What Is A Self-Hosted Blog?

A self-hosted blog is a blog you install at your preferred web hosting service. A self-hosted blog is often referred to as a paid-for blog. A self-hosted blog will usually have its own unique domain name (Known as a URL – Uniform Resource Locator.) associated with it. For example, this blog happens to be hosted and installed at my preferred web host of HostGator, it has the domain name of jonathanrallenwebdesign.com which I selected and registered at GoDaddy, and it is a WordPress powered blog. I Own My Own Blog and it has its own unique design.

Free-Hosted Blogs

The opposite of a self-hosted blog is a blog that is hosted at an online service such as blogger.com or wordpress.com. These are free blog hosting services, as you do not pay a hosting fee to have a blog at them.

Self-Hosted Blog Advantages

• The great advantage to a self-hosted blog is that you gain total control over your blog.
  This means you have the freedom to make your blog look and operate the way you want. When you have paid-for hosting, then no one can limit what you do with your blog. Most importantly, you can blog about anything you want, it’s all yours. You have blog freedom.

• With a self-hosted blog you can determine how your blog looks, what theme it uses, the colors, layout, typography, and graphics.
  You also have total control over the technical parts of your blog. With WordPress you can choose and add from a myriad of plugins. Think of plugins as special gizmos that do certain blog jobs for you. Plugins enhance the functionality of your blog. You can tweak and adapt your self-hosted blog the way you desire.

• The WordPress blog platform is Open Source.
  If you choose WordPress as your blogging platform, then you won’t have to pay a single cent for WordPress itself. WordPress is Open Source and this means it is free for you to use. There are no WordPress licensing fees involved. WordPress Works Wonderfully.

Choose WordPress To Power Your Self-Hosted Blog

WordPress is an Open Source blogging/Content Management System platform used for both blogs or standard websites, or a combination of both. WordPress is an established success and very popular. WordPress can be a blog only, it can be a traditional website with only web pages and no blog posts, or it can be a website with a blog. WordPress is very flexible.

A WordPress blog or website is a tool that can help change your life. WordPress will let you communicate your passion, your expertise, your knowledge, skills, abilities, your talents, your business, to the entire world. You can do this from your top-floor corporate office, or from an empty closet in the extra bedroom of your grandmother’s basement. All you need is a computer, an Internet connection, WordPress installed at a paid-for web hosting account, your own registered domain name, and your imagination, smarts, effort, and enthusiasm.

WordPress is a tool that won’t hold you back, it will grow with you. You could change the world, or your life for the better. It can all begin with a WordPress blog or site.

Have Your Own Unique Domain Name

• Having your own unique domain name (a URL) is important if you want your blogging efforts to make a professional impression.

People simply consider a website with its own Top Level Domain (TLD, jonathanrallenwebdesign.com is an example of a TLD) name to be more serious and have better reliable services, information, and content than a website with a URL such as: http://jonathanrallenwebdesign.blogspot.com. That URL points you toward a free-hosted blogger.com blog I set up as a demonstration. You can see how “blogspot.com” gets added to the URL for this free hosted blog, this means it is not a TLD.

Chances are, your blog visitors will notice if you don’t have your own TLD domain name and this can reflect poorly on your blog’s credibility.

Web Hosting And Domain Registration Fees Won’t Send You To The Poor House

You will pay for your web hosting and to register and keep a domain name when you self-host your WordPress blog. When you register your own domain name for your blog, you will pay a fee to a domain registrar such as GoDaddy. You will pay for your web hosting most likely by a monthly or yearly plan, and your domain name registration will usually have an annual fee with the option to pay for multiple years. Your web hosting and domain name registration fees are ongoing.

These fees are affordable because there is much competition in the web hosting and domain registration markets. They are worth their cost if you want your blog to be a professional effort.

What Aren’t You Telling Me?

• Because you have total control over your blog, you must manage it.
  You are the one who looks out for its health. So, some technical skills and knowledge are needed.

• You will have to manage your web hosting.
  This sounds intimidating and it can be. There will be some things you need to learn about web hosting and how to interact with your web hosting account, but good web hosts have made it as easy as possible for you to setup and choose your web hosting options.

Be Professional And Own Your Own Blog!

Owning your own blog by using WordPress as your blogging platform, having it self-hosted, and having your own registered domain name, is the most professional and serious way to have a blog or website. You will have complete control of your blog and another party (Like a freely hosted blog company.) cannot impose limitations or constraints on your blog. You will have the freedom to make your blog look and operate the way you want, and no one can limit what you say or can do with your blog. Own Your Own Blog!

How To Own Your Own Blog!

• Self-host your blog. A self-hosted blog is a blog you install at your chosen paid-for web hosting service.
• Register your own unique domain name. Have your own URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
• WordPress is an excellent platform to power your blog.