Top 6 Benefits Of Having A Custom Domain Name For Your Blog
What Is The Benefit Of Purchasing A Domain Name: One of the major confusions that many budding bloggers have is whether or not they need a custom domain for their blog. I was confused about it too.
Of course, I found other websites recommending custom domains but I was cynical about it. I thought maybe they are getting commission to write what they are writing.
Anyway, there is no denying the fact that if you are serious about blogging, you should have a custom domain for your blog. So, what is the benefit of purchasing a domain name? This article is about the advantages of a having custom domain for a blog.
What Is Custom Domain? What Is The Benefit Of Purchasing A Domain Name?
When you create a free blog on WordPress.com, Blogger or any other platform, you basically get a subdomain of that platform.
This means, your domain looks like mysite.wordpress.com.
Custom Domains, on the other hand, are paid for and they look like mysite.com. That is, you get to customize your domain. It is a unique address that belongs just to you. Having a custom domain for your blog is a must if you are planning to become a professional blogger.
Why? What is the benefit of purchasing a domain name?
Let us look at the benefits of having a custom domain for your blog:
1. It Looks Professional
If you are planning to build your career as a blogger, you need to have a blog that looks professional. Otherwise, no one will take it seriously. A blog which is a subdomain of some other platform does not look professional. It seems amateurish even if the content is of the best quality.
2. It Is Easier To Remember
Of course, if there is no ‘dot wordpress dot com’ or ‘dot blogspot dot com’ at the end of the domain, it becomes shorter and hence, is easier to remember.
3. It Gets Better Exposure In Search Engines
How many dot wordpress dot com or dot blogspot dot com sites do you see in the Search Engine Result Page (SERP)? Not many, right?
That’s because search engines prefer root level domains. Also, because it looks more trustworthy and professional, people are likely to link to a site with a custom domain name. And we all know how having backlinks contribute towards rank improvement.
4. It Gets Google AdSense Approval
The first thing that bloggers want, in terms of monetizing their blog, is getting the approval of Google AdSense. There are other advertisement programs than AdSense. As it is it is very difficult to get approval from Google AdSense. Having a free domain can make it more difficult as most of these programs prefer custom domains. Of course, having a custom domain doesn’t guarantee the approval. It just increases the chances because it looks more trust-worthy.
5. You Can Get Professional Email ID
With custom domain blogs, you can get an email ID of your own that looks like myname@mysite.com, where mysite.com is the custom domain of your blog. This looks way more professional than a Gmail ID.
6. You Can Create Subdomains
Since mysite.wordpress.com is a subdomain of wordpress.com, you cannot have any subdomain for your free site. But when you have a custom domain, like mysite.com, you can create subdomains for your site, like subdomain.mysite.com.
Find Out The Differences Between Free WordPress.com And Self-Hosted WordPress.org Here
What Happens If You Don’t Have A Custom Domain Right From The Beginning?
Because of the above-mentioned reasons, eventually, you will go for a custom domain. But whatever domain authority you have built up in all these days will be lost the moment you get a custom domain for your free blog.
Basically, all these days of hard work will go in vain as you will have to start from the beginning. That’s from the technical point of view. It will take some time and effort to regain the brand identity that you have built up with your free blog as well as your authority in the particular niche.
Not only that, you will have to update the new address everywhere, from Google Search Console and Google Analytics to Social Media profiles. All these hassles can be avoided if you get your custom domain right at the beginning of your blogging journey.
How To Choose A Custom Domain For Your Blog?
Changing your domain name later is not at all recommended as you will lose everything that you built up. For this reason, you must think carefully before choosing a custom domain for your blog. Here are a few tips:
- Keep it short and simple that can be spelt easily.
- Choose a name that is catchy and memorable.
- Go for a dot com domain.
Domain names are not that expensive unless it is a premium domain. Also, at Namecheap, you can get custom domain at unbelievably low prices.
I hope I have been able to explain what is the benefit of purchasing a domain name. If you have any query regarding Custom Domain Names, you can ask in the comment section below and I will answer.