Whether you should host your blog or not is a significant question. Basically there are two types of hosting for blogs:
- Externally hosted blogs simply means that someone hosts your blog for you on some remote computer or server, and they automatically provide you with the software you need to run your blog.
- Now, self hosted blogs simply means you have your own domain name or website address set up for your own blog or that you have a server, so you can store the files of your blog.
If you are new at blogging is not a bad idea to get started with external hosted blogs just to get a feel and to get some momentum going with your blogging career; but there are some drawbacks. You see, because you don’t actually own your domain name, the provider still owns your blog and can switch it off at any time. But if you own your domain name you can just move your blog files in case your server shuts down for any reason. That is why so many people own their own domain name and you should seriously consider owning your own too.
There are other options, like the ability to customize your own blog; thus providing you with some great features that otherwise you would not have if you were to use the external hosted blog.
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This too is something that depends. Some blogs – like Google’s Blogger – allow you to have your own domain name and pretty well customize your blog to be the way you want it. Granted any external hosting is going to have TOS – but the thing is, your blog CAN be shut off for “no reason” on a self-hosted server as well if content violates the TOS of the hosting company you have set up your blog with. I have seen it happen on more than one occasion and have actually been the person reporting the content (usually plagiarized from another blog) on more than one occasion. When your site is shut off, you do not have the option of just moving the files unless you are one of the few of us who actually keep backups of your blog databases.
Also you must be very careful with owning your own domain name. Most hosts now “include” a domain name in your hosting package. However you are NOT the owner of the domain name! The hosting company is! So if your blog is shut down by the host or your host shuts down, if they do not transfer the domain to you, you lose your domain. Always register your domain with a reputable registrar first, then sign up for your hosting.
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