Why Doesn’t My Free Website Get Found or Do What I Want?
Free websites and blogs that use platforms like WordPress and Blogger have gained a lot of popularity. Setting up such a website is simple and there are no expenses connected to its functioning. It may sound like an opportunity that is too good to be true and it actually is.
Free websites and blogs come with numerous limitations. Owning your own website will give you the freedom to have all kinds of content, to earn income in any manner you deem appropriate and to work on better search engine optimization. Here are a few considerations to keep in mind, when thinking about launching a free website for your business.
Confusing and Less Professional in Appearance
A website can be built on the WordPress platform and hosted elsewhere. This is often called a ‘self hosted website’. WordPress has become the perfect platform option because it’s easy to use and gives the website owner complete control over changes.
Additionally, hosting your website on a popular platform will make the domain name (or website address) longer because the words ‘blogger’ or ‘wordpress’ automatically appear in the domain name, thus making it much more confusing.
For example, my website domain is www.simple2web.com. If I went with a free website instead of paying for my own web hosting, the website domain would look like this: www.simple2web.wordpress.com or www.simple2web.blogger.com. See how clumsy this second example is? Which one is easier to remember?
Having a short, descriptive and straight to the point domain name will make it easier for people to remember your website, thus increasing brand awareness and direct traffic.
Additionally, having the Blogger or WordPress extension appearing in the domain will decrease the professionalism of the project. Hosting your own website contributes to your business image and corporate identity. A corporate website that is hosted on a free platform will usually decrease credibility.
Design Limitations
Your free website could fail performing in the expected way because of the design limitations. WordPress websites can have an excellent appearance but you will still have a limited number of templates to choose among.
Paying for professional design will result in a personalized appearance that is just right for your niche and for the specific audience that you are interested in attracting. Additionally, your website will be unique rather than resembling dozens of other online projects out there.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Considerations
Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the heart and soul of successful website creation. SEO is a strategy of techniques that improve the positioning of a website among search engine results for a particular keyword of interest.
It may be difficult for a free website to achieve good search engine positioning. If you search for it through a popular search engine like Google, you may be disappointed to find out that it failed appearing among the top results.
The domain name is an important search engine optimization element. The same applies to the design and the manner in which the content is structured. Free designs could be highly limiting in terms of good SEO.
Free websites are a great start for small, hobby-type projects. But if you are a small business owner looking to create an online image, it is important to understand that this option comes with some shortcomings.
The free website will look professional but it will lack originality. There will be limitations in terms of doing SEO. Finally, a free website that is hosted on a major blogging platform will be more difficult to remember by visitors. The short and original domain name is one of the most important elements of online brand establishment.
Simple2Web builds their sites with SEO on every page using multiple SEO strategies to help your site get found! Call 715-456-3976 today to discuss how to improve your search engine rankings!
Tim Tewalt helps small business, events and non-profits get on the web.
His customers love how he listens to their needs and finds solutions that fit.
