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I recently purchased a domain and hosting and got a wordpress.org account. I would like to switch or upgrade some of my wordpress.com blogs over to .org - but before I do so, I need to know will it effect my page ranks or positioning in google? For one blog several or the different pages are on page 1 for quite a few different keyword phrases, most in the top 5. I don't want to lose this positioning and need to know if switching to .org or a domain will effect it before I do it.
Thanks!
If you change URLs, you lose your pagerank. I generally recommend buying the domain upgrade and using it here for awhile, then making the switch because you keep the URL the same and keep your status.
Ok, so I think I can deal with losing my pagerank (because I really don't think pagerank is all as important as it's cracked up to be), but will I lose my positioning?
Mostly I'm more concerned about losing positioning! So with that in mind, is wordpress.com as effective in positioning as wordpress.org? Or no, since it is not being hosted by wordpress?
Also, can you elaborate more on using the domain here for a while and then switching? How would I do that? I'm still trying to figure out how to even import my .com accounts to .org ;)
Thanks!
WordPress.com has vastly, VASTLY more drawing power than an independent blog using WP software, because of the global tag pages (this does not apply for Adult blogs).
You can buy the domain name upgrade through WP.com and apply those domain names to your blogs. They start from zero with the domain name (true whether you do it here or elsewhere) but after some months you'll have built up a certain status and pagerank and so on, and then because YOU own the new domain name you can take it with you when you move. That way you don't lose anything.
@msfaith21 - raincoaster is absolutely right. I bought the domain for my primary blog last August. Three weeks ago, after recovering the ground I lost, I moved the blog to my own host.
Here's another thing to keep in mind: after buying a domain you have to wait 60 days to transfer it. I chose to keep my registration with WordPress, but it's something to keep in mind.
I have the same question but kind of different? I am just starting a wordpress blog, and I dont know ANYTHING.. so I guess I am just testing it out. But I would like to customize everything which would mean having a wordpress.org account. Should I get that now and learn how to blog as I go? Or do you think that would be a waste of money?
I don't actually see why, if you're just learning to blog and not interested in commercializing it, you'd get an independent install at all. I recommend WP.com when you're a beginner unless you're going to be selling over the blog, advertising on it, or running all kinds of javascript and such that we can't use here. If you're just going to post text, pix, and some YouTubes, this is easier.
But if you have a particular Domain Name in mind, I'd register it with WP.com now, so that all the pagerank, etc, accrues to that name. No sense forcing yourself to start over from scratch in the future.
I think that depends on how quickly you learn. Even though I bought my domain in August, I started that blog last March. That gave me plenty of time to learn the software. The self-hosted software is similar but different (you would not have a wordpress.org account. You'd have an account with a web host and use free WordPress software for your blog.) and it would have been an awful lot for me to learn all at once while also learning some of the ins and outs of blogging and deciding whether I'd keep it up.
There's a lot of customization you can do with a .com blog with the CSS upgrade, especially if you choose one of the Sandbox themes.
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