In less than 5 minutes I’m going to explain why your blog needs it’s own domain name. This information is for bloggers who currently use a sub-domain such as “yourblog.wordpress.com” or “yourblog.blogspot.com”.
I’m going to assume that by reading this article you would like to make your blog more successful. To me this means building an active readership and subscriber base by writing informative articles that yield high search engine placement. I’ll also assume you are open to the idea of making money with your blog too by using it to promote products or to generate leads to your business.
Earn Income With Your Blog
In fact, making money with your blog is the number one reason to have your own domain name. You cannot do it without your own domain. It is against the Terms of Service to have advertisements on a WordPress.com hosted site. That means no Adsense, ReviewMe, or affiliate networks.
If you are blogging because you love it and not because you want to make money–it’s easy to make money! I am living proof. I love teaching my friends how to make money online. I believe in what Zig Zigler teaches… ”You can have everything you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”
Search Engine Optimization
You will have higher search engine placement if you host your blog on your own domain name. Google gives your website more value and you will rank higher. If you took two blogs, one with it’s own domain and the other hosted at blogspot, and posted the exact same content for one year, the self-hosted blog would get about 10 times the traffic from searches than the blogspot simply from that one difference.
Writing with SEO in mind is crucial to building a successful search engine presence and increasing your readership. You owe this to yourself to get your own domain name if you work hard on your blog. You’re not woman and this isn’t 1980. So why work just as hard for half the pay? (This is a “glass ceiling” joke… because obviously you might be a woman. Half of my readers are.)
Appearance, Credibility, and Function
It looks better to have an actual domain name. People will take you more seriously. Your URL’s will be shorter and easier to remember. You are in complete control of your site’s files, database, and design. This will come in handy when your blog is making thousands of dollars a month and you decide to pay someone to redesign it. You can do cool things like have a Favicon (the little icon that appears next to the site name when you bookmark it).
If you’re a business, there’s no exception to having a self-hosted blog if you are going to have one. Hosting on WordPress.com or Blogspot.com is unprofessional and a waste of time and effort.
Most importantly.. having your own domain name makes you special and not.. “Just another WordPress blog.”
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Has it been five minutes yet? Are you convinced? Have I done my job as an educator?
I recommend GoDaddy for registering domain names. I own over 30 domain names with GoDaddy and take advantage of their bulk pricing. You can get the cheapest price too, however, even with just one name. Here’s how..Use this link to GoDaddy and the promo code: “YES3” for 30% off .com domains. The place to put the promo code is on the very last screen before you pay. It’s hard to miss.
Questions? Comments? Leave them below.
Also Read:
How do I set up a WordPress blog?
What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
