domain mapping versus self-hosting

  • realtyevolved · Member ·

    I’ve been on the wordpress.com for awhile now and am considering transferring to either wordpress.org self hosted, or using domain mapping / hosted by wordpress.com

    I’ve read several other posts and it seems that ranking will reset as whether I am self-hosted, or using mapping, the new site will be myblogexample.com and hence a new site altogether.

    My question is if I decide to use mapping first, and then move to self hosted later, will this hurt rankings again? It won’t cut incoming links I am guessing as the domain name would actually still be the same (?)

    Or I am better off going to self hosted right off the bat, and importing all content, and marking off myblog.wordpress.com as “officially moved here” to prevent duplicate content? I am still interested in keeping my wordpress.com account to keep up with the blogs I subscribe to and surf other blogs.

  • supportbot · Member ·

    You did not specify a blog address or reason for posting when you created this topic.

    This support forum is for blogs hosted at WordPress.com. If your question is about a self-hosted WordPress blog then you’ll find help at the WordPress.org forums.

    If you don’t understand the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, you may find this information helpful.

    If you forgot to include a link to your blog, you can reply and include it below. It’ll help people to answer your question.

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  • raincoaster · Member ·

    If you use mapping first and then move to self-hosting, you will NOT lose ranking. The ranking is on the URL itself.

    For technical reasons I’m not going to go into you’re best off staying here and using domain mapping, UNLESS you have to have something like paid ads or javascript that we can’t have here.

  • realtyevolved · Member ·

    Thanks raincoaster for the quick reply. Guess one of the reasons for self hosting is to incorporate JS and other code that can’t be done here with mapping.

    I suppose one of my worries is that if I jump into self host immediately, I have to worry about content / import and other details. Mapping just seems a like “safe” in-between step, or am I missing something…

  • raincoaster · Member ·

    You’re not. It’s a great intermediate step. And a hidden bonus is the SEO here is better than the SEO of an independent blog, so your blog will rise higher in the ranking faster with its new URL if you keep it here at first.

  • timethief · Member ·

    There are many benefits to having wordpress.com free host your domain and domain map. The pros and cons of being free hosted by wordpress.com or self hosting wordpress.org software are summed up very well in WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/ Many bloggers rush off to get a wordpress.ORG blog without considering them.
    http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2010/01/13/self-hosting-whats-your-hurry/

  • realtyevolved · Member ·

    Thanks for the info guys. I have read through the .com v .org post several times before posting this, as well as other posts, but most were looking to do ads which I was not planning on doing. I do not the freedom of future content and control which brought on the question of self hosting.

    I think I will go with the domain mapping to begin with, it will save the time and effort of dealing with content import, and setting up. I may just map a subdomain to prevent changing urls again in the future, this way I can keep the possibility of future content.

    Thanks again for the input, it’s been great.

  • thesacredpath · Member ·

    Mapping a subdomain is a very good move. It keeps the TLD open for other things.

  • timethief · Member ·

    @realtyevolved
    I’m glad I could help you. You’re welcome and best wishes with your blog.

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