Bloggers: Do you really need your own domain name and separate hosting/

One thing that I've noticed in the years of having blogs is that I was always keen to get my own domain name (which also means hosting as well). This was borne out of a slightly macho element to my persona 'yeah I'm gonna create a worldwide brand'!

Times have changed now, and the world has moved on. There are literally TONS of free blogging software options out there. I'm gonna list the advantages and disadvantages of having your own hosting.

Advantages of own domain name/hosting:

You get to control your own branding. You could create a domain name of your choice. If you are taking up the option of a free blog, it's likely that your domain name would be gone.

Better customisability. The range of plugins on a full Wordpress account totally blows the free options out of the water. Whole websites are now created on Wordpress.

More professional look. It's beyond doubt that a self-hosted blog with properly designed plugins will look more professional than a standard Blogspot account - which will always have a 'blog' feel to it, thanks to the lack of skins that are easy to implement. However, the official Google blog looks quite nice.

Better search engine prospects. Arguably, Google knows what a blog is and the SEO options for standalone blogs carry more juice. The flipside of this is that if you are blogging great content, the search engines will pick you up irrespective of platform.

Disadvantages of own domain name/hosting

The cost. You have recurring fees every single year - one for the domain, and one for the hosting. Good hosting packages vary tremendously. There are packages that start real low but then get expensive after the initial period is up. There are then packages that are cheap full stop - but these use shared hosting which can inadvertently get your sites SEO penalties. A real minefield.

There is also the problem of domain name squatting - especially if your site gets big.

In the past, a good domain is everything, but today there are plenty of other free ways to build your presence which are free - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to name a few.

That's all I can think of out of the top of my head.

Difficulty: 2/10. This depends on the stage of the website you are at. If you're a blogger like me, and your site is not monetising traffic, it doesn't matter too much.

Savings per week: £2.50
Savings per year: £120 - this is assuming you have a domain name purchased and are on a good, non-offer web hosting package.