Hosting Landing Pages
If you are just starting out with Internet marketing then you are probably trying to cut down your costs as much as possible. One way to do that is by hosting your landing pages on Web 2.0 properties that are free. The alternative is to buy a domain and hosting account to set your landing pages up that. You won't see too many of the serious marketers using free sites because there are a lot of benefits to building up your own domain, but everyone has to start somewhere. Let's take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of using each.
Web 2.0 Properties
The best thing about using the Web 2.0 properties that are out there is that it's easier to get ranked in the search engines. These sites have tons of incoming links pointing to them, and millions of pages already indexed.
If you are using someone else's site then you are going to have to follow their rules, which means you might have limited options in the look of the site and if you can have an opt-in list. You are giving up some control in order to use their space.
Self-Hosting Sites
You can host your own sites for around $100 per year and with that you get complete control over the look and feel of the design. As long as you don't spam or do something illegal, you can pretty much do whatever you want. You can sell hard, make better use of images, and change the design of your site to increase your conversion rate.
If you have been to any of the free sites you'll notice that a lot carry ads on their site. You could have a great landing page created with an enticing offer and then off to the side there is a banner promoting the same product. If the visitor clicks through the banner and purchases you don't get create for the sale! That kind of thing won't happen if you are hosting your own site. Sure, you can still have the banner, but you'll earn every commission on sales coming from your pages!
I've already wrote about how important I think email marketing with a company like Aweber is. With free sites you don't get to include your opt-in forms, which means that if a visitor doesn't click through your links right away, they are lost forever. While getting visitors to buy the first time they come to your site isn't likely, getting them to opt-in to your newsletter can be. This way you can build a relationship with them, offer them something of value, gain their trust, and promote to them for years down the road! Imagine how much more money you can make per visitor that way.
The problem with self-hosted sites is that they are completely unknown to the search engines. You have to put a little more time and work in to building your site up so not only will it cost more to start, but it will take longer for you to start seeing a return. However, when you do start getting links to your site your authority builds and the longer your site is around, the more content that you post to it, the more traffic you will start seeing flow your way each and every day.
After weighing the pros and the cons, I hope you can figure out why I'm so big on owning my own domains. Sure, Web 2.0 properties have their place in terms of link building and traffic generation, but not for your landing pages. They are too important not to have total control of.