Blogger Qs Answered: Is it better to buy my own domain name? And Wordpress or Blogspot?

Blogger Qs Answered: Is it better to buy my own domain name? And WordPress or Blogspot?

This question was submitted by Kristin Glasbergen of Peace, Love & Muesli.

Q.
Hi Tia
Here are my questions.
I am preparing to start a food blog. I’ve been blogging about healthy eating on an old craft/family journal blog but I am serious about developing recipes and want to start fresh.
Is it smarter to invest in a domain name and hosting or to take advantage of the free platforms available?
Is wordpress or blogger at better choice? I am unfamiliar with wordpress but get the impression that it’s more advantageous to be self-hosted with wordpress.
If I stay with a free platform I will be able to spend some money on getting help fancy-ing up the blog.
Any hints on coming up with a catchy blog name would be appreciated too.
Thanks!

Great questions! Remember that if you are interested in submitted questions related to blogging or your blog specifically, fill out the Ask Me form in the sidebar on the right.

A.

Okay, I will answer the questions one at a time!

It is smarter to invest in a domain name. This a no-brainer for several reasons: brand identity, URL length, and the ease of transitioning between platforms. If you have your own domain name and you move your blog from WordPress.com to Blogspot, for example, you won’t have to worry about changing your blog URL everywhere.

Self-hosted WordPress vs. Blogspot (Blogger) or WordPress.com is not the best comparison since the functionality and cost differences are so vast. It is always better in the long-run to host your own blog, whether it’s on WordPress, Joomla, Typepad, etc.

But this is not for everyone. Nor is it as easy to build a good amount of drive-by traffic. I always look at (1) the subject matter of the blog, (2) long-term plans, and (3) functionality. For very simple, personal, lifestyle-type blogs that are just starting off, I always recommend starting on Blogspot.com and then transitioning to self-hosted WordPress when it is time.

For your cooking blog which is currently hosted on Blogspot, I recommend making the switch to self-hosting with WordPress at some point because you really do need to have control over your meta tags and other on-page SEO elements. And don’t wait until you get a customized Blogger theme. If you do, you’ll have to find someone to convert your Blogger theme to WordPress and it’ll cost you more in the end. If you are going to make the move, make the move now. Elegant Themes and UpThemes have very classy designs that will suit a cooking blog, and you can have someone design a custom header for you at some point, also.

I personally recommend hosting it with Bluehost, which is one of WordPress’s recommended hosts and it’s the one I use for every one of my websites.

I never recommend WordPress.com anymore for any blog. It’s just too inflexible (particularly where javascript, advanced widgets, and forms are concerned and the inability to modify the themes drives me insane).

As for catchy blog names, you figured it out! I love the name and can’t wait to see where the blog goes in terms of design and featured recipes. Be sure to check out FoodBuzz and get involved with that network as its really the premier food blogging network.

Readers Weigh In

Okay! Did I miss anything? What do you all think about the age-old Blogger.com vs. WordPress.com vs. self-hosted WordPress debate? Let us know!

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Virtual Assistant Bea

Definitely YES, I also recommend buying your own domain name, because you can personalize it the way you want and also makes it easier for your audience to remember your website if you had created a catchy domain name

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John from CD Duplication Services London

I am planning to create my own blog site and I'm gathering some information about it. So you are suggesting to buy a new domain name? I can see your point and I am encouraged by it. I am grateful I found your blog.

David @Bath Towels Clearance

Hi! Personally, for the unpaid blogging platforms I like Wordpress. It's simply easier to use than Blogger and I've used both in the past. But, I strongly believe in owning your own domain name and simply learning to learn how to use Wordpress on it. The main advantage is that you have full control of the look and layout. Also, you can put as many or as few ads on it as you like. If you put ads on the unpaid wordpress.com blogs they can cut your account anytime they want and you'll feel very frustrated. So, make your own site on your own domain and use the unpaid blogging services to drive traffic. Good luck!

seospidy@Internet marketing

Blogging is best way to make money online we should buy our own domain :)

Susan Osby

I've just subscribed to your RSS feed. I love your content.

Tia Peterson

Thanks, Susan!

Alysa

Great stuff! I just discovered you on Twitter, and I am loving your blog so far. Can't wait to read more!
My recent post Vidalia Onions = Nature's Candy

Udegbunam Chukwudi@Make Money Online

After careful analysis, me thinks if you're going for free blog hosting, wordpress is your best option as you can SEO it with quite a selection of plug-ins. Blogspot has a feature that allows you to use a custom domain name. I don't know if wordpress.com allows that.
.-= Udegbunam Chukwudi@Make Money Online´s last blog ..Make Your Blog 10x Faster With W3 Total Cache Plug-in =-.

Dev | Technshare

It's always best to buy your own domain and hosting. To be honest, i don't trust on free servies like blogger.com, tyepad.com !! What if they close down your domain and hosting.
I highly recommend every should use your own domain and hosting.

good question :)
My recent post Weekly Roundup #5: Link Love to Blogging Friends

bizchickblogs

I trust them, since their business model's don't rely on the blogs, per se. I don't think they're going anywhere, and they are GREAT tools for building backlinks. But, they are certainly not very professional so it really behooves someone to at the very least buy a private domain name to point to the free blog.

With the free blogs, users are missing out on so many of the best features of CMS tools and blogs. That said, I own quite a few free blogs so I think they have certain uses.

aaron@ski vacations

I agree that owning your own domain and self-hosted WordPress are the very best choices for any business blog; however, anyone who prefers to focus on their business and writing should strongly consider having someone else install and maintain WordPress and the plugins they choose to use.

Hi Aaron - That's certainly a good step for most business owners. It's what I do for a living, so I'm really familiar with the"Help! I screwed up my blog!" request.

Kharim

It's always best to buy your own domain and choose wordpress :)
My recent post I Love My Blog. What About You?

Frank Lampard

great post, thank you for sharing

Gail @ KeywordLuv

I can recommend several excellent people who charge very reasonable rates. (I would have named and linked to them but I don't know how you feel about links and I am new here. I came by because I read your guest post at Kikolani.com.)

Another Theme to seriously consider is Thesis. We use it in all our blogs and many other bloggers I collaborate with use it regularly too. Most bloggers love it but a few find it limiting. (Those few tend to be code jockeys who could write their own themes though!)

You haven't been on my radar before because although you use CommentLuv and KeywordLuv your blog is nofollow. Any chance we could interest you in joining our DoFollow CommentLuv KeywordLuv community? I've linked information about the benefits in the main Website field of this comment
.-= Gail @ KeywordLuv´s last blog ..Social Media Marketing Monday – SMM Overview =-.

Hey Gail!

Actually I've removed 'nofollow' from the external comment links. The dofollow plugin I enabled leaves the external part but removed the nofollow attribute on the link that corresponds to the commenters website URL. Unless there is something I am missing...

The blog is a dofollow from what I can see on my browser.
.-= Udegbunam Chukwudi@Make Money Online´s last blog ..A Quick Analysis Of Netfirms PLUS® Web Hosting Plan =-.

Wendell Ibrahim

Thank you for this informative article on webpages. It has really helped me a lot.

Shirley

First of all I think that you should use your own domain so that you have control over your blog's url and also make your blog look professional because you don't know if one day the platform you are using will be stopped or terminated and then you'll lose your blog's url if your hosting your url with them. And secondly you should go with the Wordpress content management system cos it gives you total control over your blog.

So the whole thing is about gaining control over your blog and having the flexibility with it and in your blogging career and also making your blog look professional :).

Thanks for your input, Shirley! Those are all great points.

Kristin Glasbergen

Thanks very much for this. I think I will go ahead and opt for the self-host option but will take some time to build a good site before launching it.

You're welcome, Kristin. Good luck with everything!
My recent post Blogger Qs Answered: Is it better to buy my own domain name? And Wordpress or Blogspot?