Want to Become a Serious Blogger?
Being a blogger is a thought that many people who surf the Web think about at some point. The reasons for starting your own blog might be about as diverse as the number of topics that you could come up with to write. Many bloggers start a blog just to have a place to voice their opinions. Others have an immediate objective to build a successful blog site, which gradually becomes financially lucrative.
No matter what the goal of your blog turns out to be, you’re going to need a website. Unless you own a giant private server, which is highly unlikely, you’re going to need to choose a hosting agent for your new website.
What’s Your Objective
The first thing that needs to be determined is your objective. Answering this question will indicate all the steps that follow. If you’re only interested in a place to log your opinions or ideas about certain topics, then you might be able to survive with a free blogging platform. Anyone who aspires to be a blogger needs to keep in mind the old adage, “you get what you pay for”. Free blog platforms are just that, free places to voice opinions and ideas.
If you aspire to be more than just someone who hopes to get a few of their blogs read from time to time, washed away in the mass of bloggers, then a free site might be okay. However, if your goal is to be considered a serious blogger, especially if you hope to earn some money with your blog, you’re gonna need a website and a host for that website.
Why Your Blog Needs a Website
Since you’ve read this far, you must have already decided that you want to be more than a page full of opinions floating around in cyberspace. You want to be considered a serious blogger. To accomplish that goal, whether it is only to have your voice taken seriously, or to make serious money, your blog needs a website.
When you own your website, you control how it is set up and how your content is presented. You choose your layout, your colors, your images and how your readers can comment on what you write.
Being part of a free blogging platform gives readers the impression you may not be that serious about what you’re writing. Having a hosted website that is your own, displays to readers an immediate sense that you want to be taken seriously as a blogger.
How to Pick a Web Host for Your Blog
Once you’ve come to the conclusion that you’re serious about blogging, it’s time for a website. You’re going to need a Web host, and that can be almost as important as deciding you want to be a serious blogger. You don’t want your readers to show up at your homepage, watching the load wheel turn round in circles.
Hosting Packages
Picking a Web host is as much about getting a functional server as it is about maintaining a budget. Sure, you don’t want to throw money out there unnecessarily, but you also need to be able to handle the projected amount of traffic you think you will generate. One nice thing about most host services is that they will allow you to upgrade when you blog turns highly successful.
Most bloggers start out with a shared hosting package. This means you will share the website hosting expenses with a number of similar lower volume websites. It’s kind of like sharing an apartment with a roommate to split expenses.
If you think sharing space is going to be an issue because you’re already projecting a high volume of visitors to your blog, you may want to consider a virtual private server. This is like owning a whole floor of apartments in a single building. You have room for lots of visitors with bogging down your site.
The difference between these two hosting options can be marginal in price, but critical as your blog increases in popularity. When you’re speaking with a representative for a Web host, ask them if upgrading is an option without excessive extra fees.
Pay close attention to how much they try to up-sell you to the next higher hosting package. Reputable hosting services will not try to force you into a package that you do not need as beginner blogger. They will explain to you the price difference and how why you may, or may not need a higher volume server.
The ultimate hosting package is when a blog reaches such intense popularity that the visitor traffic approaches a thousand or more visitors a day. When a blog becomes this popular, it’s usually becoming profitable as well.
Now, you will want to consider a dedicated server, or a situation like owning all the apartments in the entire apartment building. You want to be able to handle as many visitors to your blog as you can.
Design & Theme Templates
Getting a blog started really only depends on making a decision between the right host, and the right hosting package. However, after you have the website named and a host option picked, you need to calculate how much time you want to dedicate to the technical side of developing your website, and how much time you want to spend creating what’s most important to your blog, content.
Picking the right Web host involves one other important question before you sign up. What types of hosting platforms do they offer bloggers? Bloggers should always consider the WordPress platform as the benchmark for blog websites.
There are hundreds of themes and layouts available, and WordPress hosting is geared towards blogging. If you choose a Web host where you can easily install the WordPress option, you will be able to one click through most of your set up and design tasks, and get down to doing what you love, writing a blog.
Deciding to write a blog is step number one. Figuring out how serious you want to be taken as a blogger will lead you to step number two, picking a host for your blog’s website. Securing the best Web host will help you get to the most important step, writing your blog.
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