Wordpress.com or .org?

Question

I didn't realize they were different. Now I subscribed to Wordpress.com and I think I made a mistake. The other one looks much more geared towards websites vs. blogs.

Which do you use? I think I can still cancel.

Ramon Polo · Answer

Yeah... These things can be a mess!I use GoDaddy some times because they have good deals, but I like NameCheap better. They're more business friendly.

Ramon Polo · Answer

@Jennifer Rysdam you're welcome!Yeah... That's one of the reasons why I love Namecheap. They care a lot about our privacy as well.

Jennifer Rysdam · Answer

@Ramon Polo Thanks for the Namecheap tip! I got my domain, with privacy, for $9.84!

Ronda R. · Answer

@Jennifer Rysdam why do you need a website for your complex? Is it for the purpose of getting rental ads out there with pictures? If you don't need it for anything other than that I would suggest cozy.co . It is FREE! I use them and love it. You build your ads for your properties and they post it to several websites. They also make it easy to post on Craigslist. They retain the ads and you can activate and deactivate as necessary so you don't have to recreate an ad every time you are re-renting. I use it to screen renters as well and set up automatic rent payments. If you really want a domain, I would create a business page on facebook and forward your domain there. You can forward domains to any url. At Cozy I know that my prospective tenants can see all the other active ads that I have when they log in to apply. I've had them ask me about other properties. I do not work for cozy.co. I am just a very happy customer and think they are a great resource for landlords.

Jennifer Rysdam · Answer

Thanks @Ramon Polo and @Elizabeth Wilson. I have to say that I made quite the mess. I had subscribed and paid for wordpress.com for hosting and domain. Then when I switched to .org I couldn't get my domain to move for 60 days. So, I cancelled the domain. Now the domain is in limbo while the cancellation happens and hopefully BlueHost will let me still get the "free domain" that they had offered when I had subscribed. Otherwise I might have to cancel that and start over too. Ugh! I should've just went with godaddy. I've used them before and it was so simple. Sometimes I wish I had a do-over button, lol :) I'm really not that dumb, just in a hurry to get it done :)

Ramon Polo · Answer

@Elizabeth Wilson is pretty much right.You can use both of them for free.For a long-term business, I recommend Wordpress.org because you install it on your own hosting server and you have full control.You can install plugins, which are like pieces of software or apps that adds extra functionality to your website and you can improve performance, etc. (they have tons of free plugins).Like you can create landing pages with plugins for effective direct response marketing campaigns.You will also have infinitely more options of themes and how to make your website look.For branding, control and stability you need Wordpress.org.Wordpress.com is really good for SEO "juice". Wordpress.com is a "public domain" service so there's millions (or even billions) of website owners building that SEO authority for Wordpress.com.So you will rank in the search engines faster with Wordpress.com.You can use both and link to your website from your Wordpress.com site to gain authority on your website faster.Let me know, if you have questions, @Jennifer Rysdam!

Jennifer Rysdam · Answer

Thanks Account Closed. I cancelled my Bluehost earlier today and am just waiting for my domain name to become available again so I can go back to GoDaddy and proceed there. I don't know why I didn't go there in the first place. I have created 3 websites for different people on there in the last 2 years and it has always worked great. I'm just an investor, so I just need something for my apartment building. Nothing complex, just info and pictures. Thanks again!

Account Closed · Answer

First and foremost in full disclosure I work at GoDaddy in the Hosting department. If you get stuck with Bluehost and decided to move to GoDaddy, and still need some help, let me know. Also with any annual Managed WordPress plan GoDaddy does offer a free domain as well. To add on to the conversation here, while WordPress is the buzz word of self-created websites, it still comes down to what you want this site to be? Are you building it as a reference site to self yourself from your business card or do you want to run full IDX plugins to display your current listings from MLS and have clients login to their accounts to view specific listings you have selected for them? Those are about opposite ends of the of the spectrum in terms of how much time and effort you want to put in to this site.

Jennifer Rysdam · Answer

Ronda R. Hi Ronda. Thanks for the advice. I just bought an 8-plex and want to use it to help tenants find me, and also display pictures and information. Nothing much :) I'm going to just go with a Wix site. I was on there this weekend and created a really nice one.One thing I really didn't like about GoDaddy is that you can't change your template. That's just an irritation waiting to happen, lol :) Have a great day!

Steve Giuffre Jr · Answer

Love using NameCheap for purchasing domains. Currently have my personal site on EndLayers hosting and whenever asked to create a site and setup hosting my only rule is that they purchase hosting from them. Very easy to deal with. I was also able to setup with a staging site so I can create the site, then they will migrate it over to a live site for the customer :-) I am following this thread as I am taking a real estate course in June and looking to see others thoughts.