A self hosted blog helps raise your personal brand.
Strong personal brands are increasingly important.
They are increasingly important as they can serve as an online cv / resume.
Disadvantages
Self hosted blogs have disadvantages as well as advantages.
Dedicated blogging website providers, such as blogger and wordpress.com , provide an easy and free solution.
Cost
A self hosted blog will cost money to set up.
For this article I am assuming that you will do the work yourself.
If you pay someone else to set up your self hosted blog, then it will cost more.
Domain Name
Domain names can be bought for as little as £1 , though £10 is more typical.
The price will vary on the type of domain name ending.
For example a ‘.com’ domain will be more expensive than a ‘.co.uk’
A domain such as a ‘.com’ is known as a top level domain name, and are better for sites aimed at a worldwide audience.
However there is nothing wrong with using a ‘.co.uk’ or whatever domain type you wish, as they will still be seen worldwide.
Appropriate & Easy to Remember Domain Name
Short and memorable is a good guide for choosing a domain name.
Long domain names are harder to remember.
Also avoid using numbers in your domain name.
Domain names are what is known as the URL.
URL is short for ‘Uniform Resource Locator’
The URL / Domain name, is the internet equivalent of a house address.
Web hosting
Having a domain name on its own, isnt enough.
You also need somewhere to physically store your website information.
This is known as web hosting.
Web hosting useually costs money, which is billed on a monthly or yearly cycle.
For a personal hosted blog, £5 a month is a typical cost for good quality hosting.