I'm going to write about a very common query from new and soon-to-be-new bloggers.
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
A self-hosted Wordpress blog is your own blog on your own domain with your own hosting or paid hosting account upon which you install the Wordpress software. Wordpress becomes the software to manage your site and your blog. You can download the software for free from Wordpress.org. However, many hosting companies today have a push button installation available via Fantastico Deluxe or Simple Scripts. Check out my free video which walks you through an example Simple Scripts installation with hostmonster.
So on to the question at hand: which is better for you, the free Wordpress blog or the self hosted Wordpress installation?
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 free (setup, upgrades, spam control, backups, security)
PLUS server reliability (servers hosting site are actual Wordpress.com servers)
PLUS possible extra traffic being a part of the Wordpress.com community
MINUS a free Wordpress blog does not allow you to update or upload a non-Wordpress provided theme
MINUS cannot change/update any php code (useful for additional features you may want to include)
MINUS cannot upload any Wordpress plugins from third parties. There is a huge Wordpress plugin community
MINUS cannot monetize with ads. In fact, Wordpress will probably put their own ads on your blog.
MINUS Site will be a Wordpress brand
MINUS no true content ownership. Site is still a Wordpress site.
SELF HOSTED WORDPRESS BLOG PLUSSES AND MINUSES
PLUS can upload your own Wordpress themes or non-Wordpress.com themes. There are thousands upon thousands of third party themes you can choose from.
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 this is hosted by your paid hosting account, this allows you to choose your own domain name instead of having "Wordpress.com" as the domain
PLUS ftp access to your site
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 monetary cost to set up your site. Domain names PLUS hosting fees can vary from $5 to $15 a month.
MINUS you maintain on your own including spam control, backups, security, etc. There are many plugins available for this.
MINUS need to find reliable servers. Make sure to choose a good hosting company. Most of them have a pretty good uptime guarantee.
In summary, if you want just the most basic blogging features of the traditional blogging sense, a free blog is for you. If you plan to monetize it even with adsense, then you will want a self-hosted paid blog. Moreover, if you want to add your own custom look and feel, you will want a self-hosted paid blog. You also have access to many free Wordpress themes as well. And finally the world of plugins is the big kicker. Think about apps for the iPhone. There is a quote that whatever you want, .there is an app for that.. Plugins are much the same from security to SEO to driving traffic to membership sites to just about anything.
In most cases, I recommend a self-hosted paid blog.
I hope this has been helpful. And please do contact me if you have any questions or post them here on the blog. And if you are thinking about starting a blog, check out my free video which walks you through the simple setup of a hosted blog in about 10 minutes with a hostmonster account.
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
A self-hosted Wordpress blog is your own blog on your own domain with your own hosting or paid hosting account upon which you install the Wordpress software. Wordpress becomes the software to manage your site and your blog. You can download the software for free from Wordpress.org. However, many hosting companies today have a push button installation available via Fantastico Deluxe or Simple Scripts. Check out my free video which walks you through an example Simple Scripts installation with hostmonster.
So on to the question at hand: which is better for you, the free Wordpress blog or the self hosted Wordpress installation?
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 free (setup, upgrades, spam control, backups, security)
PLUS server reliability (servers hosting site are actual Wordpress.com servers)
PLUS possible extra traffic being a part of the Wordpress.com community
MINUS a free Wordpress blog does not allow you to update or upload a non-Wordpress provided theme
MINUS cannot change/update any php code (useful for additional features you may want to include)
MINUS cannot upload any Wordpress plugins from third parties. There is a huge Wordpress plugin community
MINUS cannot monetize with ads. In fact, Wordpress will probably put their own ads on your blog.
MINUS Site will be a Wordpress brand
MINUS no true content ownership. Site is still a Wordpress site.
SELF HOSTED WORDPRESS BLOG PLUSSES AND MINUSES
PLUS can upload your own Wordpress themes or non-Wordpress.com themes. There are thousands upon thousands of third party themes you can choose from.
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 this is hosted by your paid hosting account, this allows you to choose your own domain name instead of having "Wordpress.com" as the domain
PLUS ftp access to your site
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 monetary cost to set up your site. Domain names PLUS hosting fees can vary from $5 to $15 a month.
MINUS you maintain on your own including spam control, backups, security, etc. There are many plugins available for this.
MINUS need to find reliable servers. Make sure to choose a good hosting company. Most of them have a pretty good uptime guarantee.
In summary, if you want just the most basic blogging features of the traditional blogging sense, a free blog is for you. If you plan to monetize it even with adsense, then you will want a self-hosted paid blog. Moreover, if you want to add your own custom look and feel, you will want a self-hosted paid blog. You also have access to many free Wordpress themes as well. And finally the world of plugins is the big kicker. Think about apps for the iPhone. There is a quote that whatever you want, .there is an app for that.. Plugins are much the same from security to SEO to driving traffic to membership sites to just about anything.
In most cases, I recommend a self-hosted paid blog.
I hope this has been helpful. And please do contact me if you have any questions or post them here on the blog. And if you are thinking about starting a blog, check out my free video which walks you through the simple setup of a hosted blog in about 10 minutes with a hostmonster account.
About the Author:
Want to learn more about starting a blog with Wordpress? Come by Emil Yau's site How Do You Start A Blog and watch his video as he creates and posts to a new Wordpress blog in less than 10 minutes right in front of your eyes.
No comments:
Post a Comment