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Posts Tagged ‘Blogging’

Selecting between Paid vs. Free Blogging

December 20th, 2009

Before you even start blogging you need to choose between free hosting services and a paid site. There are pros and cons of each decision and it will affect every other aspect of your online journal or business.

Decide the purpose of your blog. You need to clearly define why you are blogging before you decide on a blog host. If you have a personal blog or online diary then a free host may be the way to go. Most professional bloggers will tell you that’s better to start out owning your domain name so you can build a brand. Owning a name ensures that you have complete control over what happens on your site. You’ll be able to add as many plugins or use different template designs which may be restricted on free hosting.

Know what you are getting into. A free blogging service may seem like the way to go just because the price is right. You’ll want to carefully consider all of the restrictions that this may place on you. You won’t own your domain name and you’ll have to abide by their terms of service. Your free blog may even be marked as spam and taken down without notice.

Reevaluate your budget. Money is probably the only thing holding you back from getting your own web host. You might be able to make more money with a hosted blog, more than enough to cover your costs. It may be helpful to break the money down into a month by month basis so you get a clearer idea of what it will really cost you.

Think about the future. You might want to start off with a personal blog but be surprised how much it will take off. At some point you may want to switch your personal blog into a business blog. Many free blogging sites don’t let you monetize your site in certain ways. If there is even the slightest chance that you will turn your blog into a business to make money you will be better off going with a paid service so you’ll own the domain name.

Evaluate how computer savvy you are. Lots of web blogging hosts have simple software that you can use with a little education. You may find that free blogging sites really cater to the beginners; you might not even need to learn code. You might find the design templates offered to be static and your blog won’t have all the functionality you want. Millions of other people may use your template so your blog may just look like everyone else’s.

Looking to find the best deal on hosting a blog, then visit HAB to find the best advice on whether or not top blog hosting is right for you.

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How to Find Cheap Website Hosting for You

December 19th, 2009

When you start your own business you probably don’t have a lot of money. You may even be considering going with a free host. You need to stick within your budget while still maintaining a functional and professional looking blog or website.

Take into account the overall presence of your blog. If you are just blogging as a social activity you probably don’t care what your domain name appears as. A business blog requires more credibility; your own domain name will make you appear successful because you don’t rely on free hosting. With a little knowledge and patience you can get a website that looks like a designer has been there without shelling out the cash. Stick with modern straightforward themes to seem well qualified.

Shop around before you buy. The lowest priced company isn’t always the best host; it can even cost you more money in the long run. Read other customer’s experience to avoid scams and find a host that will actually do everything that it says it will.

Beware of credits. With all of the free domain names and credits that come with a contract it might look like you are actually making money by signing up; this isn’t exactly true. You’ll find that to get use out of a lot of the free advertising you’ll have to make deposits into your account first. Sign up because the host itself seems good not because the offers seem too good to be true.

Consider how your site may expand. Your website or blog will probably start out small and you might not even have several sites that you need to host. You want to get a plan that will work for you in the future as well as right now. Watch out for plans with big jumps between size levels so you can grow your blog into what you want it to be.

Double check your shopping cart. When you get to checkout your price may have skyrocketed. There are pages of offers that you have to go through before you get to the payment screen so make sure that the add-ons haven’t inadvertently been added to your plan. Some add-ons may be worth the extra money. If privacy is a concern then pay a few extra dollars to make your WHOIS info private.

Looking to find the best deal on hosting a blog, then visit HAB to find the best advice on whether or not blog hosting websites is right for you.

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Choosing Website Hosting That is Right for You

December 18th, 2009

Choosing webhosts hosting may seem difficult because all of the different services may blend together. It’s an important decision that will decide how effectively your online business runs as well as your basic stress level.

Look at your technical knowledge before picking a company to go with. You’ll need to be able to use an ftp program and install your own blogging software since most hosts handle the more technical aspects. A free host will work well for beginners and you won’t have to worry about many of these issues.

You’ll also want to consider why and how often you’ll blog. If you blog everyday for business then a paid host is the way to go because of the added control and options. If you are just going to write whenever you feel like it and you don’t have a niche in mind then you want to go with a free host. Free hosts may mean that you’ll be able to keep your blog up longer because it won’t seem like a waste of money if you aren’t getting all of the visitors that you wanted.

Carefully research downtime. You don’t want your site to be inaccessible when people are trying to get to it. A lot of customers write about their bad or good experiences so do a little reading. Some companies will even backup their data often in case your blog encounters a hacker.

Functionality is another key component when choosing blog web hosting. Your host needs to have everything to run your blog software of choice but should also have easy ways to update the software; this will save you hours of time. You’ll still need some technical knowledge which you can pick up along the way but your host can alleviate some of the more time consuming tasks.

Look for a plan with room to grow. An unlimited bandwidth host makes sure that you don’t run into nasty fees or downtime because you’ve exceeded your usage. It’s always nice to have an account where you can put more than one domain name in case you decide to expand.

Money may be the deciding factor when you choose which company to go with. Often you’ll find that a lot of the services cost exactly the same so you might have difficulty picking the best one. A little bit of reading makes sure that you go with the real deal instead of a reseller who may not know what they are talking about.

Looking to find the best deal on hosting a blog, then visit HAB to find the best advice on whether or not blog hosting sites are right for you.

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How to Choose the Best Blog Software

December 15th, 2009

When you are just starting to become a blogger you’ll need to decide which blogging software you want to use. There are several different ways to go with this so you’ll need to make the decision that is right for you and your business. You can find free services or go with a paid variety.

Decide exactly what you are looking for and expecting. Some software may promise to do everything for you except make the coffee. You’ll have to decide whether your priority is saving time and keeping things simple or being able to accomplish a lot of technical tasks. The intent of your blog is also important because free software is fine for a personal blog but you might need paid software for a more professional site. It also matters whether you are going to use a free host that comes with the software or whether or not you are going to pay for your hosting.

Evaluate how much time you want to spend on education and learning technical items. You might find that the free software is easier to navigate than the paid variety. You’ll need to be able to use an FTP with your own host. Simpler, free versions won’t have all of the options. You need to make a choice between a technical host with lots of options and easy and basic.

Give the program a test run. Many of the main blogging software services out there have a free service. This includes hosting but you’ll have to abide by all of the rules which may even include zero monetization at all. You can setup a blog in just a few minutes as a trial to see which platform you like better. You will probably want to make the decision as soon as possible just so you can get started on your own domain name and build your own links.

Decide whether Wordpress is right for you. Wordpress seems to be favored among professional bloggers. There are always a lot of upgrades and new features and plugins with this site. It might be more difficult for the true beginner but it can also be a lot more functional once you learn how to use all the features.

There are pros to using the blogger software. Blogger software is free and easy to use. One of the disadvantages of going with Blogger is that you don’t have a lot of options. This software will also just give you a few templates; but you won’t have to know html to customize things like the font color and size.

Looking to find the best deal on hosting a blog, then visit HAB to find the best advice on whether or not inexpensive web hosting is right for you.

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Hosting a Blog Made Easy

December 13th, 2009

Hosting a blog is an opportunity to get your own piece of real estate on the web. You can start your own business or share your personal thoughts. You don’t need a lot of technical knowledge to become a blogger. It does help to choose the right blog host to alleviate a lot of the stress, worries and downtime.

You can go in with high expectations with any web host and it could still backfire in your face. You don’t want to believe all of the promises that they feed you, but you also want to make sure that you get enough services to have a functional blog. You’ll probably have to sign a year long contract with the company to get the best price so ask all of your questions before you sign on the dotted line.

It’s essential to do some research before you sign up with a company. Many contracts last as long as a year, so you don’t want to be stuck with a service that doesn’t fit your needs. This can affect your entire business; in fact it’s the foundation for an online business. Look at both the websites claims and actual user reviews on other sites to make sure that you’re actually getting usable and functional space.

Communication is key when looking for website or blog hosting. This is really true if you are a beginning blogger or you don’t have a lot of technical skills. You’ll probably have dozens of questions and you need a team that is dedicated to helping you with your problems. Before you sign a contract give the customer service representatives a trial run by emailing them a few questions. You might even want to call the phone number to make sure that it’s legitimate.

One of the first quandaries you’ll hit is whether or not you should go with a free host or a paid host. Going with a free host may seem like the obvious choice because it’s free after all. However, there are severe limits on the design, content and even the overall life of your blog when going with a free host. You might not even have all of the SEO capabilities that you’ll need to be successful.

The best blog host will be functional. Every blogging software has different requirements so you want to know which one you’ll be using before you sign a contract. Even if you aren’t tech savvy you’ll still need to check to make sure that your basic installation and updating needs are met; otherwise you won’t have a blog at all. If you’re a beginner then look for a company that offers Simple Scripts or Fantastico which will make installation as easy as clicking your mouse a few times.

The best blog web hosting is the one that allows you create a blog with a minimal hassle. Blogging should be easy and fun. If you have the wrong web host it seems like it’s just the opposite. Finding the right fit allows you to network with people all over the world and create a space that is as unique as you are.

Want to find out more about hosting a blog, then visit Sara Gilmore’s site on how to choose the best blog web host for your needs.

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Tips for Choosing a Shared Web Hosting Plan

November 21st, 2009

Shared web hosting is often the best option to choose when you’re ready to put your website online. However, the number and variety of web hosting options can be overwhelming. Let’s try to cut through some of the confusion and see why shared hosting is usually your best choice.

Shared hosting, sometimes referred to as “virtual hosting”, is where most people start out. In this arrangement, the same server or computer is shared by many different web sites. All of the sites have their own individual slice of data storage capability, and they are securely separated from other sites on the same drive.

Shared hosting will provide sufficient disk space and resources for most individual, hobby, or small business sites that don’t have a lot of traffic or tons of multimedia running on their site. A certain amount of system resources are allocated for all the sites on the server, and they share these resources.

If any particular website on a shared hosting system suddenly gets a big rush of traffic, it can create some bottlenecks and potentially compromise the performance of other sites on that same server. This is unusual but can happen in certain circumstances.

As an example, let’s assume someone has a site selling a product, and they put a video on the home page that automatically starts playing when someone visits the page. Then, they buy advertising on highly active traffic exchanges, which results in other people hitting their page very frequently. Each time someone hits the page, it starts loading the video. This is unusual activity that can drag the performance of that server down and affect other sites on the same server. Good hosting companies have people online 24 hours a day watching for things like this, and making adjustments accordingly.

Great news – shared web hosting isn’t expensive any more. It is very affordable for almost anyone. You can get reliable hosting for 5-10 dollars a month, which was unheard of a few years ago. Prices have dropped considerably. Go for a month to month plan at first, to see if your host’s support and performance is acceptable. If it is, you can sign on for longer periods at discounted rates – an even better deal.

Many hosts offer site creation tools. These tools make it easy to design and publish a respectable web site from scratch. One thing to be careful of – find out if the site creation tool is proprietary to the host. In some cases, these tools are tied in with the actual site in such a way that moving to another host would be difficult. Others are standalone and the site you create is like any other, and easy to move if desired.

For most people hosting personal or small business sites, shared web hosting is the most practical solution. You get everything you need in abundance, and you always have the option to upgrade your plan to a dedicated server should your site expand and require a higher level of service.

Are you trying to find the best hosting plan for your website? Get the scoop about the inexpensive plan that performs well for most people – shared web hosting. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

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Go With These Blogging Services

October 30th, 2009

I’ve been a blogger for several years now, and I’m always open to the idea of trying out new blogging platforms. I’ve blogged about a wide range of topics, and my friends often laugh at me about this. From the tongue scraper to wine goblets, I’ve blogged about just about everything.

At first, I was a little lost for ideas as far as which blogging platform to go with. I must have tried fifteen different services when all was said and done. The most important thing to me was that I had something that wasn’t too difficult to work with.

I’ve been through my share of good ones and bad ones, and I’d like to tell you about three of the blogging platforms that I’ve found to be the best of the bunch. The best part is that these are all free.

1. Blogger. Google’s blogging service is a great one, and it couldn’t be easier to set up a blog through this. It’s free, it’s intuitive, and you’re sure to get indexed pretty quickly because of the company behind it all.

If you want something a bit more sophisticated in terms of giving your blog a custom look and feel, then I’d go with Wordpress. There are literally thousands of templates and themes, not to mention the great plugins that automate so many tasks that’d normally require some pretty heavy programming.

If you’re into the idea of expanding the offerings of your blog with many nice, fun widgets, Wordpress can be a great way for you to go. It’s free to set up, and there are thousands of widgets that you can add to your blog at no cost.

3. Posterous. This is a new blogging service that I think is really cool, and may just catch on one day. Basically, all you need to do is send an email to Posterous, and they’ll post your email as a blog, no matter where you are.

Not only does it handle text, but you can give them videos and images, which they’ll do the same with as well.

Read more writing by this writer at the Little Tikes kitchen blog.

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