Choosing the Right Hosting Company for Your Blog

If you’re shopping around for website hosting, this article is going to cover everything you need to know about choosing the right hosting company for your blog.

TL;DR: Every blog needs website hosting. Your website hosting is like the plot of land where your blog is going to live. The best hosting companies for new and intermediate bloggers: Siteground and NameHero. Pick one based on your budget or keep reading for detailed instructions!

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WHY YOU NEED A HOSTING COMPANY

Every blog needs a website host.

Think of your website like a ‘house’.

Our domain name is like our street address for our house. If you don’t have a domain name yet, you can research choosing the perfect domain name right here.

Your website host is the place where your blog lives online.

It’s like the virtual plot of land where we build our house / our website. Everyone needs a hosting company because you can’t build your house without a place to build it.

Choosing the right hosting company for your blog is an essential part of your foundation!

So, let’s get right into our list of the best hosting companies and which one is right for you and your blogging goals.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT HOSTING COMPANY

Remember, the piece of land where you’re building your house (AKA: your blog) is going to be your website host…also known as, the computer servers that bring your website to life on the internet.

Remember, we aren’t building our house yet; we’re just choosing a piece of land where we want to get set up!

You have several options when it comes to hosting, but your host definitely need to include:

– Excellent support, ideally 24/7 support
– A good reputation in the community
– Free SSL security certificate
– Reasonable storage and bandwidth for the price
– Easy WordPress install

Three of the best and most affordable hosting companies are listed below, along with instructions for signing up for hosting.

Pro tip: before signing up for hosting, make sure you have chosen a very clear and specific niche and have purchased your domain name.

SITEGROUND

Siteground is the company that I have used for over 5 years.

They have excellent customer service, tiered hosting options that can grow with you as your blog traffic grows, and awesome step-by-step tutorials for all of your hosting needs.

Here is exactly how to sign up for hosting with Siteground.

Visit Siteground here.

Choose the option for web hosting.

You’ll then be prompted to choose between 3 options: Start Up, Grow Big, or GoGeek.

The StartUp Plan will usually be enough for someone that wants to set up just one blog and doesn’t have more than 10,000 visitors a month to that blog.

Select your plan of choice.

The next window that opens will give an option between registering a domain name with Siteground or using your own domain name.

For security, it is safest to keep your domain name and your hosting company separate.

So, be sure to buy a domain name through a separate provider, like NameCheap, and then select the option, ‘I already have a domain name’.

Type that domain name into the empty box and hit ‘Proceed’.

Next, you’ll enter your personal and payment information into the provided boxes.

IMPORTANT!!

You’ll choose an email address and password that will be attached to Siteground.

This is the information that you’ll need to access your Siteground dashboard in the future, so be sure to write it down or store it somewhere safe!

Enter your information, select the range of time you’d like to pay for in advance, then hit PAY NOW.

Now, you have paid for hosting and you have a few more steps to connect your domain name and set up WordPress.

Follow these steps to connect your domain name. Follow these steps to set up WordPress through Siteground.

ANOTHER GREAT HOSTING COMPANY

As much as I love Siteground, they have gotten a bit more pricey over the years.

If you’re looking for something a bit more budget-friendly, then NameHero is your best option!

NameHero checks off on all of the important points we listed above, and their starter package is much cheaper than Siteground.

Here is exactly how to sign up with NameHero for website hosting:

Visit NameHero right here.

You’ll select which package you’d like to purchase. Similar to Siteground, their starter package is usually more than enough for a beginner with lower blog traffic.

Once you select your hosting package, you’ll be prompted to enter your domain name. If you already own your domain name (and you should), click the option that says, ‘I will use my existing domain name and update my nameservers’.

Don’t worry, I’ll show you how to do this (it’s super easy)!

Once you type in your domain name and hit ‘Use’, you’ll be prompted to choose configurable options.

Check the box for the options you’d like to add. No matter what, make sure you check the box for the FREE Let’s Encrypt Auto SSL; that is your security certificate, which is essential.

Hit ‘Continue’ and then enter your personal and payment information on the following page.

You will need to enter an email address and password for your Namehero account: choose something you’ll remember and store it somewhere safe!

This is the information you’ll use every time you login to your NameHero account.

After making your payment, you’ll be directed right to your client area, where you can start setting up your website, email address, all of that good stuff!

But as of right now, you’ve got your domain name and your hosting bought and paid for – so you’re almost there!

You’ll still need to install your free WordPress software through NameHero with this tutorial here and change your domain name nameservers with this tutorial here.

After doing those two things, you’ll be ready to officially set up your site!

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST HOSTING COMPANY FOR YOUR BLOG

You only need to choose ONE hosting company for your blog.

And the choice you make between these three really only depends on your own budget.

They are all great hosting companies and any of them will be a good fit for a new or intermediate blogger. Once you have over 100,000 page views on your blog every month, you’ll want to upgrade to Managed Hosting and use a company like WPX or BigScoots.

After purchasing hosting, you can connect your domain name to your website host. We’ll cover that next!