1) Free blogs/sites tend not to rank as well in search engines.
There are exceptions, but frees sites usually don’t rank as well in search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Free sites and blogs are popular as hobby sites and often have poor content and are never updated. Because of this, search engines do not give these pages a high rank.

2) Free websites and blogs make your business seem less trustworthy.
There is a notion that free sites and blogs seem less authentic and less professional. Spammers and scammers use free website services almost exclusively; I wouldn’t want my business grouped with them!

3) Free sites and blogs often look cheap and have an unoriginal site design.
Again, there are exceptions. However, for the most part, free sites and blogs do not look as sharp as professional websites. First impressions count; why would you want your business represented with a poor looking, unoriginal design? Another problem with these sites is that they are not easily customized to fit the needs of your business.

4) Most of these services do not come with a domain name.
Your URL for a free site is usually just a subdomain of the service (ex. example.blogspot.com).  If you do get your own domain (www.example.com) through the service, you are giving them control over the domain. And if you decide to get a professional website in the future, it may be difficult or costly to get the domain back under your control.

5) These services often put ads on your site.
Many free services run their ads on your website. This can make your business look really unprofessional.  If someone is going to make money off your website, it should be you.

6) Some services are unreliable.
One of the most popular free website services (Geocities) is closing on October 26th 2009.  It highlights a good point that these services are free, and some have a hard time making money.  Also, because they are free, they have less obligation to their users to stay open.

Don’t get me wrong– free website and blog services can be a great thing.  They make creating a website or blog possible for anyone, which is great.  But if you’re serious about your website and your business, it’s a good idea to make an investment in some professional web design services.

How To Blog For Business:
When blogging for business, it is important not to come across like a desperate car salesman. Write posts answering common questions your core customer has. Do not write posts that say nothing more then “buy this product” or “you need this.”  By answering questions and writing other posts that help people, you establish yourself as an expert in your field. Once the customer reading your blog sees how knowledgable you are in your field, you no longer need to say ‘buy, buy, buy’ because when the customer is ready to purchase, they know who you are and will come to you.

How Can A Blog Drive More Traffic To My Website & My Business
Blogs can drive traffic and increase sales in number of ways.  Your blog should have a prominent link to your website and should contain your contact information.

Blogs tend to have more content and newer content than traditional websites.  Search engines like constantly changing content and sites that have lots of good content.  This will help your blog and your business get into the search engines for important keyterms for which your traditional website might not rank. 

Blogs also tend to have a certain social quality that traditional websites don’t have.  You may be missing customers and sales because you cannot be found on social and bookmarking sites like Facebook, Digg & Delicious.

You may have noticed the way that Yahoo, Google and other search engines serve up content is different now than how it was a few years ago.  In fact, it is ever changing.  Whereas once there was a seperate engine for web, images, blogs, products and video, now they are all appearing in the main web results.  To be really successful within search engines, we have to attack this from all angles.  Blogging is just another angle that will help your business.