12 Advantages of a self-hosted WordPress blog/website

I am often asked “Why do I need a blog?” WordPress is fast becoming the most popular blogging platform. I have listed some of the advantages of building a dynamic website using self-hosted WordPress and incorporating a blog.

#1 – Fresh content

Fresh content is always more interesting, and search engines like it. The more indexable content you have, the more chances you have to come up in a search. Providing good advice and information shows you care about your customers and reflects well on your company.

#2 – Two-way communication

Open a two-way dialog with your customers/potential customers. The ability to communicate with your site visitors and respond to comments builds a sense of community, loyalty, and trust. A static website is one-way only.

Humanize your business through your blog posts. Example blogging topics include:

• Announce company news. Are you now servicing a new city? Your existing customers can help spread the news.
• Promote new products/services
• Provide helpful industry tips
• Introduce your staff and highlight their talents. Who are the people behind the product/service?
• Why do you offer the products/services you do? Is there a story behind your product?
• Show your appreciation for your customers by featuring them along with a testimonial. Do they have a new way to use your product that could help sales?
• Announce events such as Customer Appreciation Day or trade shows you are attending.
  You may find you have more to write about than you thought you did.

#3 – RSS feed

Take advantage of the built-in RSS feed. Set up a feedburner account (free), and offer your visitors the option for both RSS reader or email subscriptions to your blog. RSS feeds can be pulled into your social sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook automatically, simplifying the task of updating them.

#4 – Total control

Your domain, your control. If you are serious about building a business site, use a self-hosted blogging platform using your domain name, not the free blogging sites. You want both the control and flexibility that come with the self-hosted option.

#5 – Easy to use

Ease of adding new content to your site. Simply write a new post and publish. Your new content is pinged out to the world and your subscribers are notified via RSS automatically. Once your site is set-up, maintaining it is easy, and coding experience is not necessary.

Adding static pages such as an “About Us” page to your site is simple. You can build an entire website on the WordPress platform.

#6 – Listings

The ability to list your blog on numerous sites that are specifically for blogs. This is more free exposure for your site, so take advantage of having a blog to list.

#7 – Valid code

WordPress produces clean valid code. This is an advantage over many cheap DIY software programs which output a significant amount of garbage code as well as invalid code. Not only does bad code cause your website to load slower (Google is now taking load speed into account), but it also can cause numerous errors when attempting to validate the site for w3′s current guidelines.

What does this mean in non-technical terms? Without valid code, your website may not perform well in certain browsers. This will be an increasing important issue as browsers begin to require stricter coding practices. WordPress outputs valid compliant code which is a tremendous advantage. The software is constantly improved and upgrades are offered several times per year.

#8 – Promotion

The ability to add “Share This” capability to your content. Make it easy for your readers to spread the word about your company through sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Twitter, and Facebook.

#9 – User-friendly site

User-friendly navigation allows visitors to find the information they are looking for thanks to a dynamic site built using the CMS (Content Management System). Assigning categories and tags to your posts will improve a visitor’s experience on your site as well as your SEO.

#10 – Plug-ins

Endless choice of plug-ins which allow your site to be whatever you want it to be.
A few examples include:


• “Related Posts Plug-in” recommends other articles to your reader.
• “CommentLuv” encourages comments and discussions.
• Social media “share” plug-ins allow your readers to share content with friends in one click.

With 100s of plug-ins available, the creativity and flexibility of what you can do on your website is endless.

#11 – Endless choice of themes

There is an every-growing choice of themes available that give you a great start on building a nice-looking, user-friendly website. The ability to use a theme that has additional SEO features can improve your chances of being found in a search. The better themes allow you to define the meta tags for each post and page on your site which is a tremendous advantage.

#12 – Affordable

It is an affordable option for small businesses. WordPress is open-source software, so it is free. A good SEO optimized premium theme can run about $50 on average. Spend a few hundred dollars for installation and customization of your site by an independent website consultant, and you will end up with a professional site that fits your budget and an invaluable marketing tool.