I’ve had my share of web hosts, some good and some not so good. Before leaping into the world of self-hosting your own websites, you really need to evaluate your needs (which might grow over time). Most bloggers choose shared hosting, which is your website hosted on a server along with a number of other people’s websites on the same server. Then there is dedicated hosting, which is your own dedicated server, or partition on a server; or a middle-ground kind of hosting called vps hosting. Dedicated hosting is usually much, much more stable and reliable, but it is also extremely expensive. VPS hosting is more affordable and offers many of the perks that dedicated hosting offers; shared hosting is the least expensive and the least reliable.
It’s this kind of stuff that you need to know before taking the leap. I didn’t know a lot of stuff, so I wandered around, wasting a lot of time, energy, and effort. I did learn a lot in the process, but I would have rather avoided some of the snarls of ignorance.
Here’s a good site to get your feet wet with web hosting: WebHostingGeeks.com. This site has been up and running since 2004, providing the Internet with excellent and readable articles, tips, and reviews of web hosting terms, concepts, and providers. The Web Hosting 101 series is excellent; I go there sometimes to keep up with latest developments and news, and read reviews of some newer hosting companies. WebHostingGeeks also has tips on SEO and SEM strategies, informative articles on domain names (and ICANN has recently internationalized the Internet, so the structure of domain names will soon be changing), and more. It’s a good site to check from time to time, looking at news and reviews. I like the consumer reviews of the various web hosts, too. WebHostingGeeks breaks them down into “Best Dedicated Hosting,” “Best UNIX Hosting,” Best Email Hosting,” “Best Budget Hosting,” and more.
Before taking the plunge to have your websites hosted, be sure to learn a little of the trade. You will avoid a lot of headaches, and you’ll also get the most for your money. Be sure to take a look at WebHostingGeeks.com. It’s totally free to peruse, and you will learn a lot!
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Tags: reviews, web hosting, web hosts
Reviews are very important when searching out web hosting for your websites. When I was new to web hosting and looking for a reliable host, I made a few mistakes. Most of my web hosts have been outstanding– even some of the smaller companies I contracted with– but the best so far is Hostgator, in my opinion. I have a dozen blogs, and Hostgator has been able to handle them all, without a hitch.
Everyone’s hosting needs are different. You may desire “shared” hosting (your website is on a server along with dozens of others’ websites) or “dedicated” hosting (the server is basically all yours), or VPS hosting (VPS is “virtual private server”). See this outstanding article about the pros and cons of VPS hosting, as well as other excellent articles.
I recommend that you study up on web hosting and all the options and information that comes with it, BEFORE you make the leap. I know that if I had done so, I would have avoided a lot of hassles. The WebHostingGeeks.com website is full of very good articles and information about the world of web hosting (and more). I recommend it as a good start in understanding how web hosting works, and what will work for you. They also have reviews of popular web hosts, and a blog filled with tips and articles to make the most of your web hosting. Check them out, bookmark the site!
Tags: web hosting
A fellow blogger recently asked, “What’s the difference between hosting yourself and just doing it with wordpress.com?” I get this question a lot, and I realize I have never written a post about it. So I thought I’d explain.
Wordpress.com is the website where you can start up a free blog and get it hosted for free on the Wordpress servers. It’s something like Blogger, another free blogging company. And, just as with Blogger where your blog’s domain has a “.blogspot.com” after it, all the free Wordpress.com blogs have the “.wordpress.com” after it. For example, I have a Wordpress blog called www.newyorktraveler.wordpress.com. It’s free for me– it was free to create, free to set up, and it’s free for me to maintain.
Wordpress.com blogs have stricter regulations than Blogger blogs. Wordpress does not allow sponsored posts; you cannot access the database files to your blog, which means you cannot customize it wholly and you may only choose from a select (albeit large) group of blog themes; you cannot place widgets or ads in your sidebar (such as Entrecard, Adgitize, etc). And last I heard, unless it changed somewhere along the way, Wordpress inserts ads into your blog periodically.
Wordpress.org is the website that showcases the blogging software (the “platform” they call it) that you may use for free on your own hosted blog. The Wordpress.org software is installed onto your web host’s server– you install it. It’s not difficult to install, but it’s a technical process even though web hosts have made it as easy as possible. I recently installed two new ones for my daughters, so this is all fresh in my mind.
Wordpress.org software hosted on your own web hosted server will NOT assign a domain name for you. You must register one yourself, at eNom, Godaddy, or even through Google (which has the least expensive option, at $10). Your domain name is a “house address” of sorts. You want to build a dwelling located at that house address, but you need two things– a house and a rented lot. The “house” is the Wordpress.org software and the “rented lot” is the web host you choose.
I’ll discuss more about getting a self-hosted Wordpress.org blog in the near future. I hope this helps clear up a little about the difference between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org blogs.
Tags: web hosting
It REALLY pays to choose your web host wisely. I have had my share of good– and bad– and VERY bad– choices. :-p I’m very happy with my current host, but it was two years of ups and downs before things really got settled. Websites are precious things– I make my living off of them. Having a good, reliable (and affordable) web host is SO important. So shopping around, comparing prices and services, and most importantly, reading reviews, is incremental. If you are looking around for some reviews on phpbb web hosting, b2evolution hosting, vBulletin, Wordpress, or Joomla web hosting, look no further than WebHostingRating.com. There is a plethora of reviews and comparison shopping there. They also have excellent articles on shared hosting (which I currently have), options of hosting multiple domains (which I am looking into), cPanel tutorials, security issues, FrontPage hosting, and more. It’s a good site to get a view of what’s out there. When you are ready to start up your own home or business presence on the web, I always recommend getting your own domain and hosting your own websites. And the more informed you are from the beginning, the better. Check out WebHostingRating.com for more information.
Finding a web host can be confusing. There seem to be more and more of them, and who knows how they rate in quality and price?! I have tried my hand with quite a few number of web hosts before I finally landed with the best so far, Hostgator. Back when I was just starting out hosting my own websites, I had no idea about ratings and if there were any websites with simple charts, revies, and breakdowns of costs and services. Now, there’s WebHostingRating.com. It’s a greta site to visit for information on various website hosting. The main page has a table of the top ten web hosting providers for 2009, independently rated. The chart includes prices, space, traffic, and a review of the company– it’s a great read if you’re looking into your own web hosting, or are looking for something better (or less expensive). It’s a terrific breakdown of stats at a glance.
Also, you’ll find some good articles on various web hosting topics, including b2evolution and Joomla web hosting (stuff I’ve been very interested in tinkering with) reviews. I like that WebHostingRating.com also features “hosting awards” with special acclaim going to particular companies that score high. Cool site! Check it out: WebHostingRating.com.
Tags: reviews, web hosts
