free WordPress vs. VistaPrint

  • myshannonagains · Member ·

    I need so much help. I started a blog on here quite awhile ago but became so frustrated that I finally gave up. Because I am ill I can’t work so money is tight this is why I have to enter through the back door with my blogs.

    There are two blogs that I want to focus on; the first is a crafting blog as that is the business that I am trying to build up at home, the second is a support page on fibromyalgia and current events.

    Before I even start on the problems concerning plug-ins, add-ons and going viral I need some advice on how to start.

    I kinda have a website with VistaPrint. What I mean is that my computer broke so it became so outdated that I hid every page but the home page until I am able to purchase a new PC. Anyway with the website there is a blog included. I have posted a couple of times on there however without access to a computer the posts have been infrequent and I don’t have followers yet. I am now borrowing a laptop a few times a week so I’m ready to go. Computer is in the works….. as soon as I get enough money.

    A bit more background: The Vistaprint blog is easy to use but it is very primative and you have no control. I’ve had so many problems with WordPress before but according to everything that I’ve read WordPress is the best site to use.

    Question: After purchasing the computer, a few months from now, I will be paying someone to set up a Premium blog on wordpress for me. So is it better now to start with wordpress and move everything over to the premium site later or should I stick with Vistaprint and move over from there later? Or the third option is just to start over when I do obtain the new .com and premium wordpress blog.

    If someone can give me some insight I would greatly appriciate it.

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • raincoaster · Member ·

    Well, I have no idea what you mean by “a premium site” but I can tell you how to begin.

    Start now and, on the crafting blog purchase a custom domain and mapping. That will give you a whatever.com URL instead of a whatever.wordpress.com URL. You want this because, if you ever want to move the website, it lets you take all the incoming links with you and it preserves your search engine ranking. And it costs only $18 a year. The sooner you do this after starting the site, the better.

    Do not buy any other upgrades. Start a site on Etsy to sell your things and blog about it, linking to each item on Etsy from your blog. Like, write a post about the beautiful whatever you just crafted, put a picture in it, and say “you can buy this over on my Etsy site” and link to that exact thing on Etsy.

    I’ve seen the Vistaprint blogs, and they can’t compare with WP.com. Vistaprint is a good company, but they’re not primarily an internet company. WordPress.com will get you a better reach, better support, and a better looking website.

    And go through http://learn.wordpress.com. Do not look on Google for tips on how to use WordPress: that will get you confused, because it’s full of mostly tips for WordPress.ORG, which is an entirely different version of the software.

  • myshannonagains · Member ·

    Thank you so much for answering my post.
    I forgot about Etsy, I signed up a while ago but never did anything with it. I never thought of dropping my website and just referring to Etsy, I’m considering that, thanks for the idea.
    When signing up for a site on WordPress I was given 3 options: the first was free with the wordpress name in the title, the second, a premium page, was $99 a year, the third for a couple of hundred was called a business site.
    The middle one did have the offer of a domain name, worth $18/yr, included. Eventually I want to get my domain from GoDaddy, hosting from BlueHost and the site from WordPress.org.
    The problem with this is that since my computer died I have to save all I can to get a new one. I’m trying to start on a borrowed laptop, which hopefully I will be able to borrow everyday.
    So basically I’m trying to build a successful blog on little or no money. Do you know if WP.org is expensive per month? Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go all of the way now instead of trying to cheap out and move everything over later.
    Any advice you can give would be really appriciated.

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