Why Choose WordPress?

Let’s begin at the very beginning. There are several free options that make it really easy to start a blog. Blogspot is the most popular, with TypePad, LiveJournal, and WordPress’s own hosted blogs right behind. These are easy to set up and they don’t require you to buy a domain name or a hosting plan.

So why would you choose to spend roughly $75 a year and have your own separate WordPress blog if the freebies are, well, free, and easy to set up?

Consider this. When you post to your blog, Google indexes your content with a link back to the domain on which it is hosted. This is called “link juice” by the search engine optimization nerds (Ew. Icky term, but that’s what they call it, so we’ll hold our noses and use it.), and it’s very, very important in your visibility. If your incredibly popular post about your new technique is on your blog at www.JaneSmithQuilts.com, your own domain (using your own name!) gets the link juice. Yay! Google says Jane Smith has written about this important new technique, and because hundreds of people are commenting and linking back to it, Jane Smith must really be important!

But what if your blog’s address was www.janesmithquilts.blogspot.com?

When you post to your blog, Google indexes your content with a link back to the domain on which it is hosted.

Yep. You are giving away all your linkie goodness to Blogspot every time you write a post.

Come on, now. Google owns Blogspot. I honestly don’t think they need the linkage to rank well on Google, do you?

The same holds true if you go to WordPress.com and sign up for a free blog. You’ll get www.janesmithquilts.wordpress.com and will have the same problem.

More Templates, More Plug-Ins, More Control

Templates: Both Blogspot and WordPress hosted blogs have a limited number of themes or templates that you can choose. Yes, if you are comfortable with CSS you can make changes to the standard templates (but if you are that comfortable with CSS, you probably already have a WordPress blog of your own that you’ve spiffified to your own specs). Self-hosted WordPress, though, has a much, MUCH larger number of themes available. Many of them are free (more than a thousand of them!), while some premium themes may cost you a small amount. Choose the look you want and change it every week if you like. WordPress themes are like hats. There are gray-suit business ones, stripey-fuzzy-socks ones, and button-down-shirt-and-khaki ones. Pick a purple pajama one if you like!

Plugins: These are small programs that add functions to your basic blog. Want a private membership site so that only members of your family can see pics of the new baby? Want a quick-and-easy shopping cart to sell items using PayPal? What about a contact form so your email address isn’t plastered out there for every spammer in the world to harvest? Tracking statistics, so you will know how many people are visiting and where they are coming from? Polls? Quick ways to cross-post to Twitter and Facebook? A slick photo gallery with lightbox effects and a slideshow? What about setting up static pages and using WordPress as your entire website and not just a blog?

Self-hosted WordPress is your baby.

Control: Although it’s not likely to happen with either Blogspot or WordPress.com, there have been cases when free services go out of business and disappear, taking all your hard work with them. If your blog is in your own domain space, that won’t happen (unless you forget to pay your hosting bill… and even there, the host will keep your files for a period of time to allow you to pay and reactivate).

There is also copyright to consider. Earlier this year, Facebook users were dismayed to read the new Terms of Service (quickly rescinded) in which Facebook claimed copyright to a number of things that users were posting. If you own the domain and self-host your own blog, you own the copyrights. Period. There won’t be any sneaky changes in TOS to contend with.

User Profile: Blogspot uses a fairly standard page layout for profiles. You can add a picture of yourself and fill in some blanks, but it’s tough to do much in the way of personalization. With self-hosted WordPress, your About page can be as wild and wacky (or as buttoned-up and serious) as you are.

Next week: Yay! You’ve decided to go self-hosted WordPress. Here’s how to get started.