Should You Create a Free Blog?

The first online decision you need to make is whether a blog or a website would best suit your needs? If you're certain that creating a blog is the best way for you to go, then it's time to figure out where you need to set your blog up.

1. Credibility
You want your blog to eventually stand alone. You'll find that gaining a following is tough enough on it's own. You don't need visitors arriving at a blogging service and thinking of your blog as just another one of the millions of blogs on that site. You want to create a unique image and let your visitors know that you're passionate about blogging.


2. Creative Freedom
A blogging service can only give you so much independence in the way you design your site. You will continually think of ideas that you'll want to incorporate into your blog.. and can't! If you own your own blog, the ability to create and design is only limited by your imagination.


3. Analyze Your Traffic
How do you work on getting more traffic? You analyze what is working and what isn't. A blogging service does not give you the tools to analyze your traffic. Having your own blog allows you to install any number of utilities or scripts to see what is bringing visitors to your site and what is not.


4. Better Search Engine Traffic
Search engines like stand-alone sites. All things equal, your own blog will see much more search engine traffic than a competitor with the same content.


5. Own Your Own Domain Name
Again, search engines will index you better if you have your own unique domain name and not a name that is part of your blogging service. Perhaps more important though, your visitors are more likely to remember you.


6. Don't Risk Your Blog Being Deleted
If you don't host your own blog, you don't own your blog. There's been more than one case of a blog being deleted by a hosting agency either by accident or because of a TOS (Terms of Service) violation that the blog owner was unaware existed. Can you imagine how distraught you would be if you blogged for two or three years, only to see your blog completely gone one morning? Own your own blog and own peace of mind!

Amy Kastner is a Web-Designer, Online Marketing and Search Engine Optimization Specialist. You can usually find her on twitter, where she occasionally writes about interesting stuff.

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