When you are starting a blog or website you may have a number of blog hosting questions. Or, as a more experienced blogger, you may yet run into questions related to the hosting of your blog as it grows from strength to strength. I will do my best to answer these questions as simply as I can without going into all the little technical details.
1. What is Blog Hosting and Why Do I Need It?
A blog hosting account is something that gives you storage space on a server.
When someone visits your blog or website, the files that make up your blog or web pages are temporarily downloaded from the server into the visitor’s browser for viewing.
Typical blog/website hosting accounts provide an allowance for a certain amount of file storage, an allowance for bandwidth – data used by visitor traffic – databases for web applications such as WordPress, as well as basic emailing facilities, and related tools and scripts for various needs.
When starting a blog your hosting account needs will be minimal. Once you have a well-established blog with a lot of content and a growing audience then your hosting needs will increase and in this case, you can upgrade to a larger hosting account with more resources.
If you are planning and setting up a self-hosted blog, a website, e-commerce store, or any other digital platform then you will need a hosting account to install your site on and serve its files from.
2. Can I Host My Blog for Free?
Yes and no. Technically speaking you can start a blog without having to get your own hosting account by signing up with a free service like WordPress.com, Wix, or Squarespace.
However, nothing is really free and these services will severely limit the features of your blog until you upgrade from a free account to a paid account.
If you really want to achieve success with your blog then it is far better to pay for your own hosting account and ‘self-host’ your WordPress blog. This will give you maximum freedom of choice and features without the lock-in you will experience when signing up for one of the above-mentioned services.
While this might not be free it is also not exactly super expensive.
3. What is the Best and Most Economical Hosting for Blogs?
Gosh, there are soooo many options that it is not possible to cover all of them here.
If you are a beginner blogger then I would recommend our own Startup Hosting as a good option to get you started. This is a no-frills hosting account that is reasonably fast and stable and perfect for your first 1 – 2 years of blogging.
As your blog content and traffic increase then you may need to move to the more expensive blog hosting with more powerful servers and other important features like additional speed enhancements and greater traffic allowances.
Depending on your location and the location of your audience you may also need to consider the location of your hosting server as a way of speeding up page load times.
Ultimately, there are many blog hosting companies out there and both they and their clients will say they are the best. As for being economical, cheap does not always equal economy if it fails to do the job and thus a more expensive hosting account can often be more economical than a cheaper one if it helps your blog or website perform better.
Also, as mentioned, depending on whether you are a beginner blogger or you are a bit more established, your hosting needs will vary.
If you need some help evaluating your hosting options or you just need something to help you get started then get in touch.
4. Can I Host My Own Blog or Website?
Yes, you can.
Where you prefer to have greater control over your website or blog than hosted services like WordPress.com, Wix, and Squarespace give you, your best option is to sign up for a hosting account of your own with a web hosting company.
Of course, if you are a technical wizz with server setup you could take hosting your own site even further, the most common way to host your own website is through a web host.
If you are starting a new blog or launching a new business website or eCommerce website, get in touch today for personalized advice and customizable solutions.
