Your blog needs a home. I wish I could tell you that finding that perfect home for your new “money maker” was as simple as pulling up a few listing on Zillow or Trulia. Spoiler alert. It’s not. The home for your blog is going to be the basis for everything you do. It not only has to be able to hold everything you put into it but it should also be capable of keeping up with new trends in technology and those pesky things they call widgets and analytics. In a nutshell, your blog home is your hosting platform.

Let’s continue with the idea that you need a place to house your blog because for me it’s easier to explain. You can choose to have your blog “Hosted’ by companies like Blogspot, Square Space, WordPress.com or Blogger which provides the actual platform for you to create your blog. Think of these sites as cookie-cutter housing developments. You have an all-in-one place to store your stuff, but regarding customization and upgrades, you’re limited, or you can’t do them at all.  Should you choose to want to take your business to a different hosted platform, you’ll, unfortunately, have to leave your site there and start all over.

If those cookie cutter homes aren’t your thing and you want the ability to get those custom upgrades to have your home stand out in the crowd, you’re going to want to be Self-hosted. Self-hosted sites are basically sites you build from the ground up. You provide the hosting, you provide the themes, and you make all the customizations. It’s all on you! Many people opt to go the self-hosted route, especially if they’re planning on turning their blog into additional income.

Self-hosting can range in cost from $2.75/month for your first year all the way up to $100+ depending on your traffic and storage needs. This cost wouldn’t be so bad except the cost increases after the first year is over. When choosing your hosting company cheaper is far from better. You don’t want to skimp on this cost. It’s essential that your host be reliable and have a dedicated customer service/tech team available to help you through any issues you may have and as a new blogger, trust me you’re going to have a lot! When polling groups of blogging friends one of the main pieces of advice that kept popping up was to take your hosting seriously and make a solid investment in dedicated hosting.

My host of choice is HostGator. I’ve had a Baby Plan with them since 2011 and their service has been so excellent that I’ve honestly never thought about switching. During late night blogging binges, I’m able to call HostGator and talk with an experienced rep that helps to resolve any issue I have. I purchased a BabyPlan because it allowed me the opportunity to host more than one URL and it has larger file storage. This plan costs $358.28 for three years.  This cost would be significantly more if I didn’t choose to renew for three years at a time. While I’m paying a good chunk up front, this works for my budget as it allows me to break the price down into a monthly fee that I can save in a  sinking fund until the next renewal comes around.

Before you choose your hosting company make sure you do your due diligence by researching the pros and cons of each. Find out how much it will cost once your intro year is over. Learn about the support features and what your hosting company will and will not do regarding helping you navigate through IT issues. Ask other bloggers what companies they use and how often they have to deal with their site being down. You’re going to want to know how much traffic your blog can handle at any given time should you go viral.