It's my understanding that it takes a while for a blog to start making money. I think part of that time will probably be taken up with my becoming a better, more experienced blogger. I'd rather not be putting out money during this time. So here's what I was thinking and I wonder if it will work or am I just being cheap (very possible ) I thought I would buy my domain name, start my blog using free Wordpress with that name, spend some time develop my blog, and then when I've built up some traffic, move it to a new host. Will this work? Does it make sense? Is it difficult to move a blog from Wordpress to a new host? thanks, kc
Not a bad idea. It's good that you will at least buy a domain name. I've only ever used self hosted blogs but I suspect it shouldn't be too bad to switchover. If you are able to export the DB from wordpress.com then it's no problem to import to a self hosted blog later. Also..make sure you keep the permalinks the same after the move. I think those settings should carryover with the DB but I'm not 100% sure.
Having your own domain and website is a must. But what do you mean by moving to a new host? Why do you want to do that?
I wanted to start off with Wordpress (free) and then after I'm getting more traffic move to someplace like godaddy for hosting so I can monetize my blog. I'd rather not start paying for a host until I've developed my blog a bit and built up some traffic. As long as it's not a big hassle to move my blog from Wordpress to a new host I thought this would be a good idea since I thought you couldn't monetize a Wordpress blog.
You'd better get started with your own host,hosts like http://www.asmallorange.com/ are pretty cheap.
It's best to get a domain and a host, as then you have the freedom to show your own ads etc, and it looks a lot more professional
I don't think you should do the free hosting from Wordpress. If you are buying a domain, why not pay for hosting? You will be free to do a lot more things with your own hosting. Why not get all that out of the way now, and then just worry about building traffic?
Hosting isn't needed. A domain is a must yeah but hosting isn't. It's fine to switch over to paid hosting later...no harm at all...but without a domain it's like starting over.
I'm not sure whether you can get access to database with wordpress...first check that. Understand your concern, but it is better to be with one host ....because by the time you wanted to move blog your databse will be quite big.... another alternative is go with blogger.com and get domain name through them ...it will cost with around $10 or so....but you will miss look and feel of wordpress blog.
I had a blog hosted on Wordpress.com and later moved the blog to my own host. Wordpress has a feature that lets you export the database to move all blog content over, and it also lets you redirect from your wordpress.com blog to your hosted blog for $10 per year. Which means that when people search for your blog and click on your posts within wordpress.com, it will automatically redirect to your domain name instead of yourblog.wordpress.com. It is actually all quite straightforward, and I don't think it will make too much difference if you do it that way as the change is easy and you can do it as soon as you are ready. There is plenty of advice online about doing this - the most important thing, as another user has mentioned, is to make sure the permalinks are in the same format on the wordpress and hosted blogs. You can see the format and change it in the wordpress settings quite easily and instantly.
if you want to do it cheap, use these guys. www.blogallo.com I use them. free domain name, free hosting... no real limit on traffic. usual stuff though. no porn, no warez, no mp3's wordpress only.
Just start the darn thing, either way. It does take time to build traffic, and to build content on your blog.
Do NOT register a domain name with the mob you host with. If you register your domain with GoDaddy, host with another company. Disregard the so-called free domain with hosting account. Think about it, if you have problems with your host in 1, 2 or 3 years time they will hold you to ransom. As someone else has mentioned, just start it and also I believe there is an export function from wordpress.com to your own hosted wordpress site.