This is a very common question amongst those wanting to start their own blog.
Should I use the free WordPress blogging platform 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 which would mean my free WordPress blog site would be viewable at 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 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 setup is entirely free
PLUS easy to setup (already done for the most part)
PLUS no worry system maintenance (setup, upgrades, backups, security are all done by WordPress)
PLUS reliable servers (hosted on WordPress.com servers)
PLUS inclusion into the WordPress.com community may facilitate community traffic
MINUS cannot update/upload your own theme. Must use WordPress.com themes
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 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 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 php code if desired
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 your own ads allowed, better control of monetization
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 you can have ftp access to your site which allows you to be able to load separate landing pages and downloads outside of your WordPress site.
MINUS you need to install WordPress on your own. This has become much easier, though, as many hosting accounts now offer push button installation of WordPress. My free “Start A Blog” tutorial will walk you through step-by-step a Simple Scripts WordPress installation on hostmonster hosting site.
MINUS costs involved to setup. You have to pay domain registrar fees which is about $15 a year. Hosting fees can be $5 to $10 a month.
MINUS you maintain on your own including spam control, backups, security, etc. There are many plugins available for this.
MINUS do your research because you need to find some reliable servers. Though these days most hosting companies to stay competitive provide some good uptime guarantees.
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 in most situations, I recommend a self-hosted paid 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.
