Free vs Paid Blog Hosting – Which is better for your blog?
If you’re new to blogging, deciding whether you can use a free blogging platform or if you should go for a paid hosting plan is a very important choice to make. Free vs paid blog hosting – The decision to choose one is not an easy one to make.
In this blog post, I will try to help you make that decision. If you have already decided to go for a paid hosting plan but don’t know which hosting company to choose, read my blog post on how to choose a Domain hosting service.
Free blogging platforms:
Of all the free blogging platforms available, WordPress and Blogger are the ones that are most familiar among bloggers.
Free blogging platforms offer a lot of advantages.
Pros
1. It is Free
via GIPHY
This is among others, the biggest advantage in choosing a free blogging platform. If you are new to blogging and want to test the waters without getting your feet wet, this is a nice place to start.
2. No technical skills needed
via GIPHY
The free blogging platforms are easy to set-up. You don’t need a lot of web-design skills or knowledge in coding languages like HTML to start blogging.
3. No need to worry about keeping your blog secure
You don’t have to worry about keeping your blog secure from hackers, because these steps are already taken by the blogging company.
Cons
1. No branding possible
You don’t get a custom domain name. In short, your blog URL will be yourblogname.blogger.com or yourblogname.wordpress.com. This is not a problem, if you only want to build a personal blog. However, if you are building a blog so that you can make money from it, this makes your blog look unprofessional.
2. Less customization
Free blogging platforms don’t offer a lot of themes and plug-ins to customize the design and look of your blog. The design and look of your blog play a very important role if you plan to sell your service or product to your visitors.
3. Less control
You have very less control over your blog. This simply means that, the blogging platform can one day decide to shut down their services to you, or shut down the blogging platform completely. But, you won’t be able to do anything about it.
4. Hurts SEO
If you plan to optimize your blog for search engines in the long run, going for a free blogging platform can be a very big mistake. Search engines favor blogs with a paid hosting plan more than blogs hosted on a free blogging platform
5. Less chances of monetization
Like I told before, if you plan to sell your own products or services, having a blog on a free blogging platform might hurt your brand. In addition to that, most of these free blogging platforms don’t let you display advertisements (like Google Adsense) on your blog.
Paid blog hosting
With a paid blog hosting, you pay a certain amount of money every month for hosting your blog.
Paid blog hosting has its own pros and cons.
Pros
1. Branding
You have complete control over your domain name. So, if you have a website about cooking tips, you can name it www.cookingtips.com (if the domain name is available). This gives you greater visibility in the web, and helps people remember your blog easily.
2. SEO
A blog with a paid hosting looks more professional, legitimate and trustworthy to the search engines. Hence, this helps you rank higher in the search engine results.
3. Building backlinks
Having a blog with paid hosting makes you look more professional. This makes approaching other experts in your field for building backlinks easier.
4. Full control
You have full control over your website. This means that, you don’t have to live with a constant fear of your blog being shut down by a blogging platform.
5. Freedom of customization
WordPress is by far the most used Content Management System (59.4%). By using thousands of themes and plugins built onto WordPress, can easily customize the look, feel and usability of your blog.
6. Monetization made easy
You have varied options to monetize your blog using Google Adsense, affiliate marketing or selling your own products and services.
7. Long-term profitability
Since you have full control and better freedom of customization, you can aim for long term profitability from your blog.
8. Customer support
Most of the hosting service providers have excellent customer support, including 24 x 7 chat support. So, should you face any problems, help is always around the corner.
Cons
1. Not Free
This one is obvious. You have to pay monthly.
2. Little knowledge is required
You are responsible for your blog’s design, usability and security. Hence, you need to have a little bit of knowledge to set up and maintain a blog.
Some plugins may not be compatible with the theme or other plugins you have installed. Though it happens only rarely, you should be willing to contact the plugin or theme creators to ask for a solution. You cannot shy away from that, if you want to keep the theme and the plugin.
Free vs Paid Blog Hosting
Even though a free blogging platform might be a very good choice when you are starting out, a free blogging platform is not actually free. With a paid hosting for your blog, you pay the costs upfront (mostly monthly). But, by implementing a solid blogging strategy, you can make much more money from your blog.
On the other hand, with a free blogging platform you can start your blog for free. However, you hurt the chances of making money from your blog in the long run.
If you are getting into blogging for the long run, Paid blog hosting is the way to go.
If, at this point, you are convinced that you need to go for paid blog hosting, I will help you find the right hosting package from the right hosting provider that suits your needs.
Choosing the right hosting provider is very important. Of course, you can later change to another hosting service provider if you feel that your current one doesn’t meet your demands. But, I don’t want you to go through the hassle of changing hosting service providers.
So, in my blog post titled how to choose a Domain hosting service, I explain you the important factors you should consider, before choosing a hosting company.
If you loved reading this blog post, please share it with your friends so that they can benefit from it too. I would love it too. 🙂
