Ray Pigott When it comes to starting your blog, if you are new to creating a website and designing a space on the internet for yourself, it can be pretty overwhelming—for those with little to no techie knowledge, knowing what you do and don’t need to get up and running can be like sifting through a minefield. Sure, you can ask for advice, but the chances are that advice won’t be as helpful as you need it to be.
One major thing you need to consider is where your new blog will be hosted and by whom. You can choose to host your website on a free platform such as Blogger or WordPress, and you can even pick a blog name for free too, and it will give you a URL something like this: mynewblog.blogspot.com or mynewblog.wordpress.com
You can, however, choose to purchase your domain name and set it up to remove the .blogspot or .WordPress. Or you can choose to go self-hosted, meaning you move away from these platforms and are in control of your website via using the services of a hosting company that effectively houses your website.
While there are pros and cons to both options, many bloggers, especially those looking at making a career from blogging, choose to go self-hosted; however, this isn’t a requirement.
If you choose to go with a hosting service provider, what type of hosting do you need to consider? This post looks at three popular blog hosting options.
Shared hosting
Typically most bloggers will be using shared hosting as this is a cheaper option for them. The blog will be hosted on a server with other blogs or websites using the same service provider, and you all take up a little bit of space on said server. While this is a more cost-effective solution, it isn’t optimal, and the actions of other sites on your server can significantly affect your blog’s performance.
Shared hosting is like renting an apartment in a complex. You have your own space you can lock yourself away in, but you need to coexist with neighbours, and their actions in the communal areas can affect your tiny apartment.
Dedicated Server
Dedicated server hosting is undoubtedly the best option for your blog. You can rent an entire server for yourself.
A dedicated server is only necessary for massive operations with hundreds of thousands or millions of monthly visits. Dedicated Servers can be more expensive because you are not sharing the server with anybody else. It’s yours.
To put it another way, a dedicated server is like having your own private house. It could be a modest house or a vast villa, but it’s gated in, and no neighbours will bother you.
Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is when your data is kept in “the cloud” across several servers worldwide. Your website is never dependent on a single server, so if one fails or throttles, the others in the network will pick up the slack. If something goes wrong, it won’t affect your website.
In a sense, cloud hosting is like owning a hotel pass that permits you to stay at any 4-star hotel globally. You may quickly check out and check-in at the 4-star hotel next door if those staying in the next room to you are disturbing you.
