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Wordpress, self hosted.
Wordpress because it's well supported, has lots of plugins and themes, and lots of people work in wordpress and are willing to help out if you get stuck.
Self hosted because that's the only way you can have complete control over your site and be (reasonably) sure your site won't just up and disappear one day. You can buy a domain name for less than $10 and you can buy hosting for around $5 a month, so it's a pretty small cost for the peace of mind.
Yep, self hosted Wordpress all the way. I would start off the right way if this is going to be a blog you'll monetize and consider part of your business.
Cindy explained the main reason why I always recommend WP self hosted over blogger, complete control over your blog!
I agree with the other two ladies. Self-hosted WordPress. If you are planning to start an online business, invest the $10 up front and less than $10 per month to run your online business.
I started, like so many bloggers, using Blogger because it's free but after about a year of blogging with numerous blogs someone complained about something to Blogger and they shut me down without even taking a look to see if the claim was true, which it wasn't, but after a week of having my blogs down I contacted them to see why.
I had to actually ask them to look at my site and tell me what I didn't that got me shut down. They looked, said it was fine and turned my account back on.
I never did get a reason why I was shut down, they just did it.
I don't like being out of control and dropped my sites with Blogger and have been happily blogging on my own domains using Wordpress.
It's really a matter of personal preference. If you talk to loyal WordPress users, they're obviously going to swear by WP. And if you talk to loyal Blogger users like me, we're going to swear by Blogger. I looked at both WP and Blogger, before making my decision. And in my opinion, you can't beat Blogger for user-friendliness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirstyn Christianson
Whichever way you decide to go, it will look more professional, if you spend a few dollars and get your own domain name.
David Jackson
To me, it's the difference between renting and owning.
I prefer to own my web properties, not rent them.
Wordpress.org is my choice. :)
wordpress is by far the best, not only because you own it but also because of the many plugins and widgets you can use.
I'll do a "me too" here and say go with self hosted wordpress (.org). You won't be sorry and you won't have to redo stuff down the road when your site grows.
Technically, unless you own your domain name, you're renting both WordPress and Blogger. That's why I suggested to Kirstyn that she purchase her own domain name, regardless of which platform she chooses.Quote:
Originally Posted by NicoleDean
David Jackson
Wordpress.com is where you are renting but if you use Wordpress.org then you'll be installing it right on your hosting account with a domain name you own. Easy to set up through any good hosting cpanel.Quote:
Originally Posted by David Jackson
On the Internet, none of us own anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by NicoleDean
We're all just renting space - all of us!
David Jackson
Hi David,
As I said, I meant WordPress.ORG, not WordPress.com.
WordPress.org is hosted on your own hosting and is tied to your own domain name, not controlled by Google.
You have more control over your properties.
Hope that clarifies my point (and my opinion).
Nicole
Hi Nicole:Quote:
Originally Posted by NicoleDean
I understand what you're saying, and my point is whether we choose to admit it or not, we're all just renting space on the Internet - all of us. We own nothing. We only think we do. I am under no such illusion.
I hope that clarifies my point, and my opinion.
David Jackson
Gotcha. Just making sure we were on the same page with WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com since it's a common mistake that our original poster may have been confused about. :)
Best wishes,
N
For me it's all a matter of degrees of control and degrees of risk.
Installing WordPress on my own domain and hosting gives me at least the illusion of more control and less risk than using a free service. But as David suggests, none of us really own anything on the net... we're all renters. There are plenty of horror stories about web hosting companies that simply disappeared.
There are many long-term, successful blogs hosted on free services like Blogger. I think it's a good choice for beginners who are willing to follow the rules to the letter. Even though I find WordPress easy to install and use, I think it requires a level of comfort with techie-like tasks. It's my understanding that Blogger is a little less techy (I've never set up a Blogger blog so I can't say for sure).
The key for me is backups. No matter where I host my sites and blogs, I'm prepared to transfer them to a new hosting company in a matter of minutes. If one of my hosting services locks the doors and turns out the lights today, I'll be back in business by tomorrow.
Those are good points (especially about the backups...must remember to do that more!) Linda, and you're right. IF you own your own domain.
If you don't, then you would still be able to rebuild your site, but your traffic would be gone. There is no way to redirect from a free account like Blogger or Wordpress.com. I think a lot of people start out thinking "Oh, I'll just move when I get lots of readers and I'm making some money" but it's not that easy. Better to invest a little money now, than lose a lot of money later.
It's funny... my mind never even thinks about the possibility of not owning my own domain names. It's just a given to me. But yes, many people start out without their own and if I didn't own mine, it would be much more devastating if my hosting company disappeared.Quote:
Originally Posted by cindybidar
This reminds me of the analogy I use in my WordPress blogging course:
A domain name is like your mobile home, you have to buy it and then in order to keep it, you have to pay tax on it.
Web hosting is like the trailer pad rent you have to pay so you have a place to park your mobile home. You have to pay pad rent every month in order to keep your trailer pad. If you are fortunate enough to 'own land' to put your mobile home on, you still have to pay real estate taxes every year to keep your land.
So virtual real estate is very much like offline real estate: it costs you every year to keep what you 'own'.
Traci --
What a great explanation! That should make it easy for anyone to understand.
Thanks Denise. Folks in my workshops like it too. :)
I used blogger for a couple of yrs and never had a problem. Just recently i moved to WP. Blogger made it very easy for me to transport my blog, after that I was on my own w/WP and what a hassle! You have to learn about FTP and php's and all kinds of acronyms!
I'm here to stay, so I'll just keep learning, but some nights i murmur "Blogger" in my sleep and some days I cry out his name! He was soooo good to me: simple, kind, friendly, loving...
See, I disagree with this. I would not recommend starting on Blogger if you don't have a blog. Why not just start with Wordpress so you don't have the headache of transferring later on. As for html, you don't really have to know a ton to use WP if at all. You'll learn as you go....so it's my personal recommendation to start with buying your own domain, get web host space and use Wordpress.Quote:
Originally Posted by specialist.network
Just my thoughts this early Thurs. morning;)
See my reasons why here:
Blogger vs Wordpress
Related:
How to Start A WordPress Blog (checklist)