So, you have decided to start a blog? Great! Now you have to decide whether to use a free or self-hosting blog platform. I will explain to you what both mean and tell you why self-hosting is the best way to go.
A free blogging platform is just that, you pay nothing to set up an account, get a domain such as www.digitalmaurya.com and get your website up and running. WordPress and Blogger are examples you can use to set up a free blog. Free blogs are good for you if you are just starting out in the blogging world and are not sure how to go about it or you are not serious about blogging. You are just out to have some fun while sharing your thoughts.
Now let’s get into self-hosting, which is what this post is all about. A self-hosted blog means you pay a web host for your own blog ideas to be online. You don’t use a free platform and own your blog 100% meaning you can get your own domain name like www.myblog.com and not www.myblog.wordpress.com which would be your domain on a free hosting platform. A self-hosting blog has its own server which you also have full control over.
Why you need to be self-hosted?
Makes you look professional:-
If you are serious about using your blog to get clients you need to get self-hosted. You see, the thing with free blogs is that they are very basic. They don’t look professional and may turn away potential clients. A self-hosted blog gives you much room to customize it to be unique and organized leaving a lasting impression on those who visit it, an option which is very limited on free hosting platforms. Visitors to your blog may also be skeptical to work with you if they see you are not willing to pay for your blog to be hosted. So, for a professional brand and self-image get self-hosted.
You can monetize your blog:-
With a free blog you can’t sell ads but with a self-hosted blog guess what you definitely can. You own the site so you are free to use it whichever way you want to generate revenues. You can place ads, add affiliate links, sell products etc. On free blogs they place ads for you but you won’t get any money from it, they take it all!
You have total ownership and control:-
There is that pride that comes with knowing you own something right? With self-hosting, the blog is entirely yours so is the content on it. You are therefore free to do what you like with it. A free blog comes with several limitations on what you can do so if you want independence get self-hosted. Also, a free blog can be shut down at any time without notice. If this happens you would lose all your work which I’m sure you wouldn’t want.
You can customize it to your like:-
All free blogs look the same with very little difference. You don’t want your blog looking like all the others? When you self-host you have access to thousands of themes so you won’t see a theme you absolutely love but can have because it is not available to free hosting bloggers. Also, with self-hosting, you can add a footer of your choice, change themes as often as you like, and add a newsletter sign up form and much more.
Conclusion:-
As you can see self-hosting comes with many benefits the only con would be the costs. However, the costs are minimal compared to what you get. A self-hosted WordPress blog, for example, would cost you about $70-75 per year but if you do all the above this is money you can make in no time. As a business or individual, a self-hosted blog will definitely be worth your time and money to get into it!
