Part Two of our presentation on self-documenting included a brief discussion of using a blog for distribution, or just organization, of your diary online. This is to provide some guidance for the beginner non-tech-oriented diarist who wants to know more about the first steps into the blogosphere.
Starting a personal blog
If you are interested in starting a blog, one of the first things you will need is a place for it to live on the Internet. You’ll need a web host for that. The other thing you must have is a domain name, the address of your web site, also called a URL. Which comes first? Actually they tend to be simultaneous—you can research the availability of a name at the same place where you hire web hosting. Normally, people spend time making a list of possible names (because your first ten or hundred choices may be taken) and then go online to web host provider, input the names until an acceptable one is located, and buy it on the spot along with the service. But finding a good web hosting provider takes some work, so while you are creatively working on your name favorites, you should be using the other side of your brain researching possible hosts.
This is going to get a bit down in the weeds, so here is the top-level view: The most popular web hosts have good customer service, offer good building tools, and charge less than $15-20 a month for all the things you do want to have, like full service, reliability, privacy, the ability to grow, and a range of features you may not need but they are there if you change your mind. Most lists of popular hosts include BlueHost, GoDaddy, SquareSpace, and HostGator, but definitely shop around. We don’t intend to endorse anyone here, as there are pluses and minuses with every choice. We are just want to give you a jump start on your research. Hopefully this will help you make good decisions.
How to find a good web hosting provider:
- Beware of the lowest price offers.
- Saving money is great, but not if the level of support is non-existent. Which is not to say you need to spend more than necessary. It just means do the math and look at the total cost.
- Check the bump up price when the introductory offer expires.
- While you are at it, check the cost of everything else, like a “free” domain name. That’s just for a year, maybe. Then what fees kick in?
- Look at the tools they provide for building the site. That software (called the Content Management System) could be hard to learn or have proprietary components that will cause problems if you ever want to migrate to another host. The most beginner-friendly is probably Square Space, which does have proprietary software but what you get is so great you may not ever want to leave. Blue Host is known for their support services, but you’ll find WordPress, their favored Content Management System, is not as user friendly as some alternatives, although it is very flexible, has a huge number of templates, and designers who know it, love it. WordPress is also the closest thing to a universally accepted Content Management System, so migrating is rarely an issue. GoDaddy is probably the largest US website host, offers WordPress but also their own software, Go Central, which is reported to be easy for beginners but with the tradeoff of fewer design options.
- There are even free web hosts, but avoid them, you get what you pay for.
- No or almost no customer service.
- Co-hosting with perhaps the most vile spammer in the world, so that your own emails get redirected to your recipient’s spam folder or your site triggers a warning that it is unsafe because the entire server has been tagged as bad news. Note: Co-hosting, or sharing a server, is a normal and generally benign practice that is an economic necessity if hosts are to offer low rates. The problem is that bad actors tend to like those zero rates, too.
- Some free services put ads on your site, which you have no control over—that kind of defeats your own branding.
- Or you might strike internet gold and get popular. If your traffic exceeds some unspecified “customary” amount, the free may flip to fee.
- Speaking of fees, one thing not to skimp on is privacy.
- Hosts are legally obliged to record the name and contact information for the “owner” of each domain they host. This goes to a global database that is open to all. It’s a marketer’s playground.
- However, for a small fee the host will provide an intermediary who is tasked with keeping your identity secret. This is one thing you really do want unless you want no privacy ever again and are open to a tsunami of junk mail and spam. If the host does not offer that service, keep looking.
- Try to find a host you can stay with.
- Moving from one host to another can have unforeseen pitfalls. Software can be incompatible, or they can just make leaving more trouble than it is worth (that often seems intentional). It is worth spending time researching your choice before jumping into what should be a long-term relationship.
- Multi-year deals are also a way to save money, if you are confident you have a good match.
- Think about what the website is for, and where it might go, when you are looking for a match.
- If your only ambition is to have a blog or other small piece of Internet real estate for your personal public musings or to market your personal brand (think job hunting), then you might need only the most basic bare-bones hosting service.
- If you intend one day to build this into a small online business, you need a host you can grow into. Adding even a seemingly minor feature for instance to sell or even to collect contact information can require a higher level of service which, if your host does not offer levels of service, might mean moving to a new host and doing all this over again.
- You are going to run into a lot of words and acronyms whose meaning might be unknown to you as you do this research. Make friends with Google and build your vocabulary. Don’t be intimidated. It is probably a good test of a host’s customer service if they are willing to answer questions, so call them and ask.
- Research the competition as well as the presumptive favorite before buying.
- Call up a salesperson at one of the hosts you might want to work with. Be nice. Establish a rapport and ask for a better deal than what you found online. Salespeople can often provide a better price if they’re motivated to make the sale.
- Then call the competition, see how that goes.
- Customer Service. Imagine the worst crisis you could encounter with your website. Now, think about the type of support you want. Phone? Live chat? Email? Or all three. When the site hits the fan, do you want U.S.-based support or overseas support?
- All of this matters when your site has crashed or you have to resolve a problem quickly. Maybe for a simple blog, speed is not of the essence, but your time is valuable.
- If possible, try to test drive the support team. Call. Chat. Email. See what wait times are like.
- Check online reviews, but always more than one source. Reviewers often get paid if you follow their links and end up in a deal with one of their recommended hosts. Not necessarily a conflict, but who knows what incentives are added.
- Network.
-
- Have a friend with a good site? Maybe a friend who knows people who have web sites? Ask around. People love to give advice.
-
- Ask any web designers you know who they use. I.T. professionals are also a great source of information. These folks can’t afford to work with a subpar company. By asking around, you’ll avoid bad customer service and big headaches down the road. If you have a trusted source, that’s a great blessing.