I’ve had clients ask me–what’s the difference between WordPress.com and the WordPress that I install.  Any WordPress.com site you start is free, but you have to have a URL that has yourname.wordpress.com.  In other words, it has to have the word “wordpress” in the web address.

Too, with the free hosting at wordpress.com, you only get to choose from a limited amount of themes, or layouts. There is an option where you can buy your own domain, and you can buy storage and several other features.  But I don’t think you get the service you’d get at goDaddy.com.  Plus they nickel and dime you to death, and I’m not sure if the service provided is as quality.

There’s also the matter of signing up as a user.  I can see how having a community like WordPress.com would be beneficial, because your blogs would be searchable with the right tags, and they advertise the most popular blogs. But I’ve heard of people having trouble with their passwords at wordpress.com. The independent WordPress sites–apart from the community of WordPress.com–have the tag feature which helps with not only visitors finding the articles or posts that they like, but also helps with the Google search engine.

Personally I like installing my own WordPress software so I can have better control over its features.  And don’t forget, by installing WordPress through goDaddy.com, you get goDaddy’s excellent customer support–not to mention my help, too!