Every blogger should self-host their own blog. Preferably on WordPress (.org not .com). However, the process can be daunting for many bloggers and people always ask me how to do it. So in this post, I’ll explain why you should self-host and give you a quick video tutorial on how to buy a domain name and set up hosting for your blog using my favorite service, Bluehost. Then, if you’re ready, you can go ahead and purchase your domain name and a hosting plan for today’s assignment.
What is Self-Hosting?
Self-hosting is a term used for any individual who hosts their own website themselves rather than a free service like Blogger.com or WordPress.com. Many newbie bloggers get confused and think that just because they’ve purchased a domain name through GoDaddy or some other service that they now have a self-hosted blog. No, you just have a domain name. Of course, you can redirect your domain name to your free blog, but it’s still a blogger.com or wordpress.com blog, just with your own domain. You will need to purchase a hosting plan to be able to self-host your blog.
Why You Should Self-Host Your Blog
The most important reason to self-host your blog instead of going with a free blogger.com or wordpress.com account is that you own your blog. You own the data and no one can take it away from you. With a free account on Blogger, for instance, you don’t own your content, Google does. No, it’s true. Earlier this year, Google deleted several music blogs from its servers because they claimed the blogs’ content violated copyright law. These blogs were hosted by Google’s free Blogger services and “received notices only after their sites – and years of archives – were wiped from the internet.” You damn sure don’t want that to happen to you!
Another benefit to self-hosting your blog is that you don’t have limitations on the kind of themes you can use for your blog. For instance, if you have a wordpress.com blog, you cannot upload any custom or premium themes that can often make your blog look more professional.
And finally, what many participants in the challenge found out on Day 1 was that if you have a free wordpress.com or blogspot.com blog, you cannot fully access Google Analytics to be able to analyze your blog traffic in a more sophisticated way.
Today’s Assignment
Buy Your Own Domain Name and Set-up a Hosting Plan
The video tutorial below shows you, step by step, how to purchase the domain name you want for your blog as well as one to three years of secure hosting for your blog. I use Bluehost in the tutorial because it’s the one I’ve been using successfully for over a year. It’s easy to use and mad affordable – only $7 a month! They also have a ton of great features that come with your hosting plan, including 24/7 support. I used them when I transferred my domain over from Yahoo Hosting and the tech support people saved my life.
Of course, you can go with any host that you choose, the process is largely the same. Whatever you do, just don’t use Network Solutions! More on that later, but they are the least WordPress-friendly host I’ve ever experienced. Most bloggers use Bluehost, Dreamhost, GoDaddy or Hostgator.
If you already have a domain: Great! Like I said above, you still need to purchase a hosting plan to be able to self-host your blog.
If you already have a self-hosted blog: Even better! Use today to catch up on all the assignments from Day 1-Day 6 and share your lessons learned from the blog challenge so far.
If you don’t want to self-host your blog right now: No worries. Use today to catch up on all the assignments from Day 1-Day 6 and share your lessons learned from the blog challenge so far.
After you buy your domain name and a hosting plan, you can easily install WordPress with just one click and then import your Blogger or WordPress.com content over to your new space. And don’t worry, there are tutorials for how to do everything!
If you choose to self-host your blog during the challenge, please share your experience in the comments section below!
Thanks for the great information! I purchased my domain name through Blogger. I believe they then got it through Go Daddy. How would i go about getting the information to transfer my domain name to BlueHost or another hosting site?
Also, can you recommend any hosting sites that bill monthly, instead of yearly. I can’t afford paying $100+ up front. But i could afford the monthly rate.
Bluehost has tutorials on their site and they will also walk you through the process over the phone at no extra cost. I think Hostgator bills monthly and I have seen several bloggers using it. Good luck!
First, I'm pretty sure on Blogger you can set up advertising without being self-hosted. However, more importantly, if people are still looking to complete this, I just got a referral thing from Fat Cow, my favorite domain registries, that is $2.95/month for new registries using this:
http://www.fatcow.com/secret
Use Code: AUG295
Plus, I get credits for everyone who uses it. So, feel free!
i know i'm late but here's my new site:
http://www.lorynwilson.com
i didn't want to get rid of black girl blogging, so i kept it as my tagline.
Rosetta,
just wondering what your set up is for multiple blogs: do you have multiple urls from one hosting account? I have been thinking more and more that I want any personal life blogging separate from my professional.
I really like the idea of self-hosting but I do not think it would be appropriate for me at this time.
I did however buy my own name as a domain name which I am pretty chuffed about.
http://www.aneldagrove.com
Securing your domain is paramount. Someone owns HellinaHandbag.com so, I had to order HellInAHandbag.me I thought it was slightly fitting seeing that part of my blog is about people seeing my exploits around DC as a self-proclaimed Soulcialite.
I would suggest a .me or a .tv domain but not a .org or .biz {and only .tv if you plan on having video posts. }
Still working on my list post, but this one was easy! Thanks! Got my own domain and hosting account already. I agree, it's the way to go. Even with data export from WordPress.com, I like knowing that the content and everything I do on the site is mine, all mine…
The .org is available so i guess i will go with that as well as my name.com. Thanks so much for the feedback and getting me to think about these things before someone snatched them up.
Congrats! I love it when people use their own names for their domain. That's personal branding 101 to me.
Ouch. That's a tough one. It's always ideal to have the .com or even .org address because they are more common for people to remember. I see people using .net, too. But .biz? Not so much. Plus, your site is not geared toward business, which is what the .biz represents. My first thought is to just use your name and host your candy shoppe blog on that domain.
Wonder what other folks think would be good alternatives?
Goodness! Can't believe I finished everything I planned to do today to rename and transfer my blog. It wasn't difficult at all (but I still have a few kinks to work out). Looking forward to continuing with the challenge!
I hope you'll end up being a “long-term” blogger! One thing I would do, though is buy my name as a domain name before someone else snatches it up. That way if you do decide to self-host, you will always have the option of using your own name.
Since my WebGuy is ghost (can't wait to become totally independent) I am not sure if I am self hosting or not.
I got domain name for my website 4RIISE.org from GoDaddy.
WebGuy designed my site and set me up on WordPress for the blog (btw, Day's 2 & 3 challenge not up because WebGuy has not responded to need to create space on site for both…the whole design thing is greek to me, willing to learn but WebGuy is holding me prisoner -he feels I might mess up the site!).
Of course, I have some autonomy on wordpress with new posts or edits in any pre-designed area on the site. However, noticed that all of my blogs on worpress don't appear as if I have run out of room…newsflash WebGuy, I need archives…urghh!
Hope you can read between my venting here…
The blog address is http://www.4riise.org/blog/. I do not see any reference to wordpress in my blog address, so is it self hosted? I don't think so because I did not purchase migrating wordpress to godaddy. I can't wait though because my format for the blog is so lame. I think I answered my own question but could use feedback in lieu of WebGuy. Good news is that I know I can get this done without him. Blog hosting is cheap on GoDaddy – as little as 4.99/mo.
Thanks for feedback Rosetta or anyone else. Will update soon on this challenge.
Yes getting the yourname.com will be difficult. I hate went search engines take domain name and just sit on it.
I'm still not sure I am ready to do this. My blog is only 2 weeks old today, and I am really not sure if it is going to be a long-term project. I will definitely save this information so that I have it all handy if/when I decide to make the switch.
I thought about doing that years ago but is easier said than done when you have common name (first & last). I went through many iterations before deciding on my url.
my url is through dotster. I looked at their hosting info and seems they have wordpress built in. I'll just need to take the time to set up and transfer. Thanks.
I really need to set some priorities on this one. In addition to Work In Progress (7 months old), I am attempting to start an additional blog which is more nonprofit career focused. I definitely need to self-host both, just need to decide which is more pressing: The 7 month old blog that has somewhat of a following, or the brand spanking new blog that would be used to attract potential clients?
I'm leaning more towards self-hosting the career focused blog to start, since this one DEMANDS a polished look. I will hold off on self-hosting Work In Progress for the moment, and focus on making sure the new blog is tight from the very beginning. Thanks!
So I pretty much decided to go ahead and purchase my name while it's still available however my current blog name, the candy shoppe, is only available with a .biz What do you think about that? Or should I think about rebranding as the blog is only 30 days old?
I am already set for this assignment. I do have one tip to share. Purchase your name as a domain name – yourname.com. I did this years ago but didn't used it until 2008. Before then I just had it redirected to my portfolio site at the time. If you don't want to do that you can always park it.
Right before I began the challenge, I decided to go ahead and pay to have my domain changed from the .blogspot to just http://www.myhairisme.com. So, I am already good on that point. I need to look into the hosting a bit more but you really can't beat $7.00 a month. I throw away WAY more than that.
It was important to me to at least have my own domain because I feel that it look more professional and serious. I am all for professional branding.
Great points, Amanda! I also didn't know about the Bluehost coupons – good stuff. So for folks who can't afford the hosting plan right now, they might be able to wait a bit and get a discount. You really can't beat $4 a month for hosting, especially with a service as great as Bluehost.
also, the nifty thing about self-hosting is that you can make money by setting up advertising if you want. you can't do that on a blog that isn't self-hosted. not sure if it's worth it for the little bit of traffic i receive, but at least that's an option. also, i dunno about anyone else, but i always get a little suspicious of sites that do that whole redirecting thing. i mean, i did it for years (up until a couple of days ago), but it definitely throws me off…
nifty thing about bluehost is if you follow @bluehostcoupon on twitter, they often have specials. i bought 2 or 3 years of hosting for $4/month.
Yes, your data is still being stored on wordpress.com. It sounds like you're just redirecting your domain name to your free wordpress.com blog. You would need to purchase a hosting plan to be able to self-host your blog. Once you get set-up, it is pretty easy to install wordpress and upload whatever theme you want. Your host will likely have tutorials, but they are all over the Internetz as well. Just ask Google
It's great that you back up your blog! I guess as long as you do that, you won't have to worry too much about your blog being deleted. Of course, if it was, you would have to figure out how to import the backups into another blog, but at least you would have the data. I chose to self-host my blog because 1) I wanted to brand my name with my own domain and 2) I wanted to make sure my content was secure. As a result, most people who find my blog through Google searches are using my name.
I've caught up previously on my other assigments. I'm currious for folks who have self-hosted why you've done so. I really (maybe naive??) don't have a fear that Google is going to delete my blog (unless, perhaps, I post too many Pottery Barn hacks…which I suppose is a real enough threat).
For me, this new into the game, without the worries that my blog will be deleted (which, self-hosted or not, makes a good case for backing up anything you would be sad to loose…photos, blogs, etc.), I would much rather spend my funds on advertising my blog and building up a following. Perhaps so that I can lose them one day when I'm deleted. But I've been blogging for 5 years and constantly backing up my blogs so…going with the “not broke” mantra for right now on the self-hosting bit. For right now. Whole limited resource allocation bit.
I own a domain that is linked to a wordpress.com account. so people can put in my url not the wordpress.com url. does this mean that wordpress is holding all my data vs me holding it on server by a hosting company? I paid a yearly fee to direct my wordpress to my url but it sounds like I need to set it up a little differently to actually own and control my content.
also where is a good place to learn about how to use templates with this method? at this point I am not looking to design the look maybe in the future.
I already host my blog, and it's a very good decision to do so. You've got all control of your content. If you want help with hosting or transferring your blog to wordpress, contact me at info at wildwomanfundraising dot com or my friend Steve Havelka (http://stevehavelka.com) and we can talk to you about it. Steve also offers hosting.
Mazarine
I finally got mine transferred from Blogger to my domain: http://blog.moredonors.com
This help page was really useful, if you already use Blogger:
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answe…
Nothing wrong with staying on Blogger, but if you plan on blogging for while, you'll probably want to eventually make the switch. I started with Blogger, but once I got to almost 2 years of content, I wanted my own domain and I definitely wanted to make sure Google couldn't delete my blog for any reason. I had built up too much of my reputation on it and couldn't take that risk.
I would definitely do it now rather than later. If I had to start over again from 2007 I would have self-hosted my blog from day one. You would still have wordpress, just a better version, so you would still have the widgets you have now. A self-hosted wordpress blog is still drag and drop.
The only way you can use wordpress.org is to self-host your blog. You have to buy a domain name and a hosting plan as described above to be able to do this. Once you get set-up, you can install wordpress from your new host and then import all your posts from your old wordpress.com blog.
How can you transfer your wordpress.com blog over to wordpress.org?
I have actually been contemplating this as my blog is new and it probably would be easier to do it now rather than when it gets more popular. The only qualms I have are with all of the wonderful things that come with my wordpress blog. Would I loose those things (i.e. the widgets and tools)?? I am decent when it comes to coding but it would take me so much longer to do that when I can just drag and drop on wordpress. Thanks in advance
Yeah… sorry, not gonna do that. Maybe in the future, but so long as Blogger is giving me what I need, I'm not paying for a service I can get for free.