Sunday, March 4, 2012

4 Steps to a Self-Hosted Blog/Owned Domain

If you are looking forward to moving from free blogging platforms to self-hosted blogs or domains. The following are a few steps that can help in setting up your self-hosted blog; 

1. Decide your Unique Domain URL/Name
This is definitely one of the hardest step when it comes to self-hosting a blog. In most cases, the blog URL/name that you would like to use is already been used by another person. Use of online tools like Samurai can help you in identifying other available options/name from the keywords that you choose.

You may not find the exact name of what you wanted, but you will have a list of keywords to choose from and you are assured that  the blog name that you choose is not owned by anyone else. Read more on 5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Blog URL Address.

2. Purchase the Domain Name
Purchasing a domain name is a bit tricky as sometimes you may end up buying from a certain company to later realize that, all is not what you expected. Do some research to find out which companies do most people recommend. I would personally recommend you to buy a domain straight from the hosting companies like wordpress.org or if you are looking for cheaper domain, you can go for companies like Namecheap.

3. Select a Blog Host
These are companies that offer storage services for all files found in your website. If possible, pick companies with a good reputation though, this will depends on your budget. Unfortunately, companies with a good reputation charges very high in comparison with not so good companies.

You monthly fee would be as high as $150/month in comparison to $10 for those not so good companies. Hosting your blog in such company requires a stable income coming from the website. One advantage of using those big companies is that the service you get is of high quality.

4. Buy a Theme
If you are not good in HTML scripting or you are just a beginner who does not understand the scripting language, it is usually advisable to buy a theme especially if you are planning to use your blog for serious monetization purposes.

Do not be afraid to spend some extra cash on buying a customizable theme. A good theme will definitely help you in placing your ads properly for maximum blog optimization. You are able to take control of your blog.

These are 4 important steps that can help you to start your own blog but remember even after all this, what matters is the content. Quality content is only the key to a successful blog. 

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