People are always surprised when I tell them that blogging is not a cheap hobby. Everyone knows websites for businesses cost money. Most of us know someone who works in web design. So I think it’s funny that no one thinks about that being true for a personal website.
Sure, it’s possible to do this for virtually free, but then you wind up with your comment section overrun with spam, your blog’s URL be way too long and generic for anyone to remember, and pretty much no customization. I did that for a while.
Then a few years ago I overhauled everything, including the name of the blog itself. One of the first purchases I made was my custom logo (which I love). But it didn’t stop there. I changed virtually everything else about my blog too. And many of those changes didn’t come for free.
Among the things I now pay for every year are:
- My custom domain
- Web hosting services
- Spam blocker
- Various other security measures
- Subscription for photos/ images
Don’t get me wrong- I’m not complaining. And I’m certainly not begging for money or announcing I’m adding ads to my site! I’m just giving you a peek behind the curtain so I don’t get the quizzical looks as often anymore.