Is it better to start of with a free host or should I buy a domain?

I just responded to a post in a thread over on Digital Point Forums and thought that I should repeat it here on Bloggerpreneur because it is a question that comes up over and over again.

Is it better to start of with a free host or should I buy a domain?

The question is asked often but the answer is always the same. If you can afford it, register a domain without hesitation.

Let me tell you why.

I should tell you that I have taken a bit of heat over my strong stance on always starting a blog with registered domain because there are many bloggers who do quite well on free host such as Blogspot or Wordpress.com.

I am not saying that you cannot make money on a free host, however, I will say that anyone who tells you that it is just as easy to generate revenue from pro blog on a free host as it is on a blog with registered domain name on a paid host either is lying to you, creating Spam MFA sites, or simply doesn’t know any better because the have never used a registered domain successfully.

There is no debate when it comes to SEO. It will be always be easier to get www.cellphone.com to rank for the keyword cellphone than it would cellphone.Blogspot.com if you use the same SEO tactics. This is such a moot point that we don’t even need to discuss it further.

Besides all the disadvantages with SEO, the fact that you don’t actually own your domain, are at the mercy of the company hosting your domain, are automatically barred from using many services to monetize your blog, and could have trouble selling your blog if you ever decided to do so, my biggest issue with a pro blog being hosted on a free host is the lack of professionalism.

I view a good quality domain name like a video billboard smack dab in the middle of Times Square. A hosted domain name in my eyes is like a cardboard sign stuck to a telephone pole that you may see at a stop light. First impression means a lot and and your domain name is the first thing that a potential customer, partner, or advertiser will notice about how you run shop.

I have been told that not everyone afford pay for hosting fees or even the $8 or $9 that it takes to register a domain name. I understand that this may be the case, but, honestly… it really doesn’t matter. There is a cost to doing business. If I am putting out bids to get working done on my house the contractor that comes by and and writes out his quote on the back of a napkin isn’t going to be seen as professional as the one who writes his quote out on stationary with his company logo.