Could Your Blog Get Shut Down?
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A friend of mine, a successful author, told me her blogger.com blog was suddenly taken down because they thought she was somehow spamming.
Suddenly, her web presence is yanked away. She has to jump through hoops she barely understands, and MAYBE Google (who owns blogger.com) will decide in her favor. Maybe not.
All her old posts are gone, maybe forever.
This is not uncommon at all. What happens is that if Google’s robot (not a human) detects just ONE complaint, it will shut your blog down. (Get this: Google shut down it’s OWN blog a few months ago! Not for long, you can be sure, but it happened!)
It’s a shame to have a blog shut down, because it’s so damaging, yet so easy to prevent.
Prevent it simply by
hosting your blog on your own web site. This means you have your own domain name, on your own hosting company, and blog software installed at your host. (If you’re looking for a web host, get one with a C-panel. Most with C-panel offer a way to install a WordPress blog with a few clicks.)
I recommend WordPress. It’s free, it’s got many free templates and plug-ins to choose from, and many think it’s simply the best blogging software out there. (If you want some great free training on using WordPress, check out Cathy Perkins, The WordPress Wizard.)
Again, don’t host your blog anywhere else, including at WordPress. Keep it on your own site. I could go into a lot of specific reasons why–besides protecting your site from being shut down by a robot. But just trust me on this one, okay?
And if you have any of your own stories to share about blogs, please comment.