I know a few people, who don’t want to buy a domain and a web host because they don’t know whether they like to blog or not. Of course it would be a stupid investment if you don’t know if blogging is something for you.
If you don’t know, if you a going to like to blog, then try using
Blogger.com – for a week or so – then you will see whether you’d like to blog or not – if it is – buy a domain instantly and select a good web hosting provider .
Well Blogger.com is great for newbies, who want to try web-publishing. But, literally it’s hard to get a popular blog out of Blogger – it can certainly give you some traffic, but I’d only use Blogger for driving traffic to my main self-hosted blog.
Of course all the fun, starts when you get your own domain name. When you get your own domain name you are truly able to do whatever you want to do with your blog. When you have your own domain name you are practically only limited by your imagination.
1. Google can choose to close down your blog whenever they want to, if they don’t like your blog, they’ll shut it down (it’s proven)
2. It’s difficult to customize Blogger, it isn’t that much customizable – compared to self-hosted WordPress
3. There’s limited template options to choose. If you look at the templates Blogger allows you to choose, you will see how limited it actually is. This blog runs on the Thesis Theme, Thesis gives great flexibility and customization options.
4. Sometime blogs on blogger.com can be very slow to load
5. You also have limited monetization possibilities – well on Blogger
there’s Google Ads, but not many earn that much from that.
6. It’s not social bookmark friendly. Many social bookmarking sites, don’t accept articles from free blogs.
7. Custom URL – When you have your own domain name you will easier be remembered – if you have a hosted blog, your domain name will be less professional and memorable.
8. SEO Friendly – A self hosted blog helps in ranking your website based on the location of your host .
If you consider blogging for more than 3 months I really think you should buy a domain name – you can get one for like $6 a month or so – cheap ? compared to the ROI based on the monetization options available for self hosts blogs.
If you don’t see this as cheap, then I don’t think you should have a
serious business blog – Blogger is great for personal blogs though, unless you want to make it dead popular. If you just want a chill blog and don’t wanna spend lots of money on a blog, just write. Then go for Blogger.
I just need to make clear, that if you want to build a successful and a profitable blog it will be easiest using a self-hosted blogging platform such as WordPress.org.
If you are just a little bit techie you’d be able to set up your own
domain with WordPress. There are some webhosts that offer the “one-click-WordPress-install” – then there’s no need to be techie.
If your host doesn’t have the one-click-installation you just need to upload some files to a server and then install (not a problem at all), even my mom can do that.
My blog is my business, this is a self-hosted blog . I hope your blog is too.
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{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
ZK,
Great points – some I try and “drive home ‘ to my clients!
I would also add, the right pain it can be to transfer to your own self-hosted blog from a non-hosted blog. And if you are successful in transferring you lose all that ‘Google love’ and have to start again!
Andrew
Andrew @ webuildyourblog.com´s last blog ..How To Quickly Find The Best Google Adsense Ads
This is exactly why its better to start out self hosted and not have to deal with starting over! good point.
So long as you start with a domain it should be easier to move. The cost of not having to pay for hosting is the major boon at first.
Online TV´s last blog ..Temporary Outage
You are right Andrew …you should move to a self hosted blog at the earliest before your blog gets indexed in Google and other bloggers start to link to your blog
For SEO purposes having an own domain name is great. Many people argue that you will get better ranking for a top-level domain name, than for a subdomain. I do not know if that is 100% true, but it is something to consider.
Bloggeri @ Blogging Handbook´s last blog ..Staying Motivated with Blogging
You ll rank better for a top level domain name for sure , but if the sub domain has a lot of inbound links then Google may favour it.
ZK@Web Marketing Blog´s last blog ..8 Reasons to move to a Self Hosted Blog
If you are serious about having a successful blog, you need to have it be self hosted. Its not expensive at all to do this…just go for it!
Great post, No.1 and 2 are very good points. I have always gone for self hosted wordpress as you can do so much more with them.
Press Release´s last blog ..The Controversy Surrounding The Princess And The Frog
I really like how blogger.com works. I think that if you’re new with blogging, this domain host will really work for you. Thanks for sharing a helpful post.
good points.. i just believe on self hosted blogs and webs
Than for a sub domain. I do not know if that is 100% true, but it is something to consider.
Lansolot´s last blog ..Obama’s Noble Future
Thank you for sharing your information
bodrum´s last blog ..La Blanche Resort & Spa Hotel
Even if you realizaed that you don’t like blogging, your own web host and domain is always a good investment. You never know when you may need them.
Or you could sell it. If you really hate blogging AND websiting…Is websiting a word?
Maybe make a few extra bucks that way.
Dwippy@DoFollow Blog List´s last blog ..Blog Comments
Start out the right way. Don’t like it/don’t want it no more? Sell it.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..UPDATE! 4 Plugin Package – 75% Off! PLUS Something Extra From Me!
Why would someone put their online business is such a risky position? I don’t know about you but I hate losing money.
@Andrew. When doing a transfer it may be best to keep the blogger blog alive and do deep linking with it or redirect it right to your new blog.
Make a back up of your articles on blogger in case Google shuts you down.
This is what many do. Keep a snippet of each article on the original blogger blog with a link to the full article on the new blog.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..3 Days Left – MaxBlogPress Christmas Deal Expires
I’m glad I have made a wise decision in self hosting my blog. Actually, I agree with you that one should try Blogger.com if they want to test the water. But once we choose to blog, it is imperative to invest on it.
For me there is no competition, Wordpress is so much better than Blogger.
In fact I laugh when people make posts on forums asking which is the best.
Dean Saliba´s last blog ..Understanding Forex Trading A Little Better
Self hosting a blog for the reason of site loading speed is essential now as the caffiene update takes site loading speed into account as a ranking factor-so get the blog onto a nippy web server and optimise jscripts to load quicker for another SEO advantage.
Wonderfully explained why we need to move the blog hosted by us but it require to work harder than the blog we use of others.
SElf hosted blogs are preferable for sure.
game-girl´s last blog ..Лучшие спецэффекты 2009 года
Self hosted blogs are good for blogging. Thanks for describe about the reason of that.
I think its a very good to invest in self hosted blogs as they seem to have a great value for profiting and getting more and more visitors.
These are great points, the customization is much better if you own the host and own your own domain.
Yes I am little bit agree with blogger sites problem.I have released over 2 blogs.i did seo of that blog ans suddenly I found that my blogs no longer exist
Thanks for the informative post. As one new to blogging, I have a blog hosted on Blogger and do not like the inability to customize the site as I would like. I think I will look at some of the other options.
with cheap prices for hosting services and domain names available on the market, its good to have a self hosted blog. you can have hosting as from 1usd and domain name usd 2, search for it, you will find.
This would be a great help to have a profitable blog. Instead of using any type for blogging, its very easy and time consuming. Thanks for the information!
karla@Mobile Phone with Free Laptop´s last blog ..Mobile Phone Free Laptop
I consider my free non hosted blogs to be practice blogs or play blogs I guess. I should probably switch over but haven’t bothered yet. I wouldn’t mind having a little extra freedom to do what I want.
Dwippy@DoFollow Blog List´s last blog ..Blog Comments
I can’t even fathom using the hosted blog. Anyone wanting to start a blog should go with a self hosted. Yes it may be a bit *more* difficult, but it’s hardly rocket science, a little research online and you’ll find tons of information to make it easy. Secondly, it’s a little motivation, you’ve put some time and effort into it, over simply signing up to something like blogger, accountability if you want to call it that.
agree with you, i’m using self hosted wordpress i dont want using blogger because i think wordpress is more user friendly and more cool and i think if we want be a successful bloger self hosting and domain is must have!
tommy´s last blog ..If You Can’t Pay the Taxes You Owe
awesome, i think self host most popular and can make blog more professional
Mma Pound For Pound´s last blog ..My Favorite Fighter
yup I agree with you, I also introduced it to my friends
sikatangpinoy´s last blog ..Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Hindi na Tuloy!
For me it is all about the freedoms and options you have with a self hosted site. Blogger allows you to do some modifying, but not like you can with a self-hosted site.
Just the abundance of themes and extensions available for a self-hosted site make the switch a no-brainer. That is, if you care about creating a professional and engaging site. The added SEO benefit is gravy.
mike zaun@WebTechTorial´s last blog ..E-commerce Web Metrics For Beginners
These are some great points that favor having your own hosting, one that I would like to add if I can is the resale value of having your own domain. If you get sick of the upkeep of one of your own domains then you can just auction it off and if you have a lot of visitors and some page rank you might get a pretty penny for it, while it is almost impossible and illegal to sell a blogger blog hosted by Google
dave@home improvements´s last blog ..Standing Water In Dishwasher
If you are serious about having a successful blog, you need to have it be self hosted. Its not expensive at all to do this…just go for it!
Lida´s last blog ..Lida ile sağlığınıza özen gösterin
Question about free hosting(000webhost.com)
Does it affect SEO to use a free host? I heard somewhere that it can effect your SERP rankings in Google.
Mariah@free nintendo wii console´s last blog ..Free Nintendo WII Console
hi….
your 8 Reasons to move to a Self Hosted Blog is sounds good, & i think everyone have to apply on them……
Best Eye Cream´s last blog ..Dark Circle Serum Review
Hi……Having your blogs with your own hosting can get some seo benefits also.
ya its time to move out towards the self hosted blog, as you defined in your eight reason that SEO Friendly blog helps in ranking for our website. If we could find this type everyone have to permanently switch to that.
amazing to find your blog, the reasons that you gave really amazed me specially as you talked about” When you have your own domain name you will easier be remembered – if you have a hosted blog, your domain name will be less professional and memorable” nice!
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