Learn How To Blog (Part 3)

June 27, 2007 by Chris
Filed under: Create A Blog 

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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Comments

22 Comments on Learn How To Blog (Part 3)

  1. Layouts on Wed, 27th Jun 2007 3:40 pm

    2. Wow… I just started my own blog… i had no idea there was this much involved, very enlightening

  2. Chris on Wed, 27th Jun 2007 3:50 pm

    3. Hello Layouts! Thanks for dropping by and commenting!

    Well don’t be discouraged by my long, involved posts. I probably give too much detail sometimes. I like for people to have the detail, even if they choose not to use it. For the most part, it’s not as difficult to set up as I might make it out to be :) I had approached this series of posts as though I were working with someone that didn’t know what a blog was about.

    So how is your blog going so far? Don’t hesitate to ask if you come up with any questions. If I can’t answer, I might know where to find the answer.

    Thanks for dropping by and please visit again!
    Chris

  3. Augel on Thu, 28th Jun 2007 2:37 pm

    4. This is pretty good place to start for a newbie blogger. I’m currently using free hosting as I’m too cheap to pay for one. I did hear a lot of great things about Bluehost.

  4. Chris on Thu, 28th Jun 2007 3:23 pm

    5. Hi Augel!

    FREE is good! I don’t think there is anything wrong with using a free host.

    I will say that I’ve seen a blogger or two build really nice, well structured blogs, and develop a pretty large readership. Then they decide it’s time to take it to the next level and go with a paid host, but they’re scared to death they will lose everything they have built by going with a different blogging platform. Not to mention, you get so comfortable with what you’ve been using, that going to something else just feels wrong.

    So the main advice I would offer someone is that if you’re going to go the “free route” initially, and then find that you really like blogging and think you’re going to be doing it for a while, try to decide early on which blogging platform you’d like to ultimately be using. That way you can plan ahead and be learning the new system so you won’t have to endure that “shock” when it comes time to change over.
    Darren Rowse put together a nice, detailed explanation on choosing a blogging platform. Darren really knows his stuff when it comes to blogging!

    Thanks so much for dropping by! I hope you’ll be back to visit sometime and best of luck with your blog! Please let me know if I can ever help.
    Chris

  5. OUCH on Thu, 28th Jun 2007 4:03 pm

    6. I wouldn’t say free is good, free is fine… Most of the time free host will do much more problems (more down times :-( I hate the down times).

  6. Chris on Thu, 28th Jun 2007 4:20 pm

    7. Hi OUCH,

    You make a very valid point. If someone isn’t paying to be hosted, it’s kinda tough to complain when the service is down. :(

    The lesson here…if “uptime” is important to you, you have to consider a paid host.

    Thanks very much for your insightful comment! Please do come back again soon!

    Chris

  7. Greg (Mighty Mortgages) on Thu, 28th Jun 2007 10:00 pm

    8. If you are serious about Revenue Blogging it is worth the few dollars it costs to buy your own domain and pay for a monthly host. That way you OWN your blog and you don’t have to worry about a third party shutting down your blog and potentially cut off a portion of your monthly revenue.

  8. Chris on Thu, 28th Jun 2007 10:24 pm

    9. Hello Greg,

    Very good point! Personally, I would rather know that I’m in control of my destiny here and not have to worry whether a “free” host will be here tomorrow. It’s like anything else…you get what you pay for.

    But I will say that there are new blogs created every minute of every day. Most will write 2 or 3 posts and get bored with it. For those that aren’t quite sure whether they “really” want to get into this “blogging thing”, then trying the free route is an option. I just wouldn’t get too dependent on free hosting if you find that you’re addicted to blogging :)

    Thanks Greg for your excellent point! Please come visit again!
    Chris

  9. marketing man on Mon, 2nd Jul 2007 5:13 am

    10. Chris, just read your 3 learn how to blog
    articles, really good!

    Thanks very much, I think some of your advice
    will help me with my own blogging in the future.

    I am still a novice…

  10. tallfreak on Mon, 2nd Jul 2007 8:29 am

    11. What about godaddy.com? I know they are probably the “walmart” of the hosting community but I think their prices are very reasonable. Probably the cheapest of all because of it’s popularity. I haven’t really seen anything wrong with their hosting yet and I’ve been with them for 2 years.

  11. Chris on Mon, 2nd Jul 2007 9:21 am

    12. Hello tallfreak,
    I’ve not used Godaddy for hosting, but they’re who I purchase my domain names through. I’ve been very pleased with with them from that aspect. I think the only reason I didn’t use them for hosting is because some folks at one of the forums I frequent, said they have had some issues with them, and that it was getting worse. Now…thats just hearsay and I don’t know all the details. This has been a while back and maybe they were just experiencing some growing pains? They do seem to be priced very reasonably and probably wouldn’t be a bad choice. Obviously you’ve had good service from them.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
    By the way…checked out your blog and saw that you went to Florida recently. We used to go every summer, but haven’t been in the last couple of years…I miss it! :(
    Chris

  12. Chris on Mon, 2nd Jul 2007 9:28 am

    13. Hi marketing man,
    Thanks for your kind words! There are lots of blogs out there that help us “all” to learn something new each day. I like to add some of my experiences in hopes that they will be helpful. If you ever have questions, you know how to reach me!
    Chris

  13. vavk on Mon, 2nd Jul 2007 11:01 pm

    14. That’s why I’m started one blog of domain related here is my blog http://www.dndaily.com and I think this read help me to improve and make much batter my blog.

  14. Chris on Tue, 3rd Jul 2007 8:39 am

    15. Hi vavk,
    Glad to think the post has helped you in some way. Best of luck with your blog!
    Chris

  15. John Hart on Tue, 10th Jul 2007 6:13 pm

    16. I just got started blogging. Any advice for my site? http://www.workoutreview.blogspot.com

  16. Chris on Wed, 11th Jul 2007 7:45 am

    17. Hi John,
    I’m strapped for time this morning, (and boy do I hate that!), but I did get a chance to drop by and glance at your site. I’m not real familiar with using “blogger” as a blog platform, so I won’t be much help there. Looks like you’ve got a nice setup so far.
    Any advice I could give would really depend on what you want to do with your blog? Are you just blogging because you like exercise and want to help others become healthy, or are you trying to turn this into a nice money making blog?
    So far, I think your blog looks good. If anything, you might want to work on placement of the adsense & amazon banners. This is stuff that you’ll probably just have to play around with to make it work for you. Feel free to use my contact form if you want to dig in deeper.
    Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. Keep up the good work!
    Chris

  17. Gary R. Hess on Mon, 1st Oct 2007 7:08 pm

    18. Web hosts can be a bit tricky to choose. I’ve had some bad experiences with GoDaddy (both in the domain department and hosting), so I highly do not recommend them.

  18. Stasigr on Mon, 29th Oct 2007 2:39 pm

    19. Hello, very nice site, keep up good job!
    Admin good, very good.

  19. SEO Consultant La on Wed, 7th May 2008 12:26 am

    20. Hi,
    Thanks for providing useful information about hosting. As, I have never thought about hosting services.
    Thanks for accentuating to it.

  20. Roger Hamilton on Thu, 6th Nov 2008 7:24 am

    21. Great post! It is very interesting, giving me useful information about blogging. Thanks a lot ! Enjoyed reading it.

  21. Ajay on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 3:37 am

    22. I dont had any idea about hosting.But now i came to know about free hosting and chargable hostingand also difference between them.Thanks for sharing your great thoughts.It was so good.Keep going…

  22. Jayseo on Thu, 24th Jun 2010 5:48 am

    23. I prefer free host and got success in using an promoting it. It is also good to use personal paid domain but I like free hosts.

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