A newbie blogger’s dilemma: free or paid domain name

Are you still wondering what domain to choose? If your answer is yes, you can keep on reading. I am going to tell you how to get started with your blog. That is about the domain of course. What kind of domain would you like to choose? I will tell you a very different story from what you heard or read from any mentor or any blog guru before.

Throughout these many years, I have read thousands of blogs. Many still exist and many also don’t. Some bloggers blog for fun and some are serious to make money online and bloggers also blog about so many topics that interest them. What sadden me is a good blog with good or unique articles suddenly give up and they do not update their blog anymore. I bet you are too because as a reader and follower, you still want to read more from the author of the blog.

I have seen blogs that are not updated for a few years and it still exist especially those who are using free domain like BlogSpot or Wordpress. It is kind of hard for a website with paid domain name to exist freely on the internet. If you don't pay the hosting company, they will shut down your website meanwhile the free domain will exist freely no matter if you update them or not.

As a new blogger, have you prepared your topic? If yes, that is very good. If not, don't give up searching for a good niche topic. Surprisingly if you ask any internet enthusiasts, almost all of them want to be a blogger. Everybody seems so energetic and they all want to write about something. Their energy and spirit are like roaring thunder and nothing seems to work to stop them from starting a blog.

I know this because I was one of them. Back in 2004, I created a blog called Tattoo Removal. If I am not mistaken, I only can write for two months. Some of the articles are taken from Ezine Articles if I am too lazy to write. It is not against the copyright rules anyway because I mentioned the article owner’s name and also from where I took the articles. After just two months, I left the blog in the dark.

It was quite a funny experience when I think back about starting the blog back then. But it was a valuable lesson that I learnt, very valuable. From that experience, I can tell all of you newbies out there about my experience and hoping that you will not make the same mistake like me.

Now is the part where you will ask me, “Enough with your sentimental story, tell me should I choose paid or free domain name?” I will reply you saying “you remind me of my old self”. Remember the story about energy and spirit like the roaring thunder? Stay cool if you want to learn something. There is a reason about my story and the domain name.

I was a complete newbie when I was building my blog. With little knowledge and no experience, I start up the blog. I choose a free domain that is the BlogSpot. The reason I want to start the blog was that I learnt that we can make money from blogging. So, I signed up with Google AdSense and I put up Google ads on the free blog hoping that visitors will come and click on the ads.

The first few articles were from Ezine because I want readers have something to read on my blog. I was so happy that my tears almost flow to see that I had started a blog and I was on the internet, live! I still can imagine that feeling until now. It was like being a celebrity in one day. I will bet all my savings that you will feel the same way if you were me.

After all the excitement, something goes terribly wrong. The first week, I still don’t have visitors. Not even one. I said to myself that it’s ok because my blog is still new. I was still energetic to write and post to my blog and keep it up to date. I only can keep this up until two months. I was so frustrated that I only have a few visitors to my blog.

After two months, I left the blog alone. I did not post anything or update anything. The blog just sits there waiting for the internet age to end, if it is going to end. Then, I stop blogging. I never read or say anything about blogging anymore. I was so broken-hearted that I thought to myself that I will never blog again.

In my story, can you tell what is wrong? Why don't the blog succeed or at least have its followers or visitors? Does the topic is not unique enough? Is it the free domain name that is causing the blog to be untrusted? I had the same questions in my head for a few years. At that time, it was hard to learn about blogging especially if you are a newbie. Not everyone have the blogging knowledge to share.

There is nothing wrong with the blog even though it is a free domain. Some people still blogs in a free domain until today and have their own loyal readers. A free domain doesn’t mean that the information is not reliable.  I have read free domain blogs where the author or owner is a doctor, a lawyer or any other professional people. Some of them even give advice for free on their blog according to their specialty.

As a future blogger, let me ask you something, what does a blog contain? I guess many of you know the answer that is articles. Blog contain unique articles and it is best when the article belongs to you. People or readers love information. When you give the right information to the right person, your blog will be filled with traffic.

You see here, it doesn't matter if the blog use paid or free domain. They both contain the same thing, articles. The difference is the domain name itself. The paid domain looks cool and the free domain looks cheap because it contains .blogspot or .wordpress. Let us take a look at other differences.

Paid domain name

-          You pay for your domain name

-          You have total control of the content on your website

-          Ends with .com, .net, .org or .info

-          Usually more trusted source

-          More reliable for long-term use

-          Can be flipped or sold

Free domain name

-          You don't have to pay for it (free)

-          You don't have control of your website. It relies to the policy of the free web hosting company that can change whenever they want.

-          Contain the web hosting company name in the domain name (.blogspot, .wordpress etc.)

-          Many people don't trust a free hosting website

-          Cannot be flipped or sold

If you are a complete newbie and never had the experience in blogging, my advice to you is to use the free domain name. Why? It is to see whether you really are into blogging or not. Most people are eager to start blogging by reading other people’s testimonials on how they became successful in their blogging career. This doesn't mean that blogging is right for you too.

Free domain name means you don't have to pay for it. You just register your domain and start blogging. See how far you will go. Let’s face it, you are not a celebrity and no one knows you on the internet. Forcing your family members as your blog followers is not going to work. What you really need is quality traffic coming to your blog.

If you have the skills in writing quality content and have the persistence to keep on writing and updating your blog, wait at least for four to six months. Some blogs are slow in pick up by the search engine. See whether you have followers on your blog and watch the traffic daily. If the figures are growing, congratulations, you are on the right track. Prepare to purchase a commercial domain name.

It is a different story if you are popular on the internet or in some group. Some people are a living celebrity on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any other social network. If you are among these people, you can directly purchase a paid or commercial domain name. This is because you already have your own followers who share the same interest with you.

With this kind of popularity, you can easily ask your friends to visit your blog. These friends are quality traffic because they have the same interest as you are. Word of mouth is the best way to promote your blog. Traffic will easily goes up this way. Consider yourself lucky if you are hanging around with the people with the same interest and topic as you. 

Image: Source

Conclusions

Many people are confused because of other people’s successful stories and they also want to become successful. This goes the same with blogging. Many people start a blog every day but not all of the people are able to maintain the blog. I agree that blogging is a business and you can make a living with it. This article explains what to do if you are a ‘victim’ to testimonials you read on books or the internet.

Like any other business, blogging is not for everyone. Even physical business owners sometime pay other people to create a blog for them. Remember that only a blogger blogs. I didn't mean to stop you from blogging. You are free to experience blogging for yourself and see if you are into it. Who knows blogging is the right thing for you to do.

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