Writing a blog has been a steep learning curve for me! I am not very technologically savvy so am very reliant on my in-house expert Chris! Two years ago I hadn’t got a clue about coding, wouldn’t have any idea how to run a website. Now I am reasonably confident about most elements and I like to try to find solutions myself rather than running to Chris at every problem.
He has however brought my attention to the issue of website hosting as my blog keeps running out of memory and he is nagging me to look for alternatives. Having done a little bit of research it looks like I need to begin by considering what my blog’s needs are so that I can determine which platform would suit me best and then shop around for the best option.
So what will I be looking for in website hosting?
Firstly I need somewhere capable of hosting WordPress blogs, ideally on an installation managed by the host themselves so I don’t have to worry about updates and security patches.
It would need to be located in a reliable and robust datacentre – preferably with an SLA of over 99.5% uptime (even this would allow for an entire day and a half where your blog is offline).
The pricing structure of the host would need to scale to accommodate growth in a way where I don’t have to sell the kids. Having plans that you can upgrade makes sense if you want to grow your blog and business (and I do!)
It is worth searching around to see if the company has a good track record of dealing with support queries well, you can be left completely helpless if your blog goes down and waiting for business hours in another country to get a response isn’t acceptable.
I would also be drawn towards a provider who offers to start with a 30 day trial so I don’t get stuck in a year long contract on a host who doesn’t fulfill my needs or simply isn’t up to the task.
The success of mobile platforms is important as technology is rapidly changing so my blog’s mobile appearance needs to be covered by the host. I like to think that my blog is read by mums hiding in the toilet, trying to get five minute’s peace away from the kids!
I need to get my head around SEO. I was inspired back in September at BlogOnXmas but time still seems to be slipping away from me and I haven’t given it the time. Some hosts offer options to make SEO analytics more accessible to improve traffic and relevance. This is definitely something that I want to have sorted in order to move my blog forward.
As always I am happy to ask for help and if you have any hosting tips or suggestions then I’d be grateful for any advice! Have I missed anything important that I should be considering as a priority when researching website hosts?
.
*Collaborative post
5 comments