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Blogs are becoming as increasingly popular as reading the happenings each morning in the daily news.  While it’s a fact that almost everyone has the ability to blog, there are several things you should know beforehand to be considered productive.  Prepared with the knowledge of your initial blogging needs, and equipped with a reliable and affordable blogging host is essential for success in the blogosphere.

Assessing Your Blogging Needs

When looking for a dependable, yet, affordable, blogging host the first thing you want to consider is whether or not the available package meets your individual blogging needs.  Assessing your initial needs requires you to have a basic understanding of how much space your blog will claim on the blog host server, and if the hosting package fits your blogging budget.

Depending upon the blogging platform of your preference, any required plug-ins installed to run your blog, plus the additional space needed for the initial blog scripts, estimated disk space usage is around 10MB.   While most free blogging hosts support such basic blogs, however, if you intend to install video features, then the resources required are typically more than a free host sustains. Additionally, installing popular platforms such as WordPress is as easy as allowing users to automatically install platforms effortlessly using cPanel.

Reputable Blogging Platforms

If you’re searching for a trustworthy and free blogging platform to get started, consider the following favorite among established bloggers:

• Google’s Blogger – A free, web-based easy-to-use platform allowing users to edit using Microsoft Word and Google Docs.  Virtually instant blog set-up.  Ideal platform for beginners.
• WordPress – A known favorite for being a free web-based blogging platform that’s loaded with features such as trendy themes and plug-ins.  WordPress is not recommended for users wishing to profit from affiliate marketing.
• Live Journal – A popular and versatile blog host offering free and paid packages, with over 18 million customers.
• Tumblr – Another free web-based platform, although ostly popular for micro-blogging allowing users to post frequent short posts similar to Twitter.  Ideal for individuals desiring to blog without the required time and effort as a full-fledged blog.
• Posterous – Yet another free web-based blogging platform, but with a different spin.  A single e-mail to Posterous allows you to set-up an account and blog your thoughts via e-mail; however, not to be confused with micro-blogging.

As in web hosting, you should demand and receive excellent customer service when troubleshooting an issue with your blog.  Although for the most part blogs are usually not as complicated to maintain as fully-featured websites, however, you should still expect to encounter technical difficulties at some point in your blogging experience.  Inquire if the blog host supports third party scripts, offers 24 hour customer service support and provide the appropriate contact information visible on the company’s home page.

Armed with the knowledge of your blogging needs and a reputable blog host, the sky is the limit in the blogosphere.

In order to host your first blog, you must plan thoroughly as there are so many different options available. Some bloggers host their own site, while others host from their computer. The latter method saves money and allows for complete customization and control. Despite these few advantages, web hosting has become inexpensive so it’s best to leave it to the professionals.

Free Blogging Software

The majority of blog owners choose WordPress for their blogging software. WordPress provides endless features and is free. The program is resource-intensive but usually isn’t an issue unless the site receives a high volume of traffic.

The installation of WordPress is a breeze, even for a newbie to the blogging industry. If this proves to be too difficult, there are free blogging services offered at WordPress.com and Blogger.com. A major advantage of these two sites is they are easily indexed by search engines so all information is available during a search very quickly.

Make it an Experience

The whole process of blog creation and hosting is an experience. You take different steps and build on those that precede them. Nothing in the blogging process is permanent so feel free to experiment with different combinations of features. Also, adding high-quality content is the key to having your blog be viewed by many visitors.

Treat your blog as something that’s important but not complex. Little technical knowledge is needed to start a blog; you just need an idea, commitment and a computer. Once you have the site running, it’s up to you where you want to take it. Many individuals blog to release frustrations, discuss an important topic or monetize their site in an attempt to make money.

Once you acquire your first reader and begin to build a subscriber base, you’ll be on the right path toward achieving your goals. As traffic increases, consider upgrading your hosting plan to accommodate.

An Overview of the Steps

To get started, register your own domain name, and don’t use a free service. This allows for complete control over every aspect of your blog. Begin with a shared hosting plan. As traffic increases, inquire with your provider the hosting plan to switch too and take it from there.

Luckily there are numerous sources available on the internet that can answer almost any question you have. It’s advantageous to register at blogging forums like on WordPress.com because there are many advanced bloggers that can further assist you. Whichever decision you make, blogs generate an exorbitant amount of traffic so your ideas will be viewed by thousands of visitors.

Right, mates – more info about blog hosting coming here in a bit, including my top 10 chart as soon as it’s ready. I don’t want to put up anything until I’ve gone through my ratings process.

Sometimes web hosts will have very similar packages, pricing, and stats for web hosting. If this is the case, it can come down to how long the company has been around (their track record so to speak), or other extras that the web host offers. For some, getting access to a full and complete knowledge base about web hosting issues is what makes the difference in choosing a web host.

With that in mind, here are some things to consider when choosing a web host and looking at their knowledge base.

• Do They Have One – If the web hosting company doesn’t have a knowledge base at all, it may be a sign that you don’t want to work with them.
• Is it Current – Even if the web host you’re considering has a knowledge base, you should do some queries to see how current the information is. They could have the best documents on an early version of Plesk or cPanel, but if it’s not current, it does you no good.
• Is it Active – Along with being current, you should see if there’s a way to see new knowledge base articles so you can tell how active it is. Also, are you allowed to add your own knowledge to the ‘base?

These are the basic things you should consider when thinking about knowledge bases and web hosts. The knowledge base shouldn’t be your only concern, but for most people it should play at least a small part in making your decision. A knowledge base can be really helpful with your web hosting activities, so you should make sure your web host has a good one that’s current.

Disagree? Let us know by leaving a comment below! That is what Web Hosting Break is all about.

If you are thinking about starting your own web hosting business, it might be best to find a web hosting job with an already established company first to see how things are run from the inside.

If you have the skills to scale a web hosting operation on your own (or have the funds) you may not need to go this route, but for the rest of us, finding a web hosting job may give you an inside look at what’s needed to eventually start your own web hosting company some day.

Before you go this route, here are some things to consider:

• Corporate Theft – Don’t plan on getting a web hosting job and sneaking around to get the super secret documents that will show you how to make fast, crazy cash. The secret to wealth is hard work (with a few other things thrown in, of course.)
• Gather Information – That said, keep your eyes open for how things are done. What software will you need? How can you do more with less people if you were in charge of your own web hosting company? You may also find that running a web hosting company is a lot more than you thought it would be.
• Don’t be Discouraged – If you do think it’s overwhelming, remember that you don’t need to start as a large company. Few companies start that way. Most start small and grow over time. By knowing the basics of running a web hosting company, you can see where you need to be in X number of years.

If you’re thinking of someday starting a small web hosting company (or even a large one), getting a web hosting job at one of the bigger companies first may be a wise idea, especially if you have little web experience. On the other hand, if you have been recompiling Linux kernels since you were 8 years old, just get out there and work and your web hosting empire will grow over time.