“Come here, little fly,” said the spider. “Doesn’t this look like a convenient place to land?” Many a fly has not lived to regret the decision to accept the crafty invitation.
Writers face a similar choice when making their first website. They search the internet for recommendations, and most advisors say, “WordPress is the way to go.” I faced this choice a year ago. A web design software I used and loved will not be supported after this year, primarily because WordPress software is free. A tantalizing prospect, isn’t it? Free…
I’ve spoken with dozens of writers who followed me right into the WordPress spider web—the WordPress.com web, that is. I did not understand it is possible to install and use free WordPress software on almost any web host platform. I did what any reasonable person would do—I went to WordPress.com, signed up, and started building my website. I didn’t even know I’d been caught in a trap.
WordPress.com (dot com) is a for-profit business. Their goal is to earn money, and they offer web hosting in competition with many other web hosting companies (Bluehost, Hostgator, etc.) When I enrolled, I ponied up money for hosting at a higher rate than other reliable providers. I also paid to register a domain, which many other hosting companies offer free with their basic packages.
WordPress.org (dot org) is a non-profit organization, which promotes their free software and offers tips and suggestions for good design. They even have a page recommending reliable host companies, and explaining to poor, ignorant flies like me the difference between free WordPress software and WordPress.com offerings. Funny… WordPress.com is NOT one of their recommended host companies. Click here to see: https://wordpress.org/hosting/.
When I called to yowl about getting trapped in their web, WordPress.com did let me out of the web hosting package I bought. But they would not refund or release the domains I registered, and I paid an exorbitant price to keep them until I could successfully transfer them to my new host. Altogether, I flushed $100. I calmly told them they had offended the wrong person, and that I would tell everyone I know about their tricky web. This blog is the fulfillment of that promise.
Disclaimer: this happened to me almost a year ago, and a recent visit to their site shows they have reduced their hosting prices, likely in order to be more competitive as people have caught on to their tactics. They also offer free domains with their hosting packages. If you want to sign up with WordPress.com, be my guest. Just fly into their web with the knowledge you need not to get trapped into spending more money than required.
And know this: their “free” website option mandates a domain with “wordpress.com” in the URL, and they are free to place ads on your site which you cannot control. Before I switched Writers LifeHacks to a new host, my “free” site on WordPress.com had ads for an internet dating company! I won’t even mention even more offensive ads that appeared. I was mortified, and I could not remove them.
My best advice? Research web host companies before you enter a contract. Read not only the marketing on their website, but compare reviews from a neutral source. Here’s a link to help with your research: https://www.cnet.com/web-hosting/. I’ve learned to trust CNET reviews and recommendations, and two hosting companies I use are on their list. By the way—snark, snark—WordPress.com didn’t make their list. Read the CNET article all the way to the bottom, because there is excellent advice and information about website building after their top ten list.
If you appreciate this post, please forward the link to all of your friends, and leave a comment below. I’ll giggle while you do.
Flies of the world—unite!
HA! I hear this all the time. Thank you for telling others!
I love Blogger. It’s actually a blog not website, but for years I just had one blog post and it worked as my home page. Now I use it as a blog. I do have to pay about $10/year to take “blogspot” out of the URL, but it’s worth it to me. It’s really user friendly, too.
I used Blogger at the mission where I worked. I liked it, too. The only problem was the super long URL, and I was too cheap to pay the $10. I’ve integrated my blogs into my websites, and that’s working for me. I also have a little more freedom as a designer. Thanks for your comment!