Blogger vs. Your Own Site

[This post was originally written a while ago – a couple of years ago. I recently received a question about this info and offer, so I decided to update the post.]

I was chatting with someone on Facebook over the weekend talking about the benefits of having your own self-hosted blog vs. using something like Blogger or even WordPress.com. And while I have discussed this before, I think it is important to bring up the topic once again.

Blogger is one of a bunch of sites that allow you to start instantly blogging. Be warned, however, that it is not the most ideal way to go for most blogging purposes. While there are benefits to using blogger when you are just starting out, using one of these sites can quickly become a mistake later on down the road when you want to expand and grow.

This is a classic case of using a little bit of pre-planning.

My personal philosophy is that people that are blogging should have their own domain. This is REALLY true if it is for a business. The mast majority of free sites like Blogger or WordPress.com do not allow you to properly configure your blog to maximize your profit potential! In order to do that, you need your own site!

Hosting your own website is not an expensive proposition at all! You can do it all for less than $10/month! And honestly, if your business cannot afford $10/month, is it really a business?

Are you hosting your blog on one of these platforms:

• Blogger.com,
• WordPress.com,
• LiveJournal
• or another blog platform?

Granted these are free services, but they do have their downfalls – are you aware of them?

For example, did you know that in some cases you give up the right to keep that content exclusively on your website? This means that what you post can be shared, published, or used in any way that someone else (not you!) wants to use it? And you might not even get credit for the work!

In the Terms of Service for Blogger.com (owned by Google), it states:

By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish and distribute such Content on Google services for the purpose of displaying and distributing Google services. Google furthermore reserves the right to refuse to accept, post, display or transmit any Content in its sole discretion.

Is this good or bad? That is for you to decide.

The benefits to having your own website (known as a self-hosted Blog) include the following:

• When you host your website, you will always be in control of all of your files and data. On the other hand, when you use one of the free services, you do not have the same freedom to access, download, or backup your data whenever, and where ever you want.

• No one can legally copy your content without your permission.

• Your website name will probably be easier for people to remember. Which would you prefer to give out? www.YourSite.com or www.YourSite.hlogspot.com – granted it is not a huge difference, but it is shorter!

• Hosting your own website is more professional. Having your own site demonstrates that you are serious and that what you are doing is not just a passing activity for you.

• The only ads that show up are the ones you want! I went to read a blog over at LiveJournal and had to view a car video before I was directed to the post. Who knows what ads can pop up! Do you want your readers to experience that?

• Speaking of ads, if you want, you can sell ad space on your website and YOU earn the money, not the hosting service! You can actually make some money while you have fun with your site! I talked about this for 2 hours last night with my private coaching students!

Yes it is true… hosting your own blog does require a little of technical knowledge. If you are not up to the challenge technically, you can get some help. In either case, it is worth the effort. When you convert over, you will have complete control, and flexibility to do what you want and even become profitable.

If you need help, I will help you! Actually, as part of my 2014 Help-A-Thon, I will convert your site for FREE (for the first 10 people that request it).

It’s really simple. I will install and set up a WordPress blog for you at no cost to you. Not only that, I will also install, for free, the following plugins to get your blog started on the right foot:

• An SEO Plugin – the ultimate SEO plugin for WordPress and will help your blog rank higher with the search engines. In addition, I’ll set up your new blog with search engine friendly URLs.
• Severl Sitemaps – will help get your blog pages indexed quickly on Google.
• Contact Form 7 – this will allow people to send you email, without publishing your email address to the world!
• W3 Total Cache – makes your blog load a lot faster and handle more traffic.
• Show Top Commentators – encourages readers to comment on your blog.
• Akismet – kill off the comment spam that shows up.
• WPTouch – let people using their SmartPhones access your site easily!
• fbLikeButton – Have your pages go viral with Facebook

These are some of the best WordPress plugins available and they’re included free with the WordPress installation service.

If you want a premium theme that costs extra (or you already have it), I will install it for you as well (FREE does not include me purchasing it for you, sorry).

OK – What’s The Catch?

None! Nada. Zippo! There is no catch. This program is being sponsored by LiquidWeb. LiquidWeb hosts most of  my blogs and they are actually paying me a commission to do this. If you were to pay someone to install WordPress and the plugins for you, it would cost you at least $400 to $500 or more!

To qualify for my free WordPress Transfer Service, all you have to do is order a web hosting plan from LiquidWeb.   You can get hosting for less than $150/year. This is a little more than some other hosting companies, however, it is well worth it. I used to recommend another hosting company that was less expensive, but due to issues with their service and support, I no longer recommend them.

You will need hosting – and that is actually how I get paid. You see, hen you use one of the coupon codes I list on that page, I get a commission. Since I am being honest, I will tell you that the commission is not close to what I charge (and have charged) people to set up their site in the past.

You will also have to register a domain name (the website name that you want to use) – that will cost you about $10/year. When I register all my domain names, I use NameCheap – you can use them, or use your own Registrar that you like.

Once you sign up using this link, LiquidWeb, send me an email via my contact page and I will get in touch with you real quickly (Less than a day). I will then install WordPress on your site, optimize it, and finally transfer your current blog over to your new site! The beauty of this is that you can retain your original site and have your new site up at the same time. If you cancel and change your mind, nothing is lost!

When you’re ready to start blogging on your own site,  head over to LiquidWeb order your hosting plan, contact  me with your info using the form below, and I’ll get you started.