In this third article of the series, we’re going to look at web hosting options for the photographers who choose to go the route of self-hosted blogs.
Articles in this Blogging Basics for Photographers series include:
1. Deciding Whether to Start a Blog for Your Photography
2. Blogging Software and Services
3. Web Hosting and Blog Set Up
If you decide to go with a self-hosted platform like WordPress or Movable Type, then you’ll need some space to store your software and content at. You need a web host that will be available 24/7.
The good news is that there are some great hosting options out there that they are very affordable. Unless you are going to be delivering hundreds of thousands of page views each month, you can probably get away with a “shared” server. A shared server means that your blog will be stored on a server that also has several other websites on it.
If you are going deliver several hundred gigabytes of data every month (or if your photos end up on Digg.com often), you may need to think about a VPS or dedicated server, which puts you in your own server space. I just mention this to make you aware of it. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which works for you.
For mere mortals, most can live with shared servers, which are the cheapest kind. Two hosting services that are very appealing and receive high ratings right now are Hostgator and Bluehost. You can get server space with either in the $5 to $8 per month range.
What you typically see with web hosting rates is one that’s quoted if you pre-pay for a 2-year period. For example, I have a Bluehost account for other blogs that I pay a lump sum of around $180 every two years, which works out to a rate of about $7.50 per month. If I didn’t pre-pay for the 2-year period, it would cost me something like $10 per month, or $240 every two years.
While hosting providers want to get you signed up for as long term as they can, there’s really not much of a downside for committing to lump sum payment for web hosting so long as you choose a reputable host.
I’ve had personal experience with Bluehost and have to say that I’m pretty pleased with their services. Both Hostgator and Bluehost use a backend management platform called Cpanel. This allows you to perform otherwise technical tasks with a few clicks of the mouse. For the sake of user-friendliness, I highly recommend choosing a hosting solution that offers Cpanel.
Installing Your Software on the Server
In order to get your blog up and running, you have to get WordPress on the server and connect it to your domain name.
This isn’t hard.
Now, you can get all fancy with FTP uploads, setting up a database, and so on. WordPress.org has instructions for manual installations.
Or, you can just use the included tools from hosting providers like Bluehost and Hostgator. Both providers offer a streamlined approach for installing WordPress blogs. I like Bluehost’s Simple Script integration a little better than Fantastico Deluxe, which I believe Hostgator still uses (someone let me know in the comments if I’m wrong about that).
Either way, anyone can install a WordPress blog with just a few clicks of a mouse on either hosting provider.
I highly recommend going this route for WordPress installations. Not only for the sake of the installations, but the upgrades are so much easier this way as well – a single click generally takes care of it.
Wrapping It Up
So, that pretty much covers the basics of web hosting for self-hosted blogs. Most people who are starting out will do fine on a shared server, which can be had for well under $10 per month.
My recommendations for hosting providers would be Bluehost and Hostgator. I have personally used Bluehost and have been very happy with the service and support provided. I recommend Hostgator based on their positive reputation and recommendations from others.
If you have something to add, feel free to drop a line in the comments below.
ossme says
I really found out that the best way is to make other people do it for you. I don’t know if I can post this but things like worldpress and squarespace do a good job and all you need to do is some little tweaking and you will be ready to post topics and images on your blog.
almostinfamous says
We have been hosted at This* Webhost and found it well worth the charges. customer support is very prompt, although i have had but one question to ask in all these days. (they also use cpanel and fantastico)
djib says
I personally use Pixelpost. I think it’s ideal for a photoblog (it’s its sole purpose).
Sawyer says
WordPress has a self-updating feature in the most recent versions – 2.6 and beyond, I believe. There’s no need to use Fantastico or similar scripts to update WordPress, now that it’ll do it itself.
As another requirement, you should have some sort of MySQL database with your webhost. Most hosts package it with a hosting package, but you’ll find some hosts that require you to pay more to add it to your package after the fact. I’ve helped several clients with setting up WordPress blogs and run into the problem that their host doesn’t offer MySQL databases unless you ask for it and/or pay more.
Eric Reagan says
Good points Sawyer. Thanks for chiming in.
gRGREG says
yeahaha!!
Kavita says
I am using Godaddy for my blog and am happy with their service. Godaddy has wordpress auto-install feature.
Manoj says
Question:
Is there a way to see how the pages that have been indexed are ranked without having to type it in at Google and then start searching ?