CHOOSING A DOMAIN NAME
Your blog’s domain name is the unique part of your blog’s Uniform Resource Locator (URL), which is connected to your blog only. Your URL is your blog’s complete web address that people type into their browser search bars to find your site.
BUYING A DOMAIN NAME
. Newlife : (www.newlife.co.za).
. Blue Host : (www.bluehost.com) BlueHost is a popular blog host. You can also purchase domain names from BlueHost.
. GoDaddy : (www.godaddy.com) Go Daddy has been around for a long time and is a popular site for hosting and domain name registration.
. Host Gator : (www.hostgator.com) Host Gator is another commonly used site for purchasing both blog hosting and domain names.
DEFINING HOSTED AND SELF-HOSTED SOLUTIONS
HOSTED BLOG
Many blogging application developers, such as WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad, offer an option for you to host your content on the developer’s server. Some blogging application developers provide hosting service free of charge while others require you to pay a fee (typically a monthly fee, which could be based on the amount of content the developer is hosting for you). Blogs hosted through a developer usually include an extension on the blog’s URL such as .wordpress.com, .blogspot.com, or typepad.com.
By hosting your blog on the blogging application developer’s server, you benefit from a consistently high up-time (meaning your blog will be live and functional when people look for it), lower costs, and fewer maintenance hassles. Of course, even developer-hosted blog content can have problems, but going this route significantly reduces the potential for issues and makes it incredibly easy for a nontechnical person to have a web presence.
SELF-HOSTED BLOG
Rather than hosting your blog content on the blogging application developer’s server, many people choose to use a separate web host to store their data. This is referred to as self-hosting your blog. A web host is a company that provides internet connectivity and makes space on its servers available to individuals and organizations for a fee, where those people can store data for their web sites, blogs, and so on. The self-hosting option is best for people who aren’t afraid of technology and are willing to pay a bit more for greater flexibility and functionality for their blogs.
By self-hosting your blog, you benefit from complete control of your blog in terms of design, content, and functionality. If you self-host your blog, you must find and pay for your own domain name as well. Domain names are inexpensive and provide consistency for people to find your site in the long term as well as unique branding for your blog.
IDENTIFYING POPULAR WEB HOSTS FOR SELF-HOSTING YOUR BLOG
The following list offers several of the most popular web hosts to get you started on your research into finding the best blog host for you (you can find more web host reviews at: http://weblogs.about.com/od/choosingabloghost/choosing_a_blog_host_software_provider.html):
. Newlife : www.newlife.co.za
. BlueHost : www.bluehost.com
. Go Daddy : www.godaddy.com
. Host Gator : www.hostgator.com
. HostMaster : www.hostmaster.com
. JustHost : www.justhost.com
CHOOSING A BLOGGING APPLICATION AND WEB HOST
If you’re going to host your own blog, you need blogging software. These three blogging applications are the most popular: b2evolution, Movable Type, and WordPress.
TAKING A LOOK AT THE MOST POPULAR BLOGGING APPLICATIONS
WORDPRESS.COM (www.wordpress.com)
WordPress.com is the free blogging application provided by Automattic.Inc. Blogs published through WordPress.com are hosted by WordPress and include the domain extension .wordpress.com. Unless you pay a premium fee, in which case you can use your own domain name. WordPress.com bloggers are limited in terms of the functionality they can add to their blogs. For example, you aren’t allowed to display ads on a WordPress.com blog, and the design templates (called themes in WordPress) you can use to customize your blog are limited unless you pay a fee to access premium features.
On the other hand, WordPres.com is very easy to use, and you can have a blog up and running within minutes. WordPress.com does offer some useful features, such as automatic pinging of sites such as Technorati and Google as well as a comment spam – blocking plug-in (Akismet), post labeling, categorization trackbacks, and more.
WORDPRESS.ORG (www.wordpress.org)
WordPress.org is offered by Automatic,Inc for free. However, you need to purchase your own domain name and hosting through a web host. Additionally, WordPress.org requires some technical knowledge or, at the very least, a lack of fear of technology. That’s because to use WordPress.org, you need to be able to upload the application to your web hosting account and customize it yourself. This isn’t hard to do, particularly because most web hosts offer tools that make installing WordPress very simple, however, it’s a process that some bloggers prefer to avoid.
When you use WordPress.org as your blogging application, you have complete control and maximum flexibility. Developers around the world create tools, called WordPress plug-ins, that make it easy to add new features to your blog and custom designs are simple to create. Additionally, you can use any kind of money-making tools on your WordPress.org blog that you want. Of all the popular blogging applications, WordPress.org is the most flexible and works closest to a true content management system without being technologically overwhelming.
BLOGGER (www.blogger.com)
Blogger is owned by Google. It was one of the first blogging applications to gain widespread appeal and continues to be the most popular blogging application for several reasons. First, it’s completely free to use, and second it offers enough customization that many small and midsize blogs work very well on the platform.
In recent years, several new features have been added to Blogger that make it more competitive with WordPress.org, such as the ability to host a Blogger blog through a web host of your choice. Also, Blogger blogs always included the .blogspot.com extension until recently when new functionality was integrated allowing users to use their own domain names. However, what sets blogger apart from other blogging applications is its free price tag coupled with the lack of restrictions related to monetization. In other words, you can publish ads and make money through a free Blogger blog.
Blogger offers the most functionality of the free blogging application choices.
TYPEPAD (www.typepad.com)
TypePad, is owned by Six Apart and remains somewhat popular as a blogging application despite the fact that users are limited in functionality and are required to pay a monthly fee. That’s not to say that TypePad isn’t a good blogging application. Many users are very happy with it because TypePad makes design and maintenance very easy. However, users have to forego extensive customization and features unless they upgrade to more expensive user packages.
TypePad blogs include the .typepad.com extension, but users can purchase and use their own domain names. TypePad also allows users to include ads and other monetization programs on their blogs.
Be sure to check the features offered for each TypePad package on the TypePad web site to ensure you’re willing to pay the required amount to set the functionality your blog needs.
CONSIDERING OTHER BLOGGING APPLICATIONS
MOVABLE TYPE (www.movabletype.com)
Movable Type, is owned by Six Apart, the same company that owns TypePad. The primary difference between Movable Type and TypePad relates to the management of multiple blogs – something that Movable Type was built to do and does very well. Also unlike TypePad, Movable Type blogs are self-hosted, so you store them online through a web host, which offers you personal domain section and greater customization. However, there is a fee to use Movable Type if you want your blog to have multiple authors or extensive features, which users must pay in addition to web hosting and domain fees.