This is a very common question amongst those wanting to start their own blog.
Should I use a free Wordpress Blog? Or should I host my own Wordpress Blog?
The free Wordpress blog you would get by signing up for an account at Wordpress.com. Your username would become your blog name, so for example if I got a user name "howdoyoustartablog" my URL would be howdoyoustartablog.wordpress.com
The self-hosted Wordpress blog would be on your own domain on your own site you would install the Wordpress software on. The Wordpress software would then be the blogging system that manage the content of your website. These days, installation is quite easy with most hosting companies. Most use push button software such as Fantastico Deluxe or Simple Scripts to install Wordprses. Check out my website and watch a free video and watch before your eyes as I set up a blog and post to my blog all in about 10 minutes.
So now to address the question: which is the right one for you?
FREE WORDPRESS BLOG PLUSSES AND MINUSES
PLUS free to setup
PLUS easy to install and set up (software install is already done for you by Wordpress)
PLUS maintenance is free (setup, upgrades, spam, security, backups are all done by Wordpress)
PLUS servers are reliable (hosted by servers at Wordpress.com )
PLUS with a blog as part of the Wordpress community there may be an additional traffic boost from the Wordpress community
MINUS non-Wordpress provided themes are allowed
MINUS cannot edit any of the php code (useful for adding additional features from third parties)
MINUS cannot upload plugins to extend functionality. The Wordpress plugin community is huge.
MINUS no ad placements allowed. In fact, Wordpress will place their own ads on your blog
MINUS Blog will still be under the Wordpress brand
MINUS no true ownership of content. Site is still a Wordpress site
SELF HOSTED WORDPRESS BLOG PLUSSES AND MINUSES
PLUS can upload custom made and third party Wordpress themes. There are thousands of third party themes you can choose from or you can make a custom one.
PLUS can edit php code if you so desire. There are many php code examples and plugins available.
PLUS can add plugins! The Wordpress and PHP development community is huge and you can get a plugin for just about anything including security, backups, marketing, and traffic generation
PLUS as you can edit the code and themes, you can add your own ad placements and ad monetization. This is a huge reason people blog in the first place is to earn money through ad placements
PLUS since it is self-hosted, you will have a domain name and brand of your choosing.
PLUS you have ftp access to your hosted account which allows you a lot of control on your site outside of your actual Wordpress blog
MINUS you need to set up yourself (though most hosting providers provide push button installation through "Fantastico Deluxe" or "Simple Scripts". Plus my free video walks you through this process.
MINUS cost to setup. Domain name and hosting fees can be $5 to $15 a month total.
MINUS site maintenance such as spam control, security, and backups, are all done by you. So you will need to spend some time getting familiar with Wordpress and how to back up and restore an installation
MINUS make sure and find reliable servers. You don't want slowness or crashes to bother your site. Most hosting companies these days to stay competitive offer some pretty good server reliability
In summary, the Wordpress free blog is appropriate for some people. I wouldn't suggest the paid hosted solution if you don't need it. I would say a free Wordpress blog is good for the purpose of straight blogging like it used to be. However, these days many people are looking to also make money online. If that's the case, there are ways to do this still with a free Wordpress blog, but the hosted Wordpress installation provides you with a lot more you can do from a functionality standpoint which includes the various ways to monetize your site.
That is why I will in most cases (but not all cases) I suggest the self-hosted paid blog. The cost of $15 a month is pretty trivial if you want to do a lot with your blog.
I hope this article has been helpful. I will be happy to answer any questions you have. Feel free to email me or just post your question on this blog as a comment. And if you decide to start a hosted blog, make sure to check out my free video on how to set up a blog with hostmonster. Information in the resource box below.
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