Best Blogging Hosting
Blog hosting is a type of web hosting which features regular updates that take the form of regular entries called posts.
With so many options to choose from when it comes to blog hosting, setting up a blog can seem overwhelming at times. When most bloggers get started, they choose a free option.
There is nothing wrong with that option. If you want to improve the blogging experience and take things to the next level, you might need to use a self-hosted option
What is Best Blogging Hosting used for?
When picking your blog hosting option, the first step is to decide whether you want a free option or go with a paid hosting provider. If you are creating a personal blog to keep friends and family updated, the free option is usually enough.
There are many free blog hosting service providers such as WordPress. They come with a simple UI, which is great for people with limited technical knowledge.
For instance, you do not have to work on script installation or configure the database. This is because the software is already set up with clear installation steps.
There are usually a limited number of templates, which you can use to alter how your blog looks.
You will have limited control. For instance, you will be unable to remove ads from the site since this is how the free hosting providers generate their revenue.
If you are a blogger who wishes to use the blog to supplement your income, you should opt for paid hosting.
With a paid account, you will own your domain as well as more control over how to customize the blog. When you run ads on the blog, you will keep the revenue that it generates.
Additionally, you will be able to handle huge amounts of traffic. Most paid hosting providers offer easy installation for blog software, which ensures you can have the blog running in a few clicks.
How did we pick the Best Blogging Hosting?
When picking your hosting provider, check for these four things:
- Support
- Speed
- Security
- Scalability
Scalability is especially important since you need to be able to scale up the blog as your target audience increases. When picking your hosting provider, you should consider the following issues carefully:
- How Much Assistance Do You Need
Basic customer support such as access to phone support and email should be considered. Besides that, you need to check on the turnaround time for support requests.
Some hosting providers offer 24-hour support over the phone. You should also check whether they offer managed service.
This ensures that your blog is configured in the right manner. Via this service, they will watch the blog for securities issues, make patches when necessary, manage backups, amongst other things.
- How Much Traffic Will You Get?
Make a realistic estimate of the amount of traffic your blog will receive. Hosting providers usually charge based on the bandwidth and storage you use.
If you will only be receiving a limited amount of traffic, you will have low bandwidth. However, if you suddenly appear at the top of Google, you can expect the bandwidth to surge.
As long as you are honest about your expected traffic numbers, there is little risk. However, if you expect to receive huge amounts of traffic, ensure you pick a cloud-based or dedicated hosting provider.
- Do You Understand Server Types?
Shared servers offer the greatest rating. However, they also have limited capabilities, which works just fine for some.
If you want to upgrade, opt for a VPS option. Performance when using a VPS service is usually better than using a shared server.
- Carefully Consider Unlimited offers
Some blog-hosting providers will offer you unlimited storage and bandwidth at a low cost. This is not usually the case in reality.
If you are paying low prices, you will face problems such as throttling after a certain limit.
- Ensure You Are Not Locked to Your Host
When picking the host, ensure that your site is portable. In case anything goes wrong, you can always move to a new host.
Sometimes, management changes and changes to the terms and conditions are made. When you are not comfortable with the new rules, you need to be able to move your site.
- Own the Domain Bam
When picking the host, owning the domain name is important. This way, you will be able to keep any SEO benefits and change the host when you wish.
Why do I need Best Blogging Hosting?
Many people think that once you register a domain name, it is all you need to get your blog active. However, a domain name is simply a unique name by which you are recognized online.
To get a blog running, you need the blog to be hosted. If your blog is not hosted online, registering the domain name is not of any use.
A hosting company ensures that anyone on the internet can access the blog. Hosting is buying space on a service where your blog’s files are stored.
This way, when someone enters your blog’s name online, they will be directed to your blog. You can decide on a blog on your computer but unless it is hosted online, no one can access it.
The host will usually charge you to host the blog. You can opt to have your server at home but that is going to cost you a lot of money.
To set up the server, you would need to purchase a powerful computer with a lot of RAM and powerful processing power. Besides that, you will need to invest in an operating system and constantly make software and hardware upgrades to the server.
This requires a lot of technical knowledge to ensure that the server uptime is excellent. If your server constantly shuts down, search engines will rank your site poorly.
A hosting company manages all of these issues for you to ensure the blog is always up and running. They make your life easier by handling all the backend things, giving you time to come up with content for your blog.
While there are numerous hosting options, you should always look for something affordable. Without enough research, you might end up buying more than you need.
What should I look for when buying Best Blogging Hosting?
When looking for a blog host, you will find numerous features and terms that you do not understand. All this jargon can be quite confusing for someone without a technical background.
Hosting technology has come a long way over the last three decades since the World Wide Web was created.
Here are the things to check for when picking your blog hosting provider:
- A Site Builder
Most hosting providers offer tools to help you come up with a great blog. These tools work whether you are an expert or a newbie.
- Opt for Solid State Drives
SSDs cost more than the traditional HDDs but they are faster. Besides that, they are more reliable and they consume less power.
SSDs are also more durable, which ensures great uptime.
- The Storage
Hosting providers will offer you unlimited storage but with fair use limits. For a small blog, you will not need more than one GB of space.
However, if your site uses a lot of videos and music files, you might need more space.
- Access to Controls
When you sign up to the host, you will be provided with a control panel to manage the hosting account. It should be as easy as possible to access the control panel, including the ability to update the site even from your phone.
- The Location
Ensure that your host is located as close as possible to your visitors. This ensures that pages load faster.
If all your visitors are in one location, ensure you pick a provider who is in that area. You can also opt for a provider with a content delivery network (CDN) option.
A CDN hosts a copy of the blog and static content of the site when it is accessed from another location. This ensures that your visitors get their content from a server that is closest to them.
Does Best Blogging Hosting cost more?
Paid blogging hosting does come at a cost to you. Here are some of the costs you will incur:
- The Domain Name
When creating your blog, it is important to own the domain name. The price of the domain name comes at around 10 USD per year.
- The Hosting Cost
If you opt for a paid blog hosting option, it will come at a cost to you. If your blog has a limited amount of traffic and requires a limited amount of speed, it will cost you around 10 USD a month.
- The Software
The software you need will depend on the site you are creating. If you run a blog, you can opt to use free software.
- Ads
If you wish to promote the blog online to receive more traffic, you may opt to buy ads. These ads come at a cost depending on the number of ads that you purchase.
Best Blogging Hosting Pros & Cons
If you are planning to start a serious blog, one of the options you will probably think about is VPS hosting. VPS hosting refers to a Virtual Private Server.
You get a given amount of memory space, bandwidth, processing power, and disk space. Additionally, you receive a dedicated amount of resources.
In VPS hosting, you have the option of unmanaged and managed VPS. When you opt for the managed option, you will pay more to the hosting firm.
Here are the pros and cons of using VPS hosting:
Pros
- Price
A VPS is usually quite cheap. Compared to a dedicated server, you will only pay a fraction of the costs.
- Setup
Setting up a VPS is much faster compared to a dedicated server. You can set up your VPS in just a few hours with all the software installed.
- Flexibility
There are many providers of VPS servers. It ensures that you can always find a provider who meets your blog hosting needs.
- Root Access
You will have root access just as if you were using a dedicated server. You can perform tasks such as installing additional software and modules.
- Powerful
Virtual Private Servers are usually located on powerful computers. This ensures that you can get reliable support for your blog, no matter how much traffic you receive.
- Security
The VPS hosting provider usually provides great security against DDoS attacks and they have a team in place working to stop any security breaches.
- Easy to Upgrade
As your blog grows, you can upgrade your plan with just a few clicks. A dedicated server means you have to wait for new hardware to be installed and tested.
Cons
- Costs more than using shared hosting
- Configuring the server requires technical knowledge
- You do not have complete control over the system
Conclusion
If you are thinking of starting a blog, there are many options from which to choose. Take your time and conduct as much research as you need.
Once you are sure that you understand what it takes to host a blog, you can go ahead and pick the plan that meets your needs. When picking the provider, costs should not be the most important factor.
Look for other features that will ensure your blog will run without any problems.