Do I Need My Own Domain Name For My Free Blog?
"Do I need my own domain name?" This is an incredibly common question, especially among new bloggers and website owners. The appeal of a free site on WordPress.com or Blogger.com is overwhelming, especially compared with the time, effort, and money that often goes into building a website. Instead, there are all of those nice drag and drop options, and you can play everything safely.
But, are you here to play safe, or are you here to stake a claim?
There are many pros to registering your own unique domain name, including the fact that your website will receive more search engine traffic, can be customized much more easily, and could even be far cheaper.
How can paying for a domain be cheaper than using a free blogging program?
Simple. Many people realize that these free sites just don't cut it anymore. Sure, they're great for smaller services, but a real business needs a domain name. But you put countless hours into this former free site and you're pained to toss it all away just to start over. Instead, you use one of the many paid plans on those formerly free sites, and now, you're paying two to four times as much as you would if you'd just self-hosted to begin with.
By registering your domain name, you're granting yourself access to all of the rides in the park.
Domain registration is a surprisingly inexpensive venture, especially for most people striking out on their own. Unless the keywords are incredibly popular, you can make it out alive with a simple domain. You pay an annual domain registration fee and monthly hosting charges. It's a very low entry fee for so many capabilities.
Registering a domain name goes hand-in-hand with self-hosting, which requires regular payments. That can be tricky for some, and is a bit of a commitment.
You need to register a domain if:
- You own a business
A mighty blogger at work. (Photo via Wikipedia)
- You manage a non-profit, school, etc.
- You want to start and/or run a regularly maintained blog
- You want to build a custom website or implement a paid theme
- You want to run ads on your site
- You want to use subdomains (http://www.othertopic.domain.com)
- You want an estore
- You want audio-visual capabilities
- You want to integrate your site with a wide variety of programs
- You want to draw in as much search engine traffic as possible
You do not need to register a domain if:
- You are blogging for personal use
- You do not want to incorporate ads, flash, or many audio or visual features
- You do not want much search engine traffic
- You are brand new to blogging and need some training wheels (if you run a business, register a domain)
- You want to blog about a wide variety of topics that would not mesh well under one blog concept
- You need a temporary site for a specific reason, like showing how a plugin works or for a one-time event
These lists are by no means complete, but should provide you with a look into the powerhouse nature of self-hosting compared to free blogging sites.
Want to register a domain? You can do that right here!