The other day I was asked by a friend who wants to build a blog whether they should use Blogger or WordPress.
I said WordPress.
Then I mentioned that I wouldn’t use a WordPress hosted site though, I would host it myself some where cheap like Liquid Web so I was in complete control
I was then asked… “What’s hosting?”
Dang.
So let’s start from the beginning 🙂
Blogger and WordPress provide platforms that enable you to start a blog. I prefer WordPress because there’s a lot more you can do with it if you decide to grow your blog into a business. You can pretty much do anything you can imagine in WordPress.
When you register for a site with WordPress.com or Blogger.com then they host your website for you. That means they’re in control of the space where all your website content is stored on.
Call me paranoid, but I don’t like anybody to be in control of my stuff. Except for me!
So… the preferred option is to go and get hosting.
Hosting is when you rent server space off a company to put your website on. Although you’re renting it, you’re in control of how your website works and what goes on it. Most importantly, you can take backups that can easily be moved to somebody else’s hosting if you decide you don’t like them any more.
Bottom line is… you’re not always beholden to somebody else.
Once you’ve got your hosting you then need to get a domain name. These cost just a few dollars a year.
www.michaelwilding.com is an example of a domain name,
Once you have your domain name and hosting, you connect them together (you don’t need to worry about how, the hosting company will do it all for you) and then you can start to build your website.
Most hosting companies now provide a one-click install for WordPress, which does what it says on the tin. Installs WordPress on your website with one-click.
And then it’s up to you to choose from one of the many free or paid styles for your blog.
Okay there’s a ton more stuff you can do, but that’s the basics and will get you up and running. If you’d like to know more about hosting websites then hit reply or let me know in our FB group.
I’ve tried nearly twenty hosting companies over the years, and the one I would recommend is Liquid Web. If you want to check them out then here’s the link:
https://michaelwilding.com/recommends/?id=liquidweb
All the best,
Michael
P.S. Would you be interested in a complete blueprint to starting a blog, mailing list, generating content for it, generating traffic and building an income from it in any niche?
If that’s something you’d like, then let me know by replying to this email 🙂
What do you think?