Kyle's Software Resources

I am a student here at USC, and I currently work for Professional Education Services. I am studying business and economics, but my major might change soon.

In life, there are always things you must do to keep from falling down. But no matter what, you will fall down. So remember: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle.

I am a big blogger... Just about everyone in my family owns a blog and posts to it on a regular basis. I wrote this article about paid vs free web hosting because I know lots of people who pay to host their blogs and a lot of people who just use blogger.com. Hope you like it.

Both individual users and companies can use blogging to build brand recognition, make some money, or just inform friends and family about current affairs. But it doesn’t matter if you’re blogging for a whole corporation or a small group of loyal followers, the question must be asked: should you register with a free blog hosting provider or opt for a paid hosting solution?

Free blogging is a tempting option to many fledgling bloggers. It is, after all, free. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best option for you. Similarly, many bloggers spend the time and money on paid blog hosting, when it is really not necessary.

The most obvious benefit to free blog hosting is the cost. It’s hard to beat free. Beyond that, though, when you register with a free blog service you don’t have to worry about software installation and upkeep since it is handled by the provider. Neither do you have to worry about how much bandwidth or storage space is allotted to you, since it’s usually a fixed amount.

On the other hand, there are some serious drawbacks to free blog hosting. The most detrimental characteristic of free blogging is the inability to properly brand the blog. Free blogging sites will include the host name within the URL. This leads to a severely unprofessional look to the blog. If you are trying to impress customers, showing them that you are unwilling to pay for blog space is not the way to do it.

Paid blog hosting also has some drawbacks, most notably the costs. A user will have to pay for the domain name and the server costs, which can run into a lot of money. When you use a paid system there is also a good chance that you will be responsible for installing and maintaining the blog software.

There are a lot of benefits to paid blog hosting, though, that easily offset the drawbacks. For starters, when you host your own blog you have full control over the design and theme of the blog. The choice of blogging software is yours, so you can use WordPress or any other package you feel comfortable with. And, of course, having a blog with its own domain name is a great way to build up brand loyalty and look professional.

Given the benefits and drawbacks to the available hosting options, is there one that really stands out as better than the other? The truth is that there no easy answer to that, and it comes down to why you are blogging in the first place.

If you are new to blogging and simply want to try your hand, or only plan on posting the occasional picture and experience, a free blogging system might be good enough. If, on the other hand, you are blogging for a company or running your own blog to make money, then the only option is paid blog hosting. There’s no substitute for the professional image and level of control.

As a courtesy, I expect all visitors to email me with their thoughts and suggestions