Can't Decide Between Free Wordpress Blog Or Self-Hosted Wordpress Blog? This Is A Must-Read For You

Written by Emil Yau Thursday, 26 May 2011 09:53

This is a very common question amongst those wanting to start their own blog.

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?

For a free Wordpress blog you can obtain yours by signing up for an account at Wordpress.com website. Your username will become the name of your blog. For example I could get a username "howdoyoustartablog" which would mean my free Wordpress blog site would be viewable at howdoyoustartablog.Wordpress.com.

The self-hosted Wordpress blog is your own domain and site upon which you would install the Wordpress software to use as your blogging software and content management system. Many hosting companies now have push-button installation of this using Fantastico Deluxe or Simple Scripts (My website has a free video where you can watch me create and post to a blog all in about 10 minutes right in front of your eyes!)

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 installation is easy (done by Wordpress the company)

PLUS no worry system maintenance (setup, upgrades, backups, security are all done by Wordpress)

PLUS server reliability (servers hosting site are actual Wordpress.com servers)

PLUS inclusion into the Wordpress.com community may facilitate community traffic

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 any Wordpress plugins from third parties. There is a huge Wordpress plugin community

MINUS no ad monetization allowed. Wordpress will most likely in fact place their own ad monetization 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 change the php Wordpress code as desired. This will allow nearly unlimited functionality in your site. There exists a large community of Wordpress developers with many out-of-the-box scripts to add function to your site.

PLUS can upload and install plugins!

PLUS your own ads allowed, better control of monetization

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 monetary cost to set up your site. Domain names PLUS hosting fees can vary from $5 to $15 a month.

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, 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.

That is why in most situations, I recommend a self-hosted paid blog.

Hope this helps, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions or just post a comment here! If you would like to start a self-hosted paid blog, make sure to check out my free video!