Hi friends!
Starting out as a new blogger isn’t easy, especially if you’re the farthest thing from a tech guru like me! I wanted to start compiling a page where you could come for help when starting your blog.
Disclosure: some links here are affiliate links and I will make a small commission if you use my codes/links etc. but all opinions provided are ALWAYS my own.
Hosting:
1st question is self hosted or through a free platform like wordpress.org. Self hosted will allow you more freedom in terms of advertising, monetization and you own your own content! If tomorrow, wordpress.org shut down your blog, all your hard work for the past years would be gone without you having any recourse.
So for that reason alone, I chose a self hosted blog. I also like being able to choose a clean name aka www.yourname.com. Wordpress.org blogs are harder to find as the URL is a lot larger. I pre-paid for 1 year, which included the domain name.
Ultimately, you need to decide based on your own goals 🙂 .
My current host for this site is SiteGround.
I cannot say enough good things about them. Their customer service is 100%, every time I’ve had issues (very few – and not related to their hosting but my own fault) or questions, their chat is available. They’re super friendly and knowledgeable, even teaching me a few things to make my life easier. Not to mention, I appreciate not calling someone in a 3rd world country and being on hold forever. Their plans were a bit more pricey than the mainstream hosts out there but you get what you pay for, right!
…to be continued! If you have specific questions you would like answered, please feel free to contact me.