I can certainly see the benefit of having a shorter web address. It's often difficult trying to explain to the point-and-clickers exactly how to to get to my site. Also, I've got to admit that it would probably be easier for me to just type www.TheresaSez.com than the rest of the trailer in the address. And owning the domain is a relatively inexpensive investment.
But, because I'm cheap (oops, I prefer economically efficient), I'm not all od that sold on the idea of paying for hosting. I also don't want to lose any of you who already know exactly where to find me, or those who have signed up for my feed.
I'm kind of at a crossroads, so any input would be greatly appreciated. The bottom line is that I ultimately what what's best for those who visit this blog on a regular basis.
Have a GREAT blogging day,
Theresa J
Posts
28 comments:
Hello Theresa! It's like this, if you have plans of monetizing your blog, you better get your own domain. Advertisers are more inclined to get your services if you have your own domain. And instead of driving traffic to a blogspot.com blog, better work on your own domain's rankings, right?
But if you don't have any plans of monetizing your blog, it doesn't matter if you have your own domain or retain this one you have :)
By the way, regarding hosting, there are cheap hosting plans out there. I am even offering a shared webhosting plan for someone like you. Or you can even host your own domain here at Blogger, using this existing blog.
My two cents' worth :)
Hi Theresa, Yes. I really believe that a person should own their own domain. Reason for me agreeing on having your own domain for exposure. I have one for one of my internet business that I own. It's so worth having.
I purchased my own domain because my mom could never get my website right! After you purchase your domain you just change your domain in your blogspot account and everything is automatically routed. I agree too with Sasha about advertisers liking the .com instead of .blogspot.com.
Here is my post on changing domains if you are interested:
http://mamasmoneysavers.com/2008/10/i-have-my-own-domain-699year.html
Hi Theresa, I'm just stumbling through to your blog from entrecard and read your post. In my situation I currently own two domains. One of them is a personal domain where I run my own personal blog (www.earthtodavid.com) and the other one is where I run my shop (www.jussbyoo.com). I also have other blogs hosted on blogspot that I use for attracting visitors to my shops domain. I have had several websites of my own over the years... some my own domains and others were free host sites/blogs. I have to say that for the "cool factor" it is really fun to have your own domain and I also agree with the advertising thing that goes with that (I recently got paid $100 bucks for a text link on my personal domain from a company that sells ring tones). So I guess what I'm saying is if for nothing else get the domain and see how it makes you feel having your own dot-com... I bet it'll make ya smile... and don't worry about losing your readers... they'll probably love ya more if ya get a new domain... just remember to direct them to your new site... ok I'll stop rambling now :)
I'll add my voice to those saying you should own your own domain. I figure approximately $10 a year is worth it.
As to hosting, that is a different issue. What you might want to do is look at getting your own domain and getting it to redirect to your blogger site.
Thanks for all your advise, I think I am going to start my own domain. Thanks again guys for all your support.
You can register a name without hosting cheaply (efficiently:) park it somewhere and point it to this site. Then you'll have the best of 3 worlds, cheepness :) your now popular place and an own domain to brag about and give out to advertisers and admireres
Hi Theresa,
I bought my own domain for my new blog, bella casa news. What a nightmare! I bought it through Hostgator and then I was going to have it on Word Press...WP is a big difference from Blogspot...I didn't like it at all and I could not figure out how to download a free template for it, so it was plain and ugly, lol...
Ok...so then I decided to switch it over to Blogspot...well...I was able to do that but...it had 'blog' in the address then...the only way that Hostgator could get it to work was to add the word 'blog' into the web address...so...
Since I had heard that if you have blog in your addy, you might as well have a blogspot blog...I just let the hosting expire and went with the free blogspot one.
If I had to do it all over again, I would buy the domain directly from Blogspot...then I think I would not have had problems with that 'blog' thing in the address. I guess I could try to ask around and see if I can find a host that could host it w/o adding blog to it...but frankly, I'm perfectly fine with it being a free blog for now.
And someone mentioned that they got $100 for a text link ad recently....I got a $90 one a few months ago on my Bella Casa blog...and that one has an even funkier address: http://bella1104.blogspot.com so, go figure?
So...all of that to say, if you do it, buy it through Blogspot...I am thinking of starting a 3rd blog and if I do, I will go this route.
Make sure to stop by both of my cheap blogspot blogs this week...I am having 18 giveaways on Bella Casa and 1 on bella casa news :)
Looking forward to what you decide. I too am trying to decide... I don't know! It is more motivating to be PAYING for the domain name. Might mean I blog more! :)
Theresa thanks for posting this question.I learned quite a bit from reading your post and the comments.I just wonder if you own a .com and your site is a blog can you use the .com for a web site as well?One name for both.I'll be back to read more on this.Thanks again.
I have to disagree with sasha here. I have a blog and I have no problem with affiliates who allow me to advertise their stuff on my blog.
Hmm.... why wouldn't you get a ranking just because you have a blogspot? I have an unpaid blog and I have a ranking!?!?
I have been blogdumps.net for awhile now and I can't imagine moving now, and trying to get all my readers to follow me and start my ranking over.
In my eyes and for me, to change now to a domain named blog the cons out weight the pros so I am staying with blogdumps.net
hmm, first ask your self, why are you blogging? serious or not? is serious i think you should have your own domain, because if you want royal readers that will memorize your blog name so go for your own domain, seriously after i leave your blog i will not remember you blog name anymore, because it's long name.. sorry, i just want to say the truth. but if this blog just for hobby or just for your friend i think it's better this way.
People will take you more seriously if you have your own domain. The best thing is to start out with your own domain because then you won't have to worry about getting everything to transfer over.I know a lot of people that have had problems with that.
If you are only thinking short term or blogging just for fun then I think blogspot would be fine. But if this is something you are thinking long term and are treating it more of a business opportunity then you really must have your own domain. And when you have your own domain you don't have certain limitations that you have with blogspot.
Just some things to keep in mind. What are your goals for your blog? How long do you plan on keeping your blog? Why did you start your blog and where do you see it going?
Before I started my blog someone made these suggestions to me and it made me think about where I wanted to go with my blog. It was the best advice I was ever given. I started off with my own domain and have never looked back.
So I just want to wish you good luck with whatever you decide.
mmmmmm..for me, i don't have fix plan for now but since then i am thinking to have my own domain..
gagay
I had a blogspot blog for 3+ years which served me very well but I recently got my own domain and self hosting blog. I think in the long term, an owned domain name will bring more traffic and look more professional.
hi there. i too can't make up my mind on putting my blogspot blog on its own domain name. although, i have quite a number of self-hosted niche blogs for my internet marketing biz, i still can't get enough reasons why i have to leave the blogspot platform. i must admit though that wordpress has better tools and flexibility that blogspot doesn't have, but because my blogspot blog doesn't really belong to my internet marketing bizness, i decided to just let it that way. and yes theresa, if you plan to monetize your blog, then it is just reasonable to give it its own name. though there are lots of blogspot blogs out there that are great monetizers and has good PR, so it's still up to you to decide.
i like your blog, by the way. it's simple but has many good contents. no wonder you have good bunch of followers.
I wish i knew enough to own my own domain AND could afford it...I wish you luck in your quest...stopping by from EC to drop and say hi...
I'm so glad I found your blog I've been here before..great stuff and the comments regarding owning your domain are very helpful.
Thank you..
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
I have my own domain, and I still use blogspot. Why? Because it is darned simple! Much easier than coding my own blog.
Buying a domain name is cheap, I picked mine for £27 for 5 years. That's nothing really considering being a blogger is a hobby, most hobbies cost a bloody fortune. Take a look at my other past time!!!
Theresa,
When you own your own domain name ($9.95 per year) and have your own hosting account (again, we're talking $5 per month) - then it's YOUR blog on YOUR domain name - which you may choose to SELL to someone else. You can't do that with a blogger.com blog. Some bloggers have sold their blog for five and six figures. One recently sold his 2 year old blog for $15 MILLION!!! Heck, unsuccessful blogs can sell for a couple hundred bucks!
So yes, it's WELL worth the investment to get your own domain name and hosting account. Think of it this way - right now, you're creating content for Google.
I'd certainly be interested in hearing from folks who have sold their domain name/ blog. Do you also sell all the "content" on your blog - or do you sort of wipe the slate clean and just transfer over the "domain name"?
and do you do this through paypal?
Overall, I'm definitely glad I have my own domain. I'll need to remember to reregister it when it comes due again.
If you're serious and looking to blog long-term, yeah, do it! It gives you more freedom to adapt your blog.
Once I started getting my own domain names for my blogs and other sites I've never gone back. It just makes it feel more professional not only to readers, but also to myself. I feel more of a 'duty' to sit down and write when I have my own domain name to take care of!
Very interesting points of views. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Theresa. I do actually own my own domain name for both mikeywhite.co.uk and mikey-white.co.uk, but have them pointing to my name domain which is w1ggy.co.uk
Obviously you decided to get your own domain name!
Hi Theresa...
As a domain registrar myself, of course I would recommend that you grab a domain name that you love. The one thing I would like to point out to you is that you literally do not have to pay for hosting.
For instance, you could register your domain name at Domain Hostmaster and then use "domain forwarding" to redirect your traffic to this very blog. That way you could retain your brand and have a slick domain to promote, all while never having to install a new blog system.
Free hosting is also available, but usually it is ad supported or the host will use your "file not found" errors to show ads, and you won't be able to control them. I have seen some with porn ads, so I do not usually suggest using free web hosting, although your ads would be safer at Domain Hostmaster.
Another alternative is to pay for WordPress.com to host your domain and they will point it to your free blog on their system. The nice thing about this is that WordPress.com blogs are not ad supported. It costs an extra $10.00/year for this service, so your expense would be the cost of the domain and $10.00 per year hosting. They are also working on offering .com domains themselves so that you might be able to be able to register it at WordPress.com and have the domain setup on your blog for very little (the domain is more expensive but includes the price of the blog hosting). I am surprised that Google doesn't do this with Blogger.
Another option is to setup a free blog at SEOParking.com but the catch here is that they will put little text based links at the end of the right column (at the bottom) on your blog. Sometimes these are a bit spammy. This service can auto post articles based on keywords, and I am sure that instead you would shut those capabilities off and post only your own articles. But there is no commenting system there.
Which is why I recommend either WordPress.com or setting up a blog on an inexpensive web host like Apache Website Host using their Business plan (which includes a free domain name and has automatic wordpress installation).
Domain Hostmaster also has some great economy plans, if you don't want to pay on a yearly basis, and also has automatic WordPress installs, and the domain will only be $1.99 when you sign-up for both products/services at the same time, but when the name renews it will go to the usual rate (about $9.00 or less). Apache Website Host & Domain Hostmaster both have toll-free support lines for the USA/Canada with good support.
Contact me if you need any help with your domain purchase, or setting it up.
Hope that helps! -Doug
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