Advantages of Hosting a Website
When it comes to maintaining a website, the first question is often whether to use a service to host your website -- such as Blogger, Weebly or Wordpress, among many more -- or to host your website from scratch. What really matters is your level of commitment, your experience with websites and what you're looking for in a website.
Content
A self hosted website gives you complete control over the content; there's no limitation on the number of pages you can create, the length of your pages or posts or the language or topics you can use. While most free sites are unlikely to stifle your content, there is usually a formal system for reporting an account as offensive -- a feature that can sometimes be abused even when the content is not objectionable.
Ads
Hosting your own website gives you absolute control over what, if any, ads you include on your website. Some Web hosting services have free accounts hosted by the addition of ads, and others still may include ads by default, regardless of how your account is structured. These ads often do you no service as a website owner; if you choose to include ads on your personally-hosted website, the revenue goes exclusively to you.
Domain and Email
Most Web hosting companies include at least one domain name with your Web hosting plan, giving you a brand from the get-go, so to speak; other Web hosts may include a URL in the form of a subdomain, such as yourblog.wordpress.com, which is not intrinsically bad but does appear less professional. With your domain name, your plan may include personalized email addresses, giving you not only a professional email address to couple with your website, but again offers another platform for introducing contacts to your domain name.
Website Design
Most hosted services have a preset number of layouts or a certain style of website you must adhere to; with self-hosted websites, you are only limited in design by your own creativity and experience -- or by the creativity and experience of your graphic designer. Not only are you able to experiment more completely with layouts on a self-hosted website, but you're also free to change them at the drop of a hat.
Space
All Web hosting plans come with a set amount of storage space for your website and all relevant files. For websites that host a lot of videos, pictures or audio files, that space may fill quickly; if the website is mostly text-based, it may have a lot of extra space. The advantage is you can purchase a plan with as much or as little space as you need; many free websites or sites hosted through another service have space limitations on the account.
