When should you use a paid domain name?

1. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   When should you use a paid domain name?
   
   Is it better to start with a paid domain name, or simply set your site/blog for free, and then switch to a paid domain name, etc later on.  If Google has you ranked decently with Free site, do you lose rankings if you switch over to a paid domain later on.

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2. 60

   Arun Pal Singhposted 9 years ago

   It depends if you are serious and realize the process of establishing the web site or you want to test the waters, gain confidence and then move to investment part.
   
   For all practical purposes and based on my experience, going for a paid domain name saves the hassles of doing everything again.
   
   Suppose you build a blog on free site like Wordpress or Blogspot, you still need to work for writing and publishing, and promoting your blog.
   
   And all the gain, through your blog is actually of he service provider. You do not anything there.
   
   Why not put all that passion and hard work to create a property of your own.
   
   All the best.

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3. 60

   The Examiner-1posted 9 years ago

   Linda,
   I posted my blog address on a forum by Kathleen Odenthal asking about blog sites mentioning that I never received comments. Marisa looked at it and besides a few other things, she said that I should change to a domain name (under $10) from the blogger name. Blogger is free.

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   1. 60

      LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The Examiner: I wanted more then blogger offers such as drop down menu.  I went ahead and purchased my domain name from Namecheap. Using Weebly.  Concern was loss of rankings if I change to pd domain later on.  Apparently I would, starting with paid.

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4. 59

   Theindustryposted 9 years ago

   Well I noticed your pushing a 3 right now in PR. This is a delicate situation as your answer is yes and no. SEO is all theory. My best advice to you is to start a domain with a different name but same niche. You can use your free blog to leverage your website's traffic.
   
   E-mail me if you have any questions. Sethmramriez@live.com
   
   I'll be glad to help you in better detail.

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   1. 60

      LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I sent email through HP.  Your address that you provided gets a mail delivery failure message.

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5. 87

   neosurkposted 9 years ago

   Use custom redirects to redirect your posts to the same post in your new Weebly site. That way, you can preserve the rankings and traffic your old blog is already getting.
   
   http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2479 … r-blogspot

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   1. 60

      LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      The site I just started is brand new.  I have a couple of blogs but haven't decided what I a going to do with them.

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   2. 87

      neosurkposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Oh. Then, yeah - I do want to get started with a top level domain. And to specifically answer your question, your traffic and rankings won't be affected if you use 301 redirects.

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6. 83

   Venkatachari Mposted 9 years ago

   I don't think so. Your traffic may get confused for some days. But when they come to know of your new domain, they will definitely follow you if your content is of good quality and interesting. That's what I think. I also started with a free blog on finance and economics content and then shifted to my paid domain mvchari.in. But my viwership is same as in free domain, even though it is only 10 views per day. I mean to say traffic has not affected by switching to the paid domain.

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7. 60

   Iris Draakposted 9 years ago

   Linda, the answer depends on what your objectives are.  I hate to answer a question with a question but I'm going to anyway because the answers to these follow up questions will help me speak directly to your question.  SEO is a secondary concern. 
   Starting out the right way with your objectives in mind is the first concern.  With that in mind, what are your objectives (goals)?

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