Finding a Blogging Host!

Finding the best hosting site for your blog can be complicated at the best of times.  With almost endless options and offers all clamouring for your hard earned cash it can be impossible for Joe Blogs (excuse the pun!) to sort the fact from the chaff.   The best way to find that all elusive host is to take the process one step at a time.

What do you Need

Nearly all hosting solutions give you some type of blogging support and some even support programs like WordPress from the getgo so it is easy for somebody with little or no experience to get up and running with their blog in a matter of minutes.  You have to also consider whether you need all the bells and whistles that are being offered if all you intend to have is your blog.  If you do intend to create anything other than a blog then you need to consider these in your planning needs.

Cost

Free sites can be particularly tempting to the uninitiated or those of us who are loathe to put our credit card details ‘online’ but can be great if your just hosting some family pictures.  If your blog is going to be used in any kind of professional capacity then you need to consider all the factors.  Dedicated servers will be substantially higher then a simple budget site with a standard amount of bandwidth.  Cost should not be the determining factor when choosing your host until you have a shortlist of around 4 or 5 companies. 

Uptime and Speed

Any company that doesn’t offer at least a 99% guaranteed uptime shouldn’t make it to your shortlist and if they offer this then you should then spend some time checking out how quickly your visitors can access your site.

Bandwidth and Space

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your outlook) blogs can quickly grow in size and popularity and you can quickly outgrow your budget special of 100megabytes of space and 1Gigabyte of bandwidth per month.  Additional usage outside of these limits is usually charged at a premium and you should be aware of what these costs are before signing up for any deal.  Most hosts will give you a statistics page which will show you all your usages and you can normally head off any unknown problems before they arise.

Technical Support

When you run into a problem it is especially important to be able to contact the company when you need help.  A lot of hosts repute to have 24/7 365 days and year support however if your based in the UK and your host is US based you may find calling or emailing out of normal business hours means a delayed response.  A spot check email or call at random times can really sort the men from the boys!

I hope this guide is helpful to you when finding a host for your blog or any other type of site you might be starting.