In my last post about using a free WordPress blog for Bum Marketing, I listed not being able to display Adsense on these blogs as a limitation of the free version. Then I was reading some of the posts over at Amit Mehta’s excellent blog and ran across one about “Stuff White People Like“. In case you don’t know what this is about, it’s a blog dedicated to musings about the habits and predilections of well…white people in America. I found it interesting in the comments for this post on Amit’s blog that the blogger is actually Canadian, though I haven’t independently verified this myself.
However, what I also learned, is that he is displaying Adsense on his blog, which I thought was not permitted for the freely hosted version of WP. I then learned from another comment on Amit’s blog that you can display Adsense on WP hosted blogs if you spring for the “Pro” version. Again, this is something I need to verify for myself, but it seems to defeat the purpose of a “free” blog. Why not spring for a $3.95 per month el cheapo hosting account and create your WP blog there?
The thing that I found really amazing about the “Stuff White People Like” blog is that each post there receives an average of 1000 comments! Man, I’d be happy with an average of 1 comment per post here at IMMania.com.
on Apr 30th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I think the “pro” WordPress account probably works well for people who are really unaccustomed to the internet but can write well and gather an audience. I’m thinking of older authors or people who specialize in non-tech niches. Rather than have to wade through hosting companies with more tthan the need, they just go straight to WordPress. They get the blog they want and most of the good plug-ins and can monetize it themselves. Plus, they don’t have to worry about security or upgrades or other tech stuff.
on May 1st, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Hey Drew, yes, that’s exactly the kind of user my brother is — writes well, but not real techy nor interested in maintaining a Website.
I did some more digging around at WordPress.com to get familiar with the features in both the free and Pro versions. As you point out, even springing for the nominal fee for the Pro version will get you a lot.
Rich