Why Pay for WordPress Hosting of your Blog when you can get it for Free?

The old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch applies to web hosting as much as any other area of life. What it means is that, if you don't have to pay with money, you pay in some other way. Whether you accept the deal is ultimately a matter for you, but with the many offers of free WordPress hosting around, it makes sense to understand what your payment is likely to be.

Advertising

The hosting provider has to generate revenue somehow and so is likely to run adverts on your pages. Whether they have any relevance to the subject area or nature of your blog is an issue over which you are very unlikely to have any control. If you plan in the future to attract and develop your own advertising revenue stream, free hosting is not the place to be.

Inflexible

Any free package is only going to offer limited bandwidth and a relatively small amount of storage. If you make occasional posts and are not looking to expand this may be sufficient, but if you want to develop a strong following with interactive forums and discussion pages, even perhaps move into ecommerce, you need a package that gives you the flexibility to grow without having to change hosting providers.

Technical Support

All hosting providers offer some sort of technical support but if you are using a free package, you are going to come way down the list of priorities behind paying customers. Even those with paid for packages frequently find the support is not as good as advertised, so be prepared for less than the best service in this important area.

Upgrades

Some companies that offer free hosting do so to draw clients in and then seek to convince them to upgrade or purchase add-ons at a price. This can work out more expensive than opting for a paid package in the first place.

The important steps to take before committing yourself to any hosting deal are to research the options available and develop a clear picture of where you want to go with your blog in the future. If you are serious about blogging and aim to create a distinctive brand that will eventually provide you with a revenue stream, then paid WordPress hosting is the way to go. It gives you much more control over the appearance of your blog and the advertising that is presented to your readership. Find the flexibility that will allow your site to grow, the freedom to incorporate some of the many plug-ins for WordPress and access to better technical support. Free hosting may offer a way to get started but the many drawbacks and the ready availability of reasonably priced hosting packages for the newbie in the blogosphere make it a less attractive option.  Sometimes it is just better to pay for your own lunch.