Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Everyone Needs a Little Help

This week I got an email from a friend asking for some advice on obtaining her own domain. She wanted to know if she could keep her blog hosted free on Blogger without changing anything but her url or if she would need web hosting. Now, I know a lot of people say that moving away from any kind of free blogging service and getting your own host is the only way to go, but so far I've been happy using Blogger. Also, I'm a little intimidated by the whole process of choosing a web host and moving my blog, and I'm especially intimidated by the idea of learning how to use and maintain a new blogging platform because those same people say Wordpress is the only way to go.

I probably shouldn't let that stop me, because there is plenty of information available to help with all that, from lists of the Top 10 web hosts that include ratings, rankings, and reviews (the 3 Rs?) to articles that cover every topic. Because I'm really cheap in all things, I'm most likely to look first at the hosting plans that cost the least - some of these are $3.95 and $4.95/month, which doesn't sound too bad. However, there really is more to it, which is why I'm glad that the top 10 sites listed at Web Hosting Rating list what's included in each plan as well as customer reviews. Customer service and support seem to be really important to the reviewers, so I think when I decide to choose a web host, that's going to be high on my list, too. I'll also probably check out the Awards page to see which host was voted Best Blog Hosting, as well as Best Budget Hosting.

For now, like I told my friend, it's OK to stay with Blogger, but when she's ready to choose a web host, visiting Web Hosting Rating can help in choosing the right one.