When it comes to running a successful blog, there are a few key components you need in order to be successful. One of the most important factors – and often overlooked – is self-hosting. You must have a self-hosted blog in order to have full control over your blog and grow your audience, you need to be self-hosted.
Self-hosting may seem like a daunting task, but it’s really not that complicated. And once you have your blog up and running, the benefits are endless. From having complete control over your blog’s design to being able to monetize your blog, self-hosting is the way to go if you want to be a successful blogger.
If you’re not sure whether self-hosting is right for you, keep reading. In this article, we’ll go over the top 7 reasons why self-hosting is the best choice for serious bloggers.
By the end of this article, you’ll know everything you need to know about self-hosting and why it’s the best way to host your blog. Let’s get started!
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7 Reasons Why You Must Have A Self Hosted Blog
1. You Have Complete Control Over Your Blog
At the end of the day, the reason top bloggers and myself included utilize self-hosting (companies such as Bluehost, Indigoblu, and SiteGround vs using a free site such as blogger) is all about control and ownership of our blog sites. You own your blog site when you are self-hosted.
I have my own domain name, and I control the look and feel of my entire site. I decide which advertisers and affiliates I want to have on my site. There are no limitations on self-hosting outside of what you can imagine you want your blog to do.
Free may sound good on day one, but in the end, if your goal is to make money, you will find yourself switching over to self-hosted. I’ve seen it time and time again. If you are on a free platform, just remember that you are at their mercy. They can suspend your site whenever they want. Free platforms use your site to place ads and they earn money from those ads. You are doing all the work with no earning potential.
2. You Look More Professional
If your goal is to earn money from blogging, then you don’t really want someone else branding all over your blog site. Your blog is a business and you need to treat it as a business. Imagine that I’m giving you all of this wonderful advice and instead of my domain name being bragdifferently.co it was bragdifferently.worpress.com. It does make a difference in how you are perceived.
In addition, it also establishes a trust factor with your audience and the brands that you are looking to do business with. Imagine if you came to this website and it was janky looking (yes I said janky) Would you take what I’ve provided seriously or would you be looking at my janky site thinking, she doesn’t know what she is talking about because the blog site itself is unprofessional?
Consumers, readers, and more judge you in a few seconds. The same applies to your website. If you aren’t willing to invest in your own website, then why would a brand want to partner with you?
I’m in quite a few blogging groups where we share one another’s content as well as make comments. Quite frankly I don’t share content from people that are on free blogging platforms and I’m definitely not sharing your content if your website looks janky.
3. Customization Of Your Blog Site
When you are a self-hosted blog site, you can choose what your website will look like. You can choose to use a premium template or even a free template (I don’t recommend it). The point is that you have options. With most free platforms you normally only have a few templates to choose from. The designs that they offer are limited.
The biggest flaw with free blogging sites is that you are going to look exactly like the next free blogging site. They are not going to provide you with a sleek, premium template. There is a reason the platform is free.
4. Plugins – Access To WordPress Plugins
One of the cool features of being self-hosted and utilizing wordpress.org has got to be the plethora of plugins that you can use on your site. Plugins enable you to customize your site on so many levels. You are limited to whatever non-self-hosted platforms offer. Hub Spot has The Ultimate Guide To WordPress Plugins – this will provide you with a solid overview of what plugins are and how they work.
The practicality of your blog and therefore your readers’ experience of your site can be greatly improved with a few key plugins. As you may have guessed, all of these plugins are only available on a self-hosted blog!
Let me give you a quick example: I have several key plugins that I use, one being Yoast which helps with SEO and another being Grow Social Pro (by MediaVine), Newsletter sign-up – these are all plugins that are available when you are self-hosted. I guarantee you that you are not getting this functionality with a free blogging platform.
5. Monetization
If your goal is to make money with your blog, then you have to be self-hosted. I often get asked, can you make money on your blog if you are on a free platform? Yes, you can. There are limitations and restrictions. Major affiliate programs will not allow you access to their programs if you are not self-hosted.
Honestly, you really can’t take a blogger seriously if they are not self-hosted. In the blogging world being self-hosted does in fact matter to the masses. As a blogger, if I am going to purchase a course from another blogger, the chances of me purchasing something from someone on blogger.com is slim, that is not to say that you shouldn’t use blogger.com to create a profile that leads to your actual blog site.
You limit your ability to generate income if you are not self-hosted.
6. Savings
Blogging is a business and there are fees associated with blogging. However when you compare the wordpress.com fees vs. self-hosting with Bluehost; self-hosting wins hands down. I am going to showcase Bluehost because it is the company that I use for my own blog sites.
Let’s compare the packages.
WORDPRESS
Personal $4/mo
Premium $8/mo
Business $25/mo
eCommerce $45/mo
BLUEHOST
Basic – $2.95/mo
Plus- $5.45/mo
Choice Plus – $5.45/mo
Pro-$13.95/mo
If you are on the WordPress.com Personal package, you can not earn ad revenue; you can not integrate Google Analytics (if Google can’t track you and know that you exist, then what is the point) You have to jump up to the $25 Business plan in order to have access to plugins and basic features that you get when you are self-hosted out the gate.
7. SEO
As a blogger, after good solid content, then SEO is the next most important aspect of your blog. You must have a solid SEO game plan in order to find yourself on page one of the Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). SEO is critical in getting that organic traffic that Google sends your way.
When you are self-hosted you are better able to optimize your content. A self-hosted blog site will outperform a site on a free blogging platform. Hands down, I guarantee that Google trusts a self-hosted site with its own domain name, ie., bragdifferently.com over a free site.
BlueHost and other hosting companies oftentimes provide additional SEO tools that come with your hosting. When you are self-hosted, you have access to SEO Plugins such as YOAST and Rank Math. The tools guide you in implementing SEO on your blog pages.
What Is Self-Hosting?
What is a self-hosted blog? Self-hosting is the process of hosting a website, email server, file server, or other services on your own server rather than using a third-party provider such as wordpress.com, wix, or blogger. In the blogging world, when you hear someone talk about being self-hosted, they are simply referring to being on a paid hosting plan where you own your blog site vs being on a free platform or limited platforms such as Blogger, Wix, or even WordPress.com. This can give you more control over your data and your privacy, as well as the ability to customize your service to your specific needs. You will still host your blog site on a server such as Bluehost, SiteGround, Indigoblu, or even NameCheap. The big difference is that you will OWN your site.
Why You Should Have A Self-Hosted Blog
There are a number of reasons why you should self-host your blog. First and foremost, self-hosted blogs are much more professional than free-hosted blogs. This is because you have complete control over the design and branding of your blog. You can also choose to use a custom domain name, which further adds to the professionalism of your blog.
Another benefit of self-hosting your blog is that you have complete control over your content. With a free hosted blog, you run the risk of having your content deleted or censored. But when you self-host your blog, you can be confident that your content will always be available.
Finally, self-hosted blogs are much easier to monetize than blogs that are on sites such as Wix, Blogger, or WordPress.com If your domain name looks likes mydomain.wordpress.com or mydomain.blogger.com then you are not self-hosted. If you want to make money from your blog, self-hosting is the way to go.
The Benefits Of Self-Hosting Your Blog
There are many benefits to self-hosting your blog. By self-hosting, you will have full control over your content, which means you can customize your blog to suit your needs. You will also be able to use your own domain name, which can make your blog look more professional. And self-hosted blogs are generally more reliable than free-hosted blogs.
Self-hosting your blog has a number of advantages. You’ll have more control over your blog’s design and appearance, and you’ll be able to add features that aren’t available on hosted platforms. You’ll also be able to use your own domain name, which can make your blog more professional and easy to remember.
Self-hosted blogs typically rank higher in search engines, which can lead to more traffic and potential customers.
If you’re thinking of starting a blog, we highly recommend self-hosting. It may require a bit more work upfront, but in the long run, it will be worth it.
How To Self-Host Your Blog
If you’re ready to take your blog to the next level, here’s how to self-host your blog. First, you’ll need to choose a web host. We recommend using a web host that offers a WordPress hosting plan, as WordPress is the most popular blog platform. Once you’ve chosen a web host, you’ll need to set up your domain name. You can usually do this through your web host. If you go with BlueHost, you will get a domain name for free for the first year.
After your domain is set up, you’ll need to install WordPress. Many web hosts offer a one-click installation process that makes it easy to get started with WordPress. However, if your web host doesn’t offer this option, you can still install WordPress manually.
Installing WordPress is a relatively simple process, but it does require some technical knowledge. If you’re not comfortable with doing this yourself, you can always hire a web developer to do it for you. Once WordPress is installed, you’ll be able to start creating content for your website.
After you’ve chosen a theme, you can start adding content to your website. WordPress makes it easy to create and manage your content, and you can even add multimedia files such as images and videos.
Once you’ve added some content to your website, you can start promoting your site to bring in visitors. WordPress provides a number of tools to help you promote your
Of course, there is a little more to it than this, but this gives you a general idea of what you need to do in order to get started.
Overall Thoughts On Self-Hosting
In conclusion, self-hosting your blog has many benefits. It gives you full control over your content, allows you to monetize your blog, and can Increase your search engine ranking. While it takes some time and effort to set up a self-hosted blog, the rewards are well worth it. Follow the steps in this article to get started.
If you are ready to get started, then check out this article on How To Start A Blogsite With Bluehost
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