Advice Please: Should I pay for my WordPress Blog?

Recently, I have been pondering about whether or not I should pay for my WordPress blog site. As an avid blogger with a growing following, I have started to wonder if knowing more about my audience would be beneficial to my site. There has also been instances when the ability to post a video or monetize my blog has crossed my mind.

I consider all this with hesitation, however. Up until this month, I have paid for a Weebly website for my handcrafted jewelry and I also pay to have my jewelry listed on Etsy.  The Etsy site has been up and running since 2009 and I do have sales from that site. Although, for the past four years, most of my jewelry sales have been from being a featured artist in a retail art gallery in Iowa.  The Etsy site is pay per piece listed and for transaction fees, so there is no monthly fee.  The Weebly website for the jewelry, which I am letting lapse, ran between $72.00 and $96.00 per year. I really did not use the Weebly website at all, even though I had great intentions to do so. My intentions ran highest at this time of year when I had to renew and pay my bill. Then, the rapidly decreased, until I barely thought of it at all during the rest of the year.

So, I am wondering how many fellow bloggers on WordPress pay for their blog pages. What benefits do you see? What features do you use? I am on the fence about making the jump from paying for a “free” WordPress blog to a paid site. Will it take the fun out of it? Will I be able to see any added benefits? Will I have an increased readership?

This potential decision comes at a time when I am approaching a year of blogging, and posting almost daily on various topics. I ask that you share your experiences with me about whether or not to “upgrade” my WordPress Blog site. Thanks, in advance!

10 thoughts

    1. Thanks. Not really what I am after right now….in grad school for a 2nd Master’s, run my jewelry business, speak at conferences…..a lot on my plate. I appreciate your perspective, however. Thanks for your response!

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  2. I think that if you were going to include items for purchase, it might be beneficial to pay for the site. I could see you providing resources that you’ve developed (e.g., lesson plans, materials) for folks to purchase. However, if you want to continue to maintain this site as a place to share information and your perspective, then I think that you could hold off on making that financial leap. I would consider jotting down a list of your goals for your site and how the paid site vs. the unpaid site could support those goals. I would also investigate if the paid version of the site would promote / share your site with the different search engines, which could increase the number of readers.

    If you’re looking to reach more readers, promoting your posts via Twitter or even something like LinkedIn or Facebook might be an option. I know that I often see a blog link on Twitter and follow that source and I’ve often discovered blogs that I didn’t realize existed.

    I’m glad that you’re committed to continuing your blog! I always look forward to reading it!

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    1. Great advice and answer to my question. I really appreciate your response. I was kind of bummed that by the end of yesterday, I had some likes but no comments on the blog post for SOL#18, especially since I made an effort to keep it short. I am very careful to make my 3 (usually more) comments on other blogs. But, YOU made up for the absence of others! Thanks so much for your thoughtful responses! It is appreciated more than you know!

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  4. Increased readers? Maybe. Added benefits? Sure. Why do it? To call it your own. You can have your own domain like applesinorchard.com or appleorchard.me. Either way, it’s now yours and you can attach all kinds of things to it. At the very least, your very own email. Sure, there are other benefits, that come with having your own domain, but really it’s about ownership and branding it as your own.

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