Before you even start blogging you need to choose between free hosting services and a paid site. There are pros and cons of each decision and it will affect every other aspect of your online journal or business.

When deciding between paid vs. free blogging you need to decide exactly what you’ll be using your blog for. How you use your blog determines what kind of blogging host you need. If you just want a space for your friends to gather and share your thoughts then go with a free host. If you want to build a brand or business then a lot of pro online writers will tell you to go ahead and invest in your own domain name. With your own domain name you can have a say in every aspect of your blog. If you need to add a plug-in you can, if you want to use an unusual template or theme you can because you won’t have the restrictions of a free blog host.

Read the terms and services of the free site carefully. You might want to go with one of these services just because you don’t have to put money up front. The rules and regulations may not be worth the free service. The company has ownership of the subdomain and you have to do exactly as you say. The site even reserves the power to shut down your site immediately if another user marks it as spam.

Reconsider your budget. Money is probably the only reason that people don’t start out with paid web hosting. You can easily make up the difference in price by adding business elements to your blog. You might want to consider how many dollars it will be per month to go with a company to get a realistic view of how much money you’ll need.

Think about the future. You might want to start off with a personal blog but be surprised how much it will take off. At some point you may want to switch your personal blog into a business blog. Many free blogging sites don’t let you monetize your site in certain ways. If there is even the slightest chance that you will turn your blog into a business to make money you will be better off going with a paid service so you’ll own the domain name.

Consider your own technical skills. Generally both services are pretty easy to use and navigate but all software has a learning curve. Free blogging sites are often tailor made to a beginner and it’s usually just a matter of pointing and click. With a free blog template you’ll be limited in the changes you can make as well as your general design. You might get stuck using the same template as millions of other people so you won’t be able to differentiate your blog from the masses.

Looking to find the best deal on hosting a blog, then visit HAB to find the best advice on whether or not fantastico web hosting is right for you.

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