OK, let’s talk about hosting. I am writing this entire course as if you are going to host your WordPress blog and not use the free WordPress.com hosting. I’ve given you the reasons already. With that in mind, I really can tell you that there are only a couple of places that you need to look. Why is that?
- You want a host who is known for WordPress hosting, with an easy WordPress software install process.
- You want regular upgrades to the WordPress software as part of the hosting package, or even better, totally under your control.
- You want adequate service for an active WordPress blog, with all of the video and Podcasting you may choose to do in the future.
With those criteria in mind, I’m only going to give you a couple of resources, and they are based on my own experience with hosting providers when using WordPress.
- GoDaddy.com – Inexpensive and reliable shared hosting for your blog. I find GoDaddy support to be very responsive as well, with telephone support as part of the package.
- The Recommended Hosts at WordPress – This list changes as WordPress gathers information. However, I would trust their site’s recommendations more than that of others.
The Mechanics of Hosting
What you’re getting with hosting is “space” on the host’s servers to store your blog, all of its text, images, videos, etc., and the capacity for your site visitors to view the site, downloading information in the form of page views, videos, etc. Generally, this has become pretty inexpensive.
You also get a certain number of email addresses you can use for your identity and sales operations. Many will provide up to 100 email addresses in their most basic packages. With this extensive storage and download space, as well as email addresses and database capabilities, you have the platform on which your WordPress blog site resides.
When you deal with one of the recommended hosts with simplified installation of a WordPress blog, you get all of the software for the blog, as well as the latest version of SQL databases to file, store and deliver for view all of the information you place in your blog.
Important WordPress Installation Parameter
Once you’ve set up a hosting account with one of the vendors, you’ll then tell it to install the files, databases and software for WordPress. At this point, take great care to make the right decision as to the “directory” where you want it to be installed.
It’s your entire site to be found with your domain name directly - In other words, when someone types in YourDomainName.com, you want them to come to your blog directly. It is your home page, and not a subset of a larger site. This is your entire site presence. You want to install into your “root” directory to make this happen. In other words, install into http://yourdomainname.com/.
It’s a subset of a larger site – Your blog will be a part of a larger site, probably with a button and link to “Our Blog.” You would be installing into a sub-directory of the main site, like http://yourdomainname.com/blog.
Make the right decision here, even if you must call their tech support to be sure you don’t goof. If you go with the fact that WordPress can provide your entire web presence for business, then the best way to do it is in the “root” directory.
