Posted by Fox on August 16, 2007 at 2:07 PM

Blog platform providers will give you a free sub-domain when you sign up for an account. There's two reasons for for their generosity. The first is that it makes it really easy for you to join up and get started, and the second is because it really aids their customer retention. Let's face it, you're very unlikely to risk losing readers and search engine traffic by moving your blog to another provider (and therefore another sub-domain).

What's a sub-domain?
This blogs top level domain is [ukbloggersguide.com] - If I were to give you a sub-domain it would go something like [blahblah.ukbloggersguide.com].

DOMAIN MAPPING
So you need a blog platform that allows you to purchase your own domain and map it to their server. This is called "domain mapping". Understand that I'm not talking about a simply redirect here. You want EVERY page of your blog to use your domain name. There's absolutely no benefit to having your domain just redirect to the home page of your blog platforms sub-domain.

WHY IS USING YOUR OWN DOMAIN NAME SO IMPORTANT?
So why is it so important that you use your own domain name on your blog? Well aside from not being able to move to a different blog platform should you wish to do so...

• You cannot sell a sub-domain
  If you decided to sell your blog, the buyer would naturally want to buy the domain name, but the sub-domain is owned by the same owner of the top level domain. It's not yours to sell. Even if you pay a monthly fee, you'll never be able to sell the sub-domain.
• Branding
  Your chosen domain name will play a big part in blogs identity. All of the usual domain rules when building a corporate web site apply to your commercial or business blog.

The TypePad Blogging Platform enables you to use domain mapping. You can even sign up for a free trial and upgrade to a pro-account (required for domain mapping) at a later date. If you've yet to choose a blogging platform, give them a try.

Related : My Number 2 Blogging Tip - Only Blog with a Passion