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I urge everyone to get into blogging for various reasons mentioned here. From improving your writing skills to getting that side income, blogging is a great way to improve your personality. One of the motivations I feel to start blogging is that blogging is free. Right, you simply register on any of the blogging platforms – WordPress, Blogger – and your blog is ready in a few clicks. It’s a great way for anyone to get into blogging. However, more often than not blogging turns from a hobby to a serious activity after a while. And when you are planning to become serious, it’s time for you to Self Host your blog. So here are 5 reasons why you should self host your blog.
Why Self Hosting is a good idea
More customization at your disposal
One of the major reasons why people move to a self host blog is for customizations. Free blogging platforms have a limited set of features that are available for use. For someone who is starting out, it might be enough. However for some power users like me, these aren’t enough. We want more. And that’s when you should self host your blog. Self Hosting your blog gives a lot of customizations including more themes, plugins etc. So if you are looking to have more customizations than a self host blog is for you.
Gain Full Control over your blog
With free hosting, you have very limited control over your blog. You cannot control the way comments are displayed or use a 3rd party plugin. Further if you are planning to redirect your blog to some other place, you will not be able to do so if on a free blogging platform. Also, running many analytics services too requires you to have a self hosted blog. So you see, if you need full control over your blog, self hosted blog is for you.
Earn by displaying ads
Blogging is a great way to reach a large audience. And if you are reaching a good number of readers, your blog can become a great place to show some ads. (Remember do not spam your own blog with ads !) Most of the Ad network require you to have a self host website to show ads. Most of the free blogging platforms (barring Blogger) don’t allow you to show ads on a free blog. Hence if you are planning to earn from you blog, you need to self host it.
Increased Brand Engagement
If you have developed your niche around a particular topic you will have a good number of readers. What that does is, it opens the gates for brands to contact you. There are brands and PRs on the lookout for blogger who can promote their products. If you are not self hosted with a custom domain name, chances are high that the brands might give you a miss. Having a self hosted blog will not only give you full control over your blog but also increase chances for brand engagement. Please note that ideally self hosting a blog is not needed since most brands look for a custom domain name.
Learning while Self Hosting
When you move to a self hosted blog, there is great learning involved. You understand how servers work, how domains are setup and things alike. More often than not, you might not be aware of anything, but sooner or later you’ll have a good command over it. Over the years, I’ve learnt a lot about self hosting – Linux Web Hosting – from taking automated backups, to playing with CNAME records and what not. So in a short time you’ll become a Hosting Guru if you move Self Host your blog. Read How to Migrate to a New Domain Provider
So these were the 5 Reasons why you should Self Host your blog. Please be informed that the idea of this post was not to force you to move to self hosting. Moving to a self hosted blog is a big step and everyone who has taken this bold step would agree with me. Blogging without self hosting your blog gives a piece of mind in many ways. You don’t have to deal with most of the things. However there are many things like better customizations, ad revenue and other stuff due to which I suggest you should move to self hosting. If you’ve faced any of these or think I’ve missed out on any, do mention in the comments below. If you are on twitter, do drop by @Atulmaharaj
“I’m taking my blog to next level with BlogChatter and #MyFriendAlexa”
I went self hosted last year because I wanted to be serious about my blogs and I can see the difference it made in the way the blogs are perceived now. Very interesting post
True, self hosted give a sense of ownership and hence people become more passionate about it.
Interesting and informative, Atul! Great read as always! Cheers!
Thanks Tina 🙂
How much important self hosting needed I know after living one successful year of self hosting. I see satisfactory growth as a blogger and I’m loving it,
Yaay ! I’m pretty sure you’ll have a great time ahead too. Thanks Dr 🙂
These are some noteworthy points. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Mahek 🙂
Also self hosting ones blog strengthens the identity and perception of commitment towards your blog. It then becomes easy for one to attract revenue generating agents like ads, sponsors, guest bloggers etc.
Thanks for sharing your views.
That’s a valid point Anupriya. Thanks for dropping by.