Comparing WordPress.com and org

This question comes up quite a bit so let’s talk WordPress vs WordPress.
When choosing to use WordPress to create your website or blog, you need to firstly decide whether to have it hosted by WordPress.com or self hosted with your own hosting account. It’s  a good idea before making that decision, to be clear in your own mind about the objectives of your website to-be. For many people, having a hosted website on WordPress.com suits that objective, and as of this writing, there are over 18 million hosted WordPress blogs on their site. However, there are many more people who decide to self host their WordPress sites for a variety of reasons.
Many people who use hosted WordPress sites do so as a hobby site, or as a way to get their keyword into their domain, as a subdomain, and to drive back-links back to their main site. It is a good way to get to used to using WordPress for free before you invest in buying hosting and domain names.
It is easier to make money using WordPress when you are self-hosting your WordPress site as you can then add eCommerce stores or membership plugins to the site, as well as including banner advertisements and affiliate links, which you can’t do on the hosted version.
Here are some more advantages and disadvantages to both choices and a quick breakdown of what these are so that you can make an informed choice of which option suits your situation best.
WordPress Website Hosted by WordPress.com
Advantages:
WordPress.com provide the hosting for your website free of charge so there is no initial cash outlay to get started.
You don’t have to install WordPress yourself, it’s already installed for you.
If you just want to write blog posts, perhaps as a hobby, and not do anything fancy with your site, then this solution may be ideal for you.
Disadvantages:
You lose the control factor of your website, there is always a chance, no matter how slight, that WordPress.com may decided to shut your site down.
Unless you upgrade your account to a paid account, it is difficult to customize your website as you can only use the themes that are provided by WordPress.com. Once you upgrade you can at least edit the css of your chosen theme.
Your url will be a subdomain of WordPress.com and doesn’t look very professional, if that’s the image you are looking to portray. You can however, if you upgrade, pay to use a domain or domain masking option.
It is hard to add any functionality with it as you are unable to add plugins.
Self Hosted WordPress Website
Advantages:
You can add and customize themes for your website.
You can add as many plugins as you like.
It’s easier to scale your website as your business grows, without restrictions.
You can add money making plugins and links to your website.
Disadvantages:
You have to pay for hosting for your WordPress site.(it isn’t expensive-my site is about 10 bucks a month)
You have to install WordPress yourself or you have someone like me do it for you. (wink wink)
Hopefully this has given you enough information to help you decide whether to go for a hosted or a self-hosted WordPress website.

 
 
 
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