No matter what type of online business you want to create, having your own website is a must – preferably one that you have total control over.
Why? So that you have freedom to express yourself and attract like-minded people. It’s the central hub for all your other activities in creating your successful online business.
It is rare that a visitor to your site will become your customer the first time they visit. People ultimately like to do business with people they feel they can trust and offer them solutions they’re searching for. Your website is the gateway for building that trust!
Replicated official website, does that work?
Running an online business where they provide you with a replicated official website has its limitations as you can’t put your own stamp on it. You can’t make any changes to it. Whilst they may be good websites many owners of these replicated sites in time find that just promoting that website does not give them the conversions to grow their business. Also the likelihood that this site will rank highly on search engines is very unlikely.
Why? Because the personal touch which creates rapport is not there. There’s no way of inviting your visitors to follow you & be kept up to date with the latest news. So the solution for this type of business is to have your own website and through posts or promotions direct your visitors to your official replicated website as the next step.
What about Splash pages?
The same goes with these businesses that rely on sending visitors straight to a splash page. A splash page is a one to three page website that either gives you a long sell on a product or asks you for your email address in order to see more. Personally I have come to detest these marketing tactics, unless they have come from someone I have been following and like.
Creating your own Website…
You could create your own free website using the likes of for example Weebly or Wix, which give you drag & drop features. However if you’re serious about building a long term online business you’ll find you don’t have total freedom with plugins, etc… even if you upgrade to the paid service.
You could hire a web developer to create your website if you can afford to, it could cost hundreds of dollars. Again there most probably will be limitations as to what you can do once it has been created so you may be relying on the web developer for making changes, etc… which comes with costs. Should you go down that route I’d recommend they create it in such a way that you can easily update & maintain it.
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org?
WordPress is the most popular website platform today for the everyday person, as it doesn’t require coding knowledge and has an almost WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) feel to it. It’s not just a blog…, it doesn’t even have to be a blog, it can be customised to whatever online presence you want.
- WordPress.com is the fully hosted version with restrictions, whilst
- WordPress.org is the self-hosted version with total freedom to make it look and feel how you want it!
Let’s compare:
WordPress.com vs WordPress.org?
WordPress.com price plans per website:
WordPress.com price plans per website
Where to host a WordPress.org website?
There are many general hosting service providers (such as GoDaddy, NameCheap, …) , which are not specific to wordpress and there are hosting providers that specialise in wordpress hosting (such as WA, WPengine, …).
Not all hosting service providers are equal, many times it can be comparing oranges with apples. With the cheaper options from general hosting service providers your website will share servers with 1000’s of different types of websites. Having this myriad of websites can slow down your websites performance because they are not monitored & as visitors are generally not too patient they may not hang around. This also puts your websites security at risk from hacks, attacks and data integrity issues.
So the solution is to go with a wordpress hosting specialist such as Wealthy Affiliates premium package & let them take care of all that techie stuff. Not only that you get everything in the WordPress.com vs WordPress.org comparison table above but it also includes:
- A highly optimized and simplified hosting platform
- Speed – fast website loading for your visitors
- The ability to MOVE websites from one domain to another
- The Ability to fire up Websites on demand
- Host up to 10 of your own domain Websites
- SSL for all your Websites
- 500k website visitors per month
- 30GB Website Space
- Create & manage unlimited website email addresses
- Full Redundancy (100% backed-up to the minute)
- The latest hosting technology (your websites are always hosted on the highest powered servers available)
- Automated recovery processes
- Personal website monitoring and maintenance
- Comment spam management and behavioural assessment (so you don’t even get the spam in the first place)
- Website integrity updates to continually improve how your WordPress sites function, based on the latest version of WP
- 24/7 Support
One of the benefits of being able to host so many websites even if you don’t plan in creating that many is being able to set up a test site. With a test site you can install, uninstall the various themes & plugins. See how they work & look. Try out the different ideas you’ll have, find what you prefer. All this without negatively affecting your live site & only make the changes you want to the live site when you are happy & ready.
So all in all with WA you have room to grow without the worry of additional costs. The monthly premium membership is $49 per month or you can take out the yearly membership of just $495 which works out to only $41.25 per month. Yearly Premium Membership also come with a Free .com Domain ($14 value). Incredible value when compared with wordpress.com above and WPengine below.
WPengine price plan
But of course WA is not just about hosting, it is so so much more…
I stumbled upon them as I was looking for a reliable in depth training camp for creating an online business of my choice regardless of prior experience or techie knowledge. Some of the huge added bonuses of joining them is the hosting and big interactive helpful community.
I originally signed up with them as a free member to check them out and see if they were all they claimed to be. I took advantage of all they had to offer free members and found so much valuable training and resources for newbies to establish an online business. I highly recommend WA as the starting point for anyone wanting to create their Laptop Lifestyle. Read more as to what Wealthy Affiliate (WA) can help you with here.
Have any questions? Feel free to ask them below and chime in any discussion.
Hi Brigitte. I did not have any clue what the expenses of WordPress really were. I happened to be lucky enough to make wealthy affiliate my only place to use for affiliate marketing tools, and probably the only place to be honest.
Would you ever invest in WordPress outside of how wealthy affiliate offers hosting through WordPress, or do you think that WA gives you everything you need? I cannot find a reason to spend $99/month on WordPress products myself.
Hi Jacob
So far Wealthy Affiliate has given me everything I need & so much more. Not just with the hosting. They don’t stand still, their platforms are continually evolving that we as members benefit from at no extra cost. Such great value for what I like to call ‘a treasure trove of practicality for anyone wanting to build their online business’. I haven’t yet come across another platform that beats what we get here.
Best wishes for your endeavours 🙂
Building a website isn’t hard if you know what to do and how to do it.
Wealthy Affiliate not only teaches you how to build a website based on your passion, it trains you how to get traffic and make money too.
You can join for free to get started. Ask the over 1,000,000 members for help when you need it.
They provide you with every toll you need to be successful.
Hi Rob,
Thanks for chiming in. I take it you’re also a fan of Wealthy Affiliate from your comment.
Yep, it’s not just about having your wordpress website hosted at Wealthy Affiliate. As you say there’s so so much more. I like to call it a treasure trove of practicality for anyone wanting to build their online business and to top it all such great value!
Best wishes 🙂
I was recently slightly enticed by a offer that provided a replicated official website and I’m sort of glad I stayed away from it now – I see what you mean about having your own personal touch on things.
Also, I was worried about the setup of content – if these sort of sites use the same content won’t they rank at all will they? Am I right in saying this?
Hi Chris
An official replicated website usually comes when you sign up to become a distributor for that company. Because there are a whole lot of rules & regulations that a distributor has to adhere to in promoting that company & their wares, it is easiest for the company to control that through their replicated websites.
I haven’t noticed any of these official replicated websites come up in the first few pages when searching for something. Duplicate content is a no no for search engine optimisation. So Yes I would say you’re right in saying that they don’t rank well. Owners of these sites have to use other ways to get people to visit their site.
Hope that helps & thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Best wishes 🙂
Creating your own website is definitely the way forward, and WordPress is definitely the best way to do that. It originally started out just as a simple blogging platform but is now used for professional websites by many people and business. I know some web designers that exclusively build WordPress websites. It’s clear to see why because they are so easy to use and customise. Long gone are the dark days of having to either code in HTML or use DreamWeaver to make a website.
How long have you been using WordPress?
Hi Marcus
I have another wordpress website that’s about 2 years old, but was put together for me by a web developer. I had absolutely no understanding of it all, only just about figured out how to insert my content. Coming across WA about 7 months ago & delving into their simple to understand training & resources has really opened my eyes. This site although still work in progress is a result of the training I did at the beginning.
I couldn’t agree more, everything you said about wordpress is confirmation of my research. So how long have you been using WordPress? I take it you’re a fan of it?
Best wishes 🙂
Hi Brigitte!
I just had to comment that everything you say about the hosting at Wealthy Affiliate is so true. I’ve been hosting my sites there for several years now and I love it. First of all the price is amazing compared to other places, but like you mentioned there are lots of other perks.
~Wendy
Hi Wendy,
Yes I agree, WA with all it’s perks is what makes it so beneficial to our online endeavours in so many ways. Many thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts with us.
Best wishes 🙂
You nailed it with this article, with Wealthy Affiliate, not only do you get the amazing hosting. But you also get to learn how to use it and make it profitable.
When I joined 6 months ago, I didn’t have a clue how to run a site or use WordPress, now I have two. It’s a no brainer.
On top of that you get to make a lot of friends in the community.
Jay
Hi Jay that’s fabulous!
Great achievement, 2 sites now with no clue when you started. Sounds like you’re enjoying your online business and learning how to develop it with WA & the community.
Many thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Best wishes 🙂
Hi Brigitte,
Great info on the differences WordPress .com and the .org. Wpengine is good but WA offer better deals as compare between the two. What makes WA great is the great support you get from the community which any problems you able to answers almost instantly. Glad you like WA too and wish you success!
Hi Jimmy.
Thank you. Always nice to hear what others think and experience so many thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Glad to see you’re also experiencing great value from being a WA member.
Best wishes 🙂
Great article Brigitte! As I can see you’ve done an extensive research on both companies and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. I think the price is a bit expensive taking into account the limitations the have. I agree that Wealthy Affiliate is a much better alternative because there are no any limitations, plus you get access to an excellent training, live chat and support, all in one place. I have two questions: Is WA training easy to follow and grasp? and is there any tutorials inside Wealthy Affiliate on how to set up a wordpress website?
Hi Rufat,
Great questions – In answer to your questions:
1. Yes for most newbies the training is easy to follow and grasp, however should at any time you feel stuck on something you’re encouraged to reach out to the community who are very helpful & you can do this right there in the module.
2. Yes that is covered in the starter course within the free membership level.
Have a look at my review here where I go more in depth on everything WA has to offer.
Thanks for your questions & feedback.
Best wishes 🙂
Many thanks for posting this text. I never realized the differences between the two WPs, namely com and org. You made it very clear. Equally important, you pointed out differences between them and Wealthy Affiliate.
As I understand, roughly WPenguine Business is equivalent to Wealthy Affiliate by most of what they offer, but indeed the advantage is far on the side of WA with respect to the price, in particular if one go to yearly scheme with WA. Very good analysis indeed. Jovo
Hi Jovo thanks for your thoughts and pleased you gained some value from the post.
Yes, I believe WA is far more valuable especially for the solopreneur. Where WPEngine is purely hosting, WA has so much more – such as the training, community and support to develop and run an online business.
Best wishes 🙂
Very good article and informative for everyone. You are right Wealthy Affiliate is not just hosting and it is much more than that. It is for everyone who want to create online homemade business.
Hosting is just an additional benefit to its member. Wealthy Affiliate is a whole package for everyone. I am also a member and enjoying every moment of it.
Hi Khan, wonderful you’re enjoying all the benefits of being a WA member.
Wishing you great success! 🙂