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In today’s edition of WebProNews we’re going to take a look at weblogs.
One of the first decisions people have to make when starting a blog is whether to go with a hosted version or just find software they like and host it themselves.
Of course there are advantages and disadvantages inherent to both options so let’s take a look at a few of them. Now, when we say hosted or self hosted we’re referring to either hosting your blog yourself or simply going with a built in hosting solution like blogger.com.
Now… it’s probably worth pointing out that a lot of the major blog applications currently offer you a choice. WordPress TypePad and others for example offer both options.
So what are some of the benefits of using a hosted service instead of doing it yourself?
Well probably the single biggest advantage of going with a hosted solution is the fact that it’s just easier.
You wont have to worry about installing and maintaining a database (which most any blog software is going to require). You won’t have to worry about installation – or for the most part – any elaborate set up or configuration of software.
You wouldn’t have as many security concerns either would you?
Absolutely right – and that’s a big one. The responsibility of keeping your software patches current would typically be on the host in most cases. So, assuming you have a decent host that stays on top of thing- then yes- security should be much less of a concern in a hosted environment.
Blogs are a favorite target of script kiddies, hackers and any number of your various sundry degenerate malcontents lurking about the internet tubes. The biggest reason: blogs often make easy targets. These hacker types are notoriously lazy. They can’t get enough of the low hanging fruit.
So the big plus on the hosted option is pretty much just less headache.
More or less. To start blogging on a hosted blog you don’t really need to know much of anything beyond knowing you want to blog. Most all of the big software names in blogging – we mentioned folks like typepad and wordpress already – are very much focused on making things easy for people.
Ok… well, then what are some reasons people might want to do it all themselves
If you host your own blog there are several advantages. Particularly if you plan on blogging for your business or maybe using your blog AS your business.
The bottom line is going to be about control. On a self hosted blog you are in complete control over pretty much every nuance. But with this added control, comes a bunch of added responsibility
Hosting your own means you will be responsible for installing the software – installing a database of some sort – keeping everything up to date and patched with current versions and all of that kind of thing.
So there is a much higher level of responsibility involved with hosting your own blog. Now the good news here is that most of the current blog applications out there are pretty easy to deal with. You’re not necessarily going to have to be a Geek god to manage these things. You will however need to understand that you have to stay informed and up to date about security issues, version patches and other updates concerning your blog software and the database powering it.
Just for good measure, I’d probably throw in PHP version watching too since most blogs are going to be powered by PHP. This isn’t typically as frequently updated though. When it is however, it might be one you get some help with since it’s also not as easy to update.
The single biggest advantage that comes from this added headache though would be having your own domain. If you are using your blog as your business or part of your business, it’s not a great idea to be promoting someone else’s domain – which is essentially what you’re doing if you are using a hosted version.
If you self host you will have your own domain name. Which means you have and are developing your own brand. In terms of SEO and marketing, this is really a huge point since optimizing a domain you do not own or control isn’t exactly the best idea from a marketing standpoint.
If you start out with the hosted option thinking you’ll just switch to self hosted when your needs or situation changes, you are going to want to look very carefully at this when choosing a hosted version. Moving from a hosted to a self-hosted environment is sometimes a messy affair.
In other words, if you want to use your blog for business, you should be thinking about hosting it yourself.
Pretty much. If you just want to blog to keep in contact with relatives and friends in another state or just to have your voice heard, you cant beat the hosted versions for making that an easy thing to do. However, if you want to control what kinds of ads appear on your blog, how it’s marketed and how it’s developed as a brand for your business then you are definitely going to want to lean towards hosting it yourself.
There are a few more advantages to self hosting than you mentioned. First and foremost is more customization options. You’ll be able to template it just as you want, and add other plugin functionality of all sorts, which is limited to nonexistent on the hosted versions.
What types of plugins? Calendars, Phases of the Moon, SquawkBox, Music/Jukebox, Random Quote, Ad Rotation, etc etc etc.
Hosting your own gives you your own set of statistics programs that will tell you what’s working and what isn’t, how people are finding you, and more.
Hosting your own will give your own domain google juice instead of someone else’s.
And, last but far from least, Hosting your own puts you on a reliable server, providing you’ve carefully chosen a hosting company. Hosted solutions can be sometimes unbearably slow to load, even on a fast connection.
You guys are taking this video thing to a whole new level. Good job.
Agree 100% on all counts – thanks for the added points.
Very nice and very true. really like your video interviews from SES and tips.
Adding a beautiful face is always a good thing
keep on the good jobs.
I currently use both WordPress (on a shared server) and Blogger for my blogs. Definitely much better hosting yourself I think, especially since most PHP blog platforms can be installed manually (which isn’t that hard), or by using Fantastico-type software.
There are a few more advantages to self hosting than you mentioned. First and foremost is more customization options. You’ll be able to template it just as you want, and add other plugin functionality of all sorts, which is limited to nonexistent on the hosted versions.
Actually, this is completely *not* true on TypePad. TypePad lets you edit your own HTML, run our own ads, include any widgets you want, and run the site under your own domain name. While other services might not let you do those things, TypePad’s been good enough to run the blogs for Wired magazine and Time magazine — it should be more than reliable and flexible enough for most people’s blogs.
It also isn’t free. We really don’t discuss cost as a factor, but it is a consideration for a lot of folks. TypePad is fantastic, but typically speaking it is exceptional for hosted platforms – justifying it’s cost no doubt.
You barely mentiioned the number 1 advantage of self hosting, and then only at the end. That would be the adverts! Most businesses and alot of people don’t want the adverts, with a free blog you have no control over which adverts and how many adverts there are on your site. Adverts are absolutley unacceptable for business blogs.
I feel this should have been the first thing mentioned, not the last.
On a persoanl note = Tiffany’s accent sounds like home! While I wasn’t born there I’ve got “kin” from Harlan KY, Lanacaster KY, Danville, KY etc. (She’s hot too!) Good job showing the worlld that not everyone from KY is a bunch nepotism praticing hicks!
And one more thing – WordPress Rocks!
Hello all
I am new to blogging, i want to start a few blogs for income, I have no idea how to start one,I understand so far that hosting one myself is the better route for income purposes because I can allow advertisments. correct? anyone like to enlighten a new kid on the block?
Sure, DJohnson:
Find a web host that “allows multiple domains” under one account (a.k.a. “add-on domains”), 5 domains total should do for starters. This host should also have “cPanel” and “Fantastico”
These tools will help you install (but not update) blogs and other type of server software.
Study hard! Read all kinds of stuff, dont stop reading are you reading now ? Good! Now go read some more stuf on php mysql web design css marketing adverting seo sem etc. etc. etc.
Is there a ranking advantage to having a hosted blog? If the blog is on a highly popular infrastructure, such as TypePad, will the fact that it is on TypePad help the blog ranking as compared to a self-hosted blog?
chrison600, it depends on how you market the blog. If you are good at building links to your hosted blog, having it hosted will be a much better solution for you. You can add plugins and things that will improve ranks from google and other engines.
It is nice article! Thanks, good info!
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Self hosting is great,but people today try to do self (SEO)or as it’s called in house (SEO) TO have better rankings. People todya don’t understand that efficient and effective search engine optimization requires a lot of man power, and good skills. In stead they can outsource these services to others like Better Rrankings they are more knowledgable and more experienced than any in house (SEO) for more information visit their site, it will tell you more
To me it is necessary to find
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Video blogging is kind of cool but i think it is more time consuming than regular text based blogs. i already have at least 1 video blog and 2 regular blogs.
First of all – I hope it does cause MLB some major angst. Their role in all of this is significant. Selig should be forced to step down. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE knew what was going on. And rather than confront it Selig and his merry band of synchophants decided to ignore it. Ignore it as Bonds heads swelled to gargantuan proportions. Clemons is a major league tool and frankly deserves what he’s about to get……
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181198 beers on the wall. sck was here