One of the first decisions you’ll need to make when you become a blogger is the choice between paid hosting and free blogging. Each side has pluses and minuses which you’ll want to consider carefully because it can have lasting ramifications on how much money you earn and the control you have over your blog.

Make a clear-cut decision about your blog. You need to clarify exactly why you are blogging before you decide on a service. If you just want to get journal entries out there and share them with family and friends then go with a free hosting service like Blogger. If you get the advice of professional business bloggers they will probably advise you to buy a domain name so it becomes part of your brand. A domain name gives you a lot of different options about your web space. You can use different themes that you wouldn’t be able to find on free services and you’ll even be able to install plugins.

Read the fine print. The advantage to a free blogging site is that it’s free. The restrictions might not be worth the price. The subdomain name belongs to the company and you have to follow all of their rules. The company can block your site if it gets marked as spam.

Reevaluate your budget. Money is probably the only thing holding you back from getting your own web host. You might be able to make more money with a hosted blog, more than enough to cover your costs. It may be helpful to break the money down into a month by month basis so you get a clearer idea of what it will really cost you.

Consider where you are headed. You might start off with an online journal that catches you by surprise. Your personal thoughts can be turned into big business. You’ll be limited in how you make money with your blog on a free site. If you even think that down the road you’ll want to add monetization aspects it’s better to just start off with your own domain name.

Evaluate how computer savvy you are. Lots of web blogging hosts have simple software that you can use with a little education. You may find that free blogging sites really cater to the beginners; you might not even need to learn code. You might find the design templates offered to be static and your blog won’t have all the functionality you want. Millions of other people may use your template so your blog may just look like everyone else’s.