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Top 5 Reasons To Move From Free Hosting

Darren over at ProBlogger is sponsoring a group writing project. The idea is to bring tons of bloggers together by writing about one similar subject. In the end a prize will be awarded to one blogger, $1001 to be exact thanks to Chitika. I have decided to give you the Top 5 reasons why I chose to move away from free blog hosting.

More Control Over Layout- Blogger offers users the option to use their own layout, but a lot of other hosts like Wordpress will make you stick to one of their free layouts. I want the ability to change my layout to whatever I want whenever I feel like it.
Control Over Blog Content- How many of us have heard about people losing their Wordpress blog due to issues with their content? Most free host have a TOS with sections that can be interpreted in many different ways. What I might consider objectionable might completely offend someone else. I don’t like the fact that with a free blog host, someone could report me for anything at anytime, and I could kiss my blog goodbye. No one wants to lose their blog after working so hard to build it.
Paid Content- Whether you agree with advertising on blogs or not, pretty much everyone wants the ability to choose for themselves to have paid content. If I want text links on my sidebar, that’s my decision. If I want to write a few paid blog posts, that’s my decision. If I want to use Google Adsense, I don’t want to split the profits with my free host. That’s my money that I want to keep. Many free hosts these days won’t allow any type of advertising where as others split the profits with you. A few hosts don’t care what you advertise, but if you want to write content for paid blogging companies, most won’t accept blogs on a free host any longer.
Reliable Hosting- There have been many many times with both my Wordpress and Blogger accounts where I couldn’t login. I really wanted to write something, but I couldn’t access my blog. Other times I would have content just disappear. I’ve lost quite a few posts on my Wordpress blog. They just vanished into thin air. When I decided to buy my own hosting package, I consulted with a close friend of mine who specializes in hosting blogs. He gave me a great package for a great price, and hosting with a smaller private company, I’m not competing with all those other free hosted blogs to get to tech support when something goes wrong. I can send a quick email and everything is resolved within minutes. Not once have I been locked out of my account or have my hosting crash. If something does happen, I know I have daily backups to keep me going.
Blog Platform of Choice- I chose to use the Wordpress platform, but with free hosting, you are limited to that one service. With paid hosting, you may use any blog platform you choose. I like the ability to decide for myself which platform I like. If I get fed up with one, I can change to another within minutes.

09 May 07 | Blogging

45 Responses to “Top 5 Reasons To Move From Free Hosting”

Top 5 - Group Writing Project Day 3 | May 10th, 2007 at 5:17 am

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Group Writing Project - Day 3 | May 10th, 2007 at 5:32 am

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My top pick for day 3 group writing project — Learning On Demand | May 10th, 2007 at 6:33 am

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Rhys | May 10th, 2007 at 7:02 am

I agree totally, switching to paid services isn’t that expensive, and it’s great for giving me control over everything, something I realised I needed to have to be successful.
Karlo Licudine | May 10th, 2007 at 7:03 am

You’re reasons are really sound and helpful.

I am also thinking of moving away from freeh hosting because of the reasons that you have stated above.

I am greatly grieved of the fact that free hosting restricts bloggers in their creativity. Especially on their content. Which is why I am careful on what I say on my blog.

Also I am also annoyed by the fact that these free hosting companies dont give you much control of your blog.

Still, with all of these said and done. We cant really do anything. Free Hosting is “FREE” which is why it has many limits.

Nice Post!

If you have time, why don’t you drop by my post:
http://mobileko.blogspot.com/2007/05/snatch-top-5-tips-on-how-to-be.html

It’s also an entry for the problogger top 5- group writing project. ^^ Goodluck to us all!
Top Five Group Writing Project: Day 3 | May 10th, 2007 at 7:57 am

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Top Five Group Writing Project: Day 3 | May 10th, 2007 at 7:57 am

[…] Top 5 Reasons To Move From Free Hosting by Jenn […]
alamster | May 10th, 2007 at 7:58 am

disappear post?

i have blogspot and wordpress.com account, what makes me move to paid hosting is no.2
tOMPSON’s blog » Blog Archive » My favorite posts of day 3 | May 10th, 2007 at 8:49 am

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ear sucker » Blog Archive » Group Writing Project Day Three | May 10th, 2007 at 9:43 am

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Mjuboy | May 10th, 2007 at 11:25 am

Well, i think the bloggers who arent very serious can stick with free hosting until they feel that they have evolved above the level of free hosting.
Group Writing Project - Top 5 Day 3 | Techie Buzz | May 10th, 2007 at 11:53 am

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Group Writing Project - Top 5 Day 3 : WinonBet.org | May 10th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

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Jenn | May 10th, 2007 at 2:10 pm

I agree that bloggers who aren’t very serious can stick with free hosting, but when those bloggers do decide they would like to blog on a more regular basis and want more control, it’s a pain to have to move, especially if your blog is already a decent PR.

I went through this myself, and now I’m having to deal with building everything up again. If I had been smart in the beginning, I would have just shelled out the $45/year for my own blog.
Andrew Boyd | May 10th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

Good post

It is good enough to be a standard reference on the topic - rather than rewriting advice on getting our own hosting, we should be just linking to here.

Thanks, Andrew
Top 5 favourites from Day 3 of Problogger’s writing competition at Facibus On Blogging | May 10th, 2007 at 2:53 pm

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Everyday Randomness » Group Writing Project Update | May 10th, 2007 at 4:29 pm

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Tim Nash | May 11th, 2007 at 3:43 am

I totally disagree, well not quite but a good example of people choosing free hosting include wordpress.com which while not a perfect service offers a couple of benefits.

Traffic - if your starting a blog having that initial traffic boost is great.

Infrastructure - Anyone who has been Dugg will know how critical this is. Having been through a digging frenzy and even something as simple as participating in a group writing project, could cause your server to crash or more likely send your bandwidth costs through the roof.

Search engine domination - if you have 1 site you will rank once (ok not quite true) for your site name, if your blogging platform is separate from your main site that’s 2 sites. You get the idea, I won’t say its perfect and some times the lack of flexibility is really frustrating but their are major advantages for people who do not want to be paying large bandwidth cost and are being regularly Dugged.

Ironically after jumping to its defence we are moving away from our current host back on to our main site when it relaunches later this month.
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