Do I Need a Domain and Hosting?

It is fine to get started on a hosted solution like
 

Blogger.com or WordPress.com. They will allow you
 

to learn the basics of blogging and web publishing
 

 

without spending money. As soon as you nail down
 

these basics, however, it is vital to buy your own
 

domain name and to purchase a web hosting
 

package with some company.
 

Why? There are several reasons. First of all when
 

you use those hosted services you don't really own
 

your website, and they could shut it down if they
 

believe you have violated one of their policies.
 

Secondly, with your own domain and hosting

account you will have more flexibility and features
 

on the technology side. This means that you will be
 

able to choose different content management
 

systems to install, special scripts and so on.
 

Finally, having your own domain name will add a lot
 

of credibility to your blog, as most beginners (and
 

spammers) use free hosted solutions.
 

The question then becomes: What kind of domain
 

name and hosting should you purchase?
 

Here is a rule of thumb you can use. For the domain
 

name, aim for something with two words and a
 

.com extension. If you have a blog about diets, for
 

example, you could try dietspot.com or alldiets.com.
 

But be warned, finding a good and available domain
 

is not easy, and you will probably need to spend
 

days on the task.
 

For the web hosting, choose a shared hosting plan
 

based on Linux (as opposed to Windows), and make
 

sure that it uses cPanel (the standard software for
 

hosting management). If you don't know how to
 

identify these two things, just email the customer
 

support of the company asking whether or not they
have it...

Posted in: Blogging