Learn How To Blog (Part 3)
Gee…it’s been way too long since I wrote about “learning how to blog”, but since I haven’t had people beating down the door for my advice, I assume that I’m OK, 
.
This is the 3rd post in a series about “learning how to blog”. Here is post 1, and here is post 2, for your reference.
Now…I’ll have to admit, I’m no A-list blogger, (yet), but I intend to be some day. How do I intend to get there? Well first of all…I love every facet of blogging! I love to write, I’m a self proclaimed “internet surfing expert” , and I enjoy sharing useful information with others. A recipe for success! While I’ve been blogging a relatively short time, I’ve used my time to begin learning from some of the best.
Today’s post relates to picking a good web host. Maybe you’re asking, “Chris…what the heck is a web host?” Well…in simple terms, a web host is usually a company that has set up a group of servers and computer equipment, networks etc, which is capable of “hosting” your website, along with possibly MANY others, (for a fee of course). So you would typically use your personal computer as an “interface” to your website or blog that is located on your web host’s equipment. You take care of creating all the genius behind your blog, then you send all that information to the computer equipment that the host has dedicated for you to use, and the rest is up to them. When someone out there in the blogosphere looks at your blog, they’re not seeing it on “your” computer…they see your articles on the web host’s computer. That’s kinda simplifying things, but thats a web host in a nutshell.
Now I will say that what I’m telling you here is simply “my” method. I know that there are ways that you can actually have your blog hosted for free, but if you think you’re in this for the long haul, and intend to perhaps make a living with it some day, I would recommend going with a “paid host”.
Hosting is really pretty cheap. I personally use a company called Hostgator. I know they aren’t the absolute cheapest out there, but they’re priced reasonable and so far I’ve had great service from them. My interests lie in affiliate marketing as well as blogging, and I can host “unlimited” domains/websites for less than $10 per month, (“unlimited” provided you don’t exceed certain pre-defined limits which are quite generous).
Another company that I’ve heard great things about is BlueHost. They actually have an “unlimited domain” deal for $6.95 per month, and I hear they’re support is excellent! If I weren’t so tied into my current host, I would consider a move to them. I may look into moving some domains to them in the future. Thats really cheap though! They also advertise a “FREE” domain name for life! Thats a pretty cool deal if you haven’t already got a domain name.
When looking for a web host, see what others are saying. I first heard about Hostgator, while reading comments in a forum. People were saying how reliable and inexpensive they were compared to others out there. Believe me, there are a ton of places that will host your site for you…and not all of them are cost effective.
Here are some other things I look for in a web host:
- Reliability – If you plan to make a living from blogging or affiliate marketing, and your web host’s servers or network is not stable, you’re not going to be satisfied with them. When your website/blog is not available for people to see, you’re likely losing readers and potential business. If I try to go to a blog or website and it’s down, the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe this site is “out of business” and I may never return. Be sure and ask what your potential web host’s uptime percentage is, provided it’s not already displayed on their web page. I wouldn’t want anything less than 99.5% uptime. That means if there 720 hours in a month, your website should be up and available for at least 716.4 hours. The more you’re willing to pay, the better uptime percentage you’re likely to get. I’ve currently got a guaranteed 99.9% uptime which is pretty good. Reliability is essential.
- 24X7X365 Support – Again…if you’re trying to make a living from blogging, you need to be able to contact support when you have a problem.
- No Contract Necessary – Don’t let yourself get locked into a contract that you can’t get out of. Most good hosts will allow you to pay from month to month and offer a discount if you pay yearly.
- Disk Space – (The amount of storage your host allows for you to keep your files on their servers.) Disk space can be a little deceiving. For instance, I’m allowed 100gb per monthm which at first doesn’t sound like a lot, but I haven’t come close to using that much in a month, (and I have about 15 sites active). Of course I don’t have a lot of graphics and pictures, so I really don’t use a lot of storage. If you’re just running a blog or two, 50gb of storage should be more than adequate. And you can always buy more storage or upgrade if you need to.
- Bandwidth – (The amount of data that can be transferred to or from your website during a certain period of time, usually measured in gigabytes per month) Like disk space, if you don’t have a lot of traffic, it’s not going to take much bandwidth to run your blog. If you have a ton of pictures that people might be downloading, then it’s remotely possible that you could hit your bandwidth limit in a month…but not likely. 200gb per month is probably plenty….and like disk space…you can usually buy more or simply upgrade to the next plan if you see that you’re going to be hitting your limit each month.
Those are probably some of the big hitters I look at. Chances are if you’re a novice and you look at a web hosts list of features, you may not know what 95% of them mean! No worries…you’re not alone.
One other thing I would mention when looking for a web host…many times a simple search of the internet will reveal some coupons that you can use when signing up. This may provide some form of a discount such as a free month of hosting! Take advantage where you can!
This has been a lengthy post, and I know I still didn’t cover some areas as much as I would like to. The post is really geared towards someone that doesn’t yet have a blog, so thats why I’ve tried to “over-explain” in some areas. If you already have a blog, chances are you know all of this already.
Up next….we’ll assume you’ve found your niche, you have a domain name and you have a web host. I’ll probably jump ahead a little and talk about some ways that you can “monetize” your blog. Not knowing exactly how people will be setting up their blog, I hate to go into too much detail about using a blogging platform such as WordPress. That may be something we can cover in future posts if enough people want to hear about it. Making income with your blog is always a popular topic, and hopefully I can show you some methods that will be helpful for new bloggers as well as some that have been blogging for a while. (Can you find the ways I’ve monetized this post?)
As always, have a great day and please feel free to contact me with your questions.
Chris
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