploy a blog app using the MERN stack on the cloud.

In this complete MERN stack blog application tutorial for beginners, you’ve learned how to:

  • Create a blog with React and Node backend
  • Build and deploy a blog app using the MERN stack
  • Use Redux, JWT, Markdown, and Tailwind CSS
  • Add comments, SEO, and an admin panel

This is more than just a blog—it’s a full CMS. The skills and code here can be applied to any dynamic web application.

Ready to code? Start building your MERN stack blog application today!