If you are a blogger, you have most probably wondered whether to choose a free or a self hosted blog platform. Being in the web hosting industry for several years now, we have noticed that many new bloggers are running into that question and decided to explain in short why hosting your blog on a self-hosted platform is the better option.

The Limitations of the free platforms

The good side of the free platforms is that they do not cost anything but at the same time they set a lot of limitations.

1. Unprofessional look – Using a free service will make you look unprofessional because your domain URL will contain the domain name of the free platform you are using.
2. Themes – You will be restricted to use the free themes that the platform offers, which might not be suitable or good enough for your content.
3. No Ads – In order to use the free service you have to agree to its terms and conditions. In 90% of the cases, you will not be able to place ads on your blog or will be allowed to use their ads only. That way, you will be restricted from making money out of your blog.
4. Limited Control – the free platforms offer limited resources (bandwidth , space, and video time) as well as a few capabilities. You will not be able to optimize your website, extend its functionalities, download plugins, etc.
5. No SEO features – one really big setback of the free blogging platform is that they do not allow you to optimise your website for search engines, which is a serious obstacle for driving more traffic to it.

Now let us see how the self-hosted service will make your blog look more professional and why your readers will take you seriously.

The advantages of a self-hosted blog

1. Professional domain  – The short and clean URL shows your readers that you are doing a real business and blogging is not just your hobby.
2. SEO Optimization – Owning your website will provide you with limitless capabilities to optimize it for search engines, which will result into attracting more readers to your blog.
3. Wide variety of themes– You will no longer be restricted to use templates that are not suitable for your content. You will be able to build and design your website the way you want by choosing from the vast array of beautiful and stylish themes over the Web.
4. Functionalities – Another reason for self-hosting your blog is the extra functionality features you will be provided with.
5. Ads – With the self-hosted blog you will have a full control of your content and will let you monetize it.

Our conclusion, based on these arguments, is that if you want to run a professional blog, have full control over your content, and make profit out of it, you should go for a self-hosted blog.