If you are planning to earn money online and go big with your blog, it’s important to have your own domain name. This is a three part series about domain names, why and when you should get one. It’s time to move away from the free hosted blog websites!

Here are some reasons why you should get a domain.

All the big, popular bloggers have one.

You don’t see John Chow with a .blogspot.com domain.

While I was catching up with Darren Rowse’s blog, I saw this post about the different blogging platforms. Here’s what he said:

While there is some real wisdom in getting a taste for blogging using some of the free platforms my advice to anyone who suspects that they might end up blogging on a serious level it is worth securing a good domain name and getting set up on a platform that you think you’ll stick with for the long term.

So, if you don’t believe my babbling, you should at least listen to a problogger.

It improves creditability.

Speaking behind the mask of a .blogspot.com is hardly as credible as speaking from behind, let’s say, newsnotion.com. Most readers find a free hosted blog to be sketchy, and since anyone can just quickly make a blogger account and start making up some gibberish. Having an actual domain shows that you’ve put time into creating the blog. If you are going to spend that much time, you might as well be speaking the truth!

It’s official, still, and serious .

I couldn’t really think of different words. Basically, by using a domain name you are declaring the content and the blog to be yours. Also, it shows that you are going to be there for the long run, so readers will know to come back. You’re letting the world know that you’re ready to face the long journey of a blogger!

It’s a readers turn on.

An actual domain is so much more soothing to visit. a .blogspot.com blog is just a COMPLETE turn off to me! And probably a lot of web experienced readers too. No matter how well you’re writing, if you are on a .wordpress.com or .blogspot.com, I’m likely to just leave soon.