“WordPress.com or WordPress.org? Which One’s Right for You?” plus 1 more |  |
| WordPress.com or WordPress.org? Which One’s Right for You? Posted: 03 Mar 2012 12:09 PM PST This guest post is by Matt Hooper. When you first start looking at building your own blog, you are going to be inundated by the different options that are out there. After considering all your options, hopefully you’ll come to your senses and realize that WordPress is your best option. As a reward for all this deliberating you are now presented with one more decision. Do you choose .org or .com? And we’re not talking about your domain name. You, along with many others, might be surprised to find out that there are actually two different kinds of WordPress. WordPress.com is a version of WordPress that is hosted by Automattic, the development team behind WordPress. WordPress.org is often referred to the self-hosted version of WordPress. The two are very similar but there are a few differences that you need to be aware of before you finally get down to work on your blog. WordPress.comWordPress.com is the safest way to go, as there are a lot of mechanisms in place to make sure that you don’t accidentally break it or prevent it from working the way it was intended to. This means that it is nearly impossible for a beginner to render their site unusable. It also means that you are unable to really make use of some of the more advanced, and fun, features of WordPress. I’ll get to those below, but let’s take a closer look at what WordPress.com has to offer first. The biggest selling feature of WordPress.com is the fact that everything is free and easy to use. You can head over there right now, sign up for a free account, and be blogging before you know it. You won’t even need to invest in a domain name if you don’t want to. Without any expense, you are able to have a website of your own at a domain like yourname.wordpress.com. That’s right: you don’t even have to purchase a domain name to get started. However, going from a yourname.wordpress.com domain to yourname.com in the future is going to hurt your search engine rankings. This is something that you might want to consider before going the totally free route. In the event that you are even remotely serious about creating a blog, you’re best to start off with your own domain. You can have your own domain name at WordPress.com for an extra $12 per year plus the cost of the domain itself. Since WordPress.com is hosted by Automattic, they are the only ones that get to place ads on your site. That’s right, they get to make money off of your site, not you. It isn’t all bad, since they are giving you the site and support for free. Also, if you really dislike the ads on your site, you can pay $30 per year to have them removed. WordPress.com’s advertising policy is pretty clear: they are not interested in anyone making money off their sites. They have not explicitly stated that you can’t make money off a WordPress.com sites, but they put a kibosh on most monetization strategies. The barrier to entry is extremely low here so it can be very appealing to the less technically inclined. For hobbyists or people interested in just kicking the tires, WordPress.com is a good starting point. However, if you are at all serious about moving forward with your blog, you’re going to quickly run into the limitations of WordPress.com. WordPress.orgWordPress.org is the version of WordPress that you have to host yourself. This means that if you use wordpress.org, you have to go out and find a web hosting company to host your blog. This may result in you having to paying for services before you even hit Publish on your fist post. The good thing is that some hosting companies may give you a short grace period to try out their service before you get your first bill. Then, after you get going, you’ll be looking at a cost of anywhere from a $5 to $10 per month for a shared host. You’ll also have to buy your own domain to use with your blog—you won’t even have the option not to. Again, some hosts will give you one domain for free when you signup. This also means that you can add additional domains for just the cost of the domain, since you already have the host. After you have decided on a shared host of your choice, you are going to have to install WordPress in your hosting account. Don’t fret: most shared hosts worth using will have a “one-click install” for WordPress, so it’s not too complicated to get WordPress installed. In the event that you do have any problems, most good shared hosts will help you out. Once this has been completed, you will have free rein to do whatever you wish with your shiny new WordPress installation. This also means that you get access to two of the best features of WordPress that I alluded to above: plugins and custom themes. Themes are what control the look and feel of your blog, colours, layouts, fonts, etc. Yes, it’s true that you are able to pick a theme while using WordPress.com but there is a limited selection and you are not able to do much customization to the theme itself. If you know your way around CSS, you can pay an additional $30 per year to have the ability to modify the CSS. Even if you get to the CSS of your WordPress.com site, you still have a limited selection of themes to choose from. At least with WordPress.org, you have the choice of using the same out-of-the-box free themes as on WordPress.com or to pay a bit extra for a premium or custom theme. But the killer feature of WordPress.org has got to be the ability to add plugins, which are not available with WordPress.com. Plugins are add-ons that expand the core functionality of WordPress. As an example, if you want to be able to scan your entire site to make sure there are no broken links, there is a plugin for that. There are countless other plugins for WordPress that will:
Initially, having FTP access to your blog might not matter to you, but as you grow into your blog, you might want to have the ability to modify and move files around on your web host’s server. This is something that you get with a self-hosted site running WordPress, that you can’t ever get with a WordPress.com blog. Probably the most important feature of using WordPress.org is you get to make money with your blog. You’re free to use anything from Adsense to affiliate promotions. You’ll even have the option of creating and selling your own products through your site. And if the need arises, you can turn a WordPress.org site into a full-blown ecommerce solution. That said, it’s not all roses with a self-hosted blog. There are two major things missing with WordPress.org that you get with WordPress.com: backups and protection from extreme traffic spikes. There aren’t many safety nets with a self-hosted site, so make sure you back it up often. WordPress.com takes care of this for you. A good web host usually performs regular backups, but most will tell you that they don’t guarantee anything. So whatever you do, make sure that you perform your own WordPress backups frequently. In the event that your blog does get popular overnight, it could buckle under the added traffic. Don’t worry: the stability of your site can be beefed up through the use of a good caching plugin, like W3 total cache. Also, it isn’t too difficult to upgrade your hosting at some point in the future when your site starts getting massive traffic. This would be a good problem to have! Wrapping it upI have to admit that after being so accustomed to the flexibility of WordPress.org, I would have a hard time being happy with a WordPress.com blog. If you have any aspirations of taking your blog past the hobby stage, you should just start out with a self-hosted site. It is possible to move a WordPress.com hosted site to a self-hosted site later on. However, presuming that you might consider starting with a WordPress.com site and moving to a self-hosted site later on, you’re best to just start out with a self-hosted site. That said, if you are comfortable living within the limitations of WordPress.com, and you want to never have to deal with the technical details of a blog, then a WordPress.com hosted blog might be all that you need. WordPress.com is great if you are looking to keep an online journal or for small clubs and the like. Due to the fact that you are reading this site, I expect you’re interested in making a business out of your blog. On that note, at some point in the future you will end up with a WordPress.org website. Save yourself the fuss and the hassle of trying to transition your site later on. You’ll be happy you did. The initially-free option of WordPress.com could actually result in higher costs down the road. After you start piling on extra fees for a custom domain, ad removal, extra storage space (you only get 3GBs to start), plus the ability to use custom CSS in your blog design, you really aren’t saving much, if any, money on WordPress.com, and you have to deal with its limitations. Finally, and this is a big “finally”, you don’t own a WordPress.com website. After you’ve spent all that time to build a blog and an audience, do you really want to wake up one morning and find out that WordPress.com didn’t like your site so they deleted it? There isn’t a strong chance of this happening, but you should be aware that it could. Have you been trying to decide between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? What challenges are you facing? Matthew Hooper helps individuals, small businesses and organizations build an internet presence. You can get his free guide on building an internet presence or check out his online WordPress course full of step-by-step videos so that you can learn WordPress in a single weekend. Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger WordPress.com or WordPress.org? Which One’s Right for You?     |
| Posted: 03 Mar 2012 06:06 AM PST This guest post is by Adarsh Thampy of ConversionChamp.com. Do you know what the biggest mistake is when starting your own blog? I'd argue that it's probably lack of proper planning. At the starting point, you should consider writing a business plan for your blog. “A business plan?” you might ask. “A blog is not necessarily a business!” I have guest posted over at branding personality about this topic. Blogging is a tool to promote your business or brand. So it's essential that bloggers too have a business plan. One of the successful entrepreneurs I respect the most, Neil Patel, is not a big fan of business plans, and he's written about why you shouldn't write a business plan in the first place. However, the plan I am talking about in this article is not based on any traditional models. Most people search the Internet to create a business plan and finally give up. It's probably because they find it too difficult. I have to agree with this feeling: writing a business plan is no walk in the park. But there is good news for people looking to start a blog, who want a plan that’ll help. Unlike traditional business plans, the one you need to create for your blog is fairly simple. You don't have to worry about structure, wording, or content. Your business plan will be short and easy to prepare. Why do I even need a business plan?All entrepreneurs know they need a business plan. But not many know why they actually need one. If I am talking on a high level, I can say that it is needed to acquire venture capital, optimize business operations, and so on, though I bet most bloggers never even remotely think of such things before they start a blog. In layman’s terms, here’s why you need business plan:
How to prepare a business plan for your blogHere comes the good part, and I must say that it's actually fun too. To create a blog, you’ll have to do research on your target market, figure out the operational and start-up costs, and so on. So why not document those things along the way, in a business plan that guides you, and provides a reference for the future? Step 1: Business ideaIn this section, you will have to note down what your business idea is. To make it more fun, write down how you actually zeroed down on your business idea. Make it short: don't go over one page. In fact, try not to go over half a page. Example: "My business idea is to start an online store which will sell superman merchandise to kids. I wanted to do this since my children love Superman toys and there isn't any store that exclusively sells them online. I can entertain my kids as well as make some profit. I'll use my blog to engage my customers and build a loyal following." Step 2: Business requirementsWhat does your business or blog require to get started? What is the timeframe in which you expect each task to be completed? It's good to make an Excel spreadsheet and paste it into your business plan so you have all the information in the same document. Don't include costs here. When it comes to the timeframes you’ll need to factor in, be realistic. Optimism is good, but your business decisions needs to be based on facts. Example for small blog business: "My online store will be ready in approximately three months' time. I'll also need the help of some web designers and developers to build my online store. Then I need to get a decent hosting for my business website. “I will spend three hours a day on this project, as I have a full-time job as well. For my blog, I'll write the contents. I'll also hire an editor to manage the content of this site (and occasionally contribute to it while I am busy with my main business).”
“So that makes it a total of around three months for the site to go live. I'll also need to put some money aside for this. I think I have it in my savings account. If not, maybe I'll ask my wife really nicely." See how I broke down the requirements into smaller requirements? This makes it easier to adjust your plan if something goes off track. Also, don't try to be formal in the way you phrase things. Your business plan is for your reference, not for someone else. Step 3: Business modelThere are many business models you can choose from. Normally for ecommerce stores, the business model is kind of traditional: you make a product, then customers pay for items they want. But in certain businesses, the model may be different. For your blog, your business model might be selling services, selling other peoples products for commission (affiliate marketing), or something else. Whatever it is, make sure you have a very clear idea about how you are going to make money from your business. This is very important. Example 1: "I'm going to use my online store to sell products. I will get product from <insert your vendor here> for a nice discount if I buy in bulk. Then I will sell it for a slightly higher price. “My payment processor will be Google checkout. I have set to receive weekly payments and they will pay straight to my bank account. I will also sell customized services through my blog." Example 2: "I have a blog on health and wellness where I post articles on health-related issues. So, my main income source would be Google AdSense. Whenever user clicks on an advertisement on my site, I will get paid. The payment threshold is $100 and I will receive checks via mail when I reach that threshold." You need to document this business model very clearly. This will ensure that you do not lose focus on your end goal. Step 4: FinanceIn this section, you need to focus on the start-up costs as well as the running costs of your blog, and your business. Do some research and find out how much it will cost you to keep your online business going. Again, this is very important as it will help you get an overview about business cash flow and profitability. Example: "My online store will require the following to get started.
Total: $3615 Operational costs
This is just a small example. In some cases the finance required might be very small; in some cases it’ll be huge. If you want to factor in your time as well, then you can come up with an hourly rate that reflects your work, and put it in the operational cost section. Also note that the running costs will vary over time. When your blog starts getting popular, you might need to move to better hosting, or you might need to develop more features, which will require a larger investment of money. Step 5: Business goalsIn this section, you need to set business goals. Make sure they are achievable. Relax your goals a bit. It's better to achieve a small goal rather than fail to achieve a big goal. Example 1: "I need to break even in one years' time. In another year, I will expand my collection to include more toys. After three years, I will launch my own brand of toys. My goal for profits is 0% the first year (that is, I’ll break even), another 5% the second year, and increase by 2% in the coming years." Example 2: "Right now I am going to start with just my blog and offer consultation services. Later on I will be adding informational products. So I expect to break even in one year, get a minimum of 1000 subscribers and land two or three consulting gigs. I also want to set a monthly traffic goal of 25,000 site visitors by the end of year one." You need to constantly refer to your business goals so that you do not lose focus. Step 6: Operational modelYou need to figure out how you’re going to run your business. Is it a one-man show? Are you going to hire employees to manage certain tasks? Example: "Here is how I plan to operate my blog and the business associated with it:
Step 7: Marketing strategyHere you will define how you’ll market your business. Don't go into depth while laying out your marketing strategy. Marketing strategies vary greatly over time. In the early 1900's no one would have thought about marketing online. Yet, now online marketing is one of the best ways to get customers for your business. Put in the main points and leave it at that—you can always revise the plans in more detail as you come to put them into practice. This will also help you evaluate how your previous marketing strategy helped you, and how the new one is doing. Example: "I am going to promote my online store in the following ways:
Step 8: Exit strategyThis is something not many entrepreneurs want to think about. An exit strategy is something you use when you want to close your business. People don't want to think about it because it spreads a negative vibe, and you don't want anything negative in your business. However, you certainly need an exit plan. Most entrepreneurs never make an exit strategy the first time, so if their business or blog isn’t as successfully as they’d hoped, they get disheartened and quit. If you have an exit strategy, you can save all the stress and exit gracefully. I have personally started around ten blogs and only few of them were successful. I lost several thousand dollars initially because I did not plan on a proper exit strategy. Example: "In the rare case that my business fails or I decide to quit my business, here is my plan:
A blog business plan in 8 stepsSo there you have it: eight steps and you’re done. Now you have a well thought out, personal business plans for your internet business. I highly recommend that each year you review your business plan and create a new, more specific one for the coming 12 months. The old one should be kept to provide a yardstick against which you can manage your business growth, chart the change in strategies, and so on over time. Have you created a business plan for your blog? Let us know how it’s helped you in the comments. Adarsh Thampy is a blogger, inbound marketing consultant for small business and a SEO guy. He writes about getting more customers for your business over at ConversionChamp.com. You can add conversionchamp to the Google plus circle. Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger     |
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