One of my really early posts was differentiating between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. Although wordpress.org sites have the flexibility to do just about anything a blogger wants at a low cost of a domain and hosting, wordpress.com does has its place in the world.
That said, wordpress.org is really where nearly all serious bloggers will end up. But what about when a wordpress.com site takes off? Are you willing to essentially start over on wordpress.org?
Case in point, here’s an email I received recently:
Hi there,
I have recently learned of your site and I first want to say thanks for all the great (free!) information.
I am a relatively new blogger and started my blog on wordpress.com. I recently bought a domain (because of your advice) and would eventually like to switch over to wordpress.org. However, the information I’m finding says that wordpress.com will only allow a temporary redirect, not a permanent one. Which means, of course, that I will lose my Google PageRank (3) and my Alexa rating (currently around 2.3million).
My question to you is – do you have any idea how long it would take to regain my ratings? And should I wait until my domain has been out there for awhile before making the switch?
Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated!
Those of you who have contacted me via email or contact form, you know I always respond if you’re not a spammer. Although I’ve never even heard of this person prior to her reaching out to me, I did respond. Before I post what I responded with, I really want to know what you think.
Should she cut over from wordpress.com to wordpress.org?