8 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
8 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Wordpress Hosting?

by OpenMindsEnt
7 replies
Hi I have a few questions regarding Wordpress.

I have 2 of the same Wordpress blogs, one hosted at Wordpress.com and the other hosted under my Hostgator plan (with the Fantastico tool).

I've been focusing my efforts more on driving traffic to the Hostgator one. It seems, though, that the one hosted at Wordpress is getting a lot more traffic naturally.

What is the benefit of using your own hosting plan for a Wordpress blog? It is just a text-based blog with no large files. Should I just focus on the one hosted by Wordpress? Will I get more natural traffic that way because it is a part of the actual Wordpress site?

Thanks!

Tim
#hosting #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author toonarme
    I was always led to believe that you were better using the self hosted option as you have total control and your own domain name and that way was far better for SEO purposes...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[145394].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author sinemra
    I guess it depends how long the blogs have been around. I wouldn't abondon the one you have on your own hosting plan - not yet anyway. If they both provide traffic, isn't that a good thing?

    Leave it for a while longer and see if the results change over time.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[145412].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Terry Hatfield
    It's a no brainer.

    I would focus on the site you are hosting yourself. That way you are building an asset that you can sell sometime in the future.

    Terry
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[145423].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Gravitehx
    Are you sure you have configured your hostgator hosted blog the right way? That is important when going for traffic.

    Besides having total control over your blog with your own hosting it also looks more professional and creates trust to have your own domain name.

    I would definitely recommend developing your hostgator hosted blog.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[145481].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Sami
    Tim

    You've got some great advice so far.

    Let me keep it unanimous - I agree you ought to keep both.

    Another benefit of your own hosted plan is that there is a lot that you can do with it that Wordpress.com don't allow you to. Just read their terms and you'll see what I mean. For example you can't install just any plugin you want.

    As Alexa stated, you must not risk being under anyone's control as far as possible ... there ar emany people in this forum and elsewhere complaining about EzneArticles.com (& other sites) playing tyrants. You never know when Wordpress.com decide to slap their clients.

    And here are a couple of steps that will help you over the medium term:
    • while the going is good use Wordpress.com to build the authority of your own hosted blog ... channel traffic where possible to your own blog
    • try to build your list from Wordpress.com but then everytime you have a new blog post on your own blog channel the list there.
    Good luck
    Sami
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[145548].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author OpenMindsEnt
    Wow thanks a lot everyone for the replies. It is clear now that I should focus my efforts on the one I am hosting, but keep the other one as well for some additional traffic. I've installed the SEO Pack, changed the permalinks, and have been optimizing each article for keywords. I guess there are still a few more things I need to do to better optimize.

    Thanks Again all!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[147681].message }}

Trending Topics