What is a private blog? Simply defined, it’s a blog that is protected with a password. With WordPress.com, you can create a private blog or restrict an existing blog to invited readers only by modifying its privacy settings.
Public blogs carry many marketing benefits, so you might be wondering why some business owners choose to blog with a password enabled. While password-protected blogs aren’t for everyone, there are some wise use cases for private blogging.
A few good reasons to blog with a password
A Content Marketing Institute survey revealed that 80 percent of marketers are creating blogs, as they are among the top must-have business website pages. This begs the question, “Can I compete if I password-protect my content?”
Here are a few reasons why some organizations find password-protected content to be the right choice.
- Subscriber-based services: A private WordPress.com blog can be an easy way for fitness coaches, nutritional planners, or others who provide exclusive content to a community of subscribers to publish, distribute, and archive their work.
- Client satisfaction: Professional services firms, consultants, and those who work in knowledge-based fields may use private blog pages to provide premium content to existing clients as a tool for satisfaction, loyalty, and customer education.
- Subscription-based media: Organizations that create high-quality media may use a private blog, combined with a plugin for collecting payments from subscribers.
For businesses resembling these cases, private blogging (perhaps complemented by a public blog) is a strategic move.
How to create a private blog on WordPress.com
It’s possible to password-protect your WordPress.com content whether you just created your blog, or already have a loyal following. WordPress.com users can change a blog’s privacy settings at any time by going to My Site > Settings and selecting from the following options:
- Public: Visible to humans and search engines.
- Hidden: Visible to website visitors, but not search engines.
- Private: Password-protected and restricted to invited readers only.
Visit the Privacy Settings support page for more information on how to update your settings, view blogs that are set to private, and become password-protected with existing blog followers.
Should I consider private blogging?
For most businesses using WordPress.com, creating high-quality blogs that are visible to all visitors and search engines is the best way to reach your marketing goals, such as increasing traffic, generating leads, and building a reputation. For other organizations, a password-protected private blog on WordPress.com can prove to be a useful tool.
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