Self-Hosting

Making the move to self-hosting seems to be the ultimate goal for most bloggers and understandably so.

But it is a major step and one that takes a lot of time and research.

You can read about my personal experience here. But if you want to explore the process for yourself, check out my mini-guide below.

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel because there are a lot of great resources out there that have more detail than I could ever put here. Finding them though takes some time so I plan on saving you some by putting all these useful links in one place!

Why Self-Host? | What to Look For | Pick A Host | A 6 Month Reflection | Helpful Links

Decide why you Want to Self-Host

Self-hosting can be quite expensive for someone who just does blogging as an occasional hobby. While WordPress.org (the most popular website platform that helps you create the pages and posts) is free, you need to find a host (some place for your site to stay on the internet so people can find it) for your site and that is what costs you money (in addition to the fee for your domain name/web address).

If you are happy with the free platforms WordPress.com or Blogger provide, you may not feel the need to switch and that is ok! But if you want more freedom when it comes to themes, colours and plug-ins, you might want to consider making the switch.

What to Look For in a Host

There are so many web hosting parties out there that it can be overwhelming. Below are some great links to help you make that decision.

First, get acquainted with what you want out of a host via Nosegraze

>> Nosegraze has a ton of great articles but this one helps you narrow down the differences between different hosting sites and why prices can differ. It’s great if you know nothing about hosting.

Chris Lema also has a nice hosting breakdown too! And First Site Guide has a ton of free resources as well!

Things to consider:
- whether the price is a locked value or a promotion
  - some sites have super cheap deals but it may only be for the first month or for the first year of service
- whether they will migrate your old blog to the new one
  - sometimes this is included in your package or a separate fee
    - WordPress.org has a great “DIY” guide for that here
- any restrictions on plug-ins or content
  - some hosts will only let “approved” plug-ins run
- payment methods and terms
  - sometimes if you pay annually instead of monthly, it is cheaper
- their customer support options
  - online, phone, email or 24/7 support
  - they may also have guides for how to perform certain things on their website
- reviews on their “downtime”
  - you don’t want to pay a lot of money only to have your site down 50% of the time
  - note any reimbursements or discounts if downtime occurs
  - note any statements regarding follow-up of downtime
- if they use wordpress.org or whatever platform you prefer
  - WordPress.org is probably the most popular, but there are other platforms out there
    - First Site Guide has a nice breakdown of the other platforms
- whether your domain name is included or charged separately
  - if you already have purchased your domain, check that it is transferable

Picking a Host

Reviews on Various Hosting Sites (these are not affiliated links):
Some Hosting Sites (these are not affiliated links):
- Nosegraze
- Safe Shark Hosting <–This is who I am with!
- Site Ground
- Blue Hosting
- Three Words Host

What it came down to for me when picking a host was customer satisfaction, downtime and flexibility. Safe Shark Hosting was highly recommended from fellow bloggers I chatted with on Twitter.

As I said in my Self-Hosting announcement post:

[Safe Shark Hosting] have a great package and the pricing was comparable to what I would be paying elsewhere once everything was said and done. The domain was included in the pricing and I didn’t have to pay extra for ID protection OR migration to the new server. They also had great reviews when it came to customer service, took Paypal, and boasted fast speeds and little downtime. I also like the fact that they are a smaller company and not some larger one that worries more about profit at the end of the day than customer satisfaction.