A Simple Blog Hosting Guide for Startups

Key terms:

• Domain Names 
• Web Hosting Accounts
• Basic and Advanced Web Hosting Accounts
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress 

Why do You Need Solid and Reliable Hosting for Your Business? 

The Answer:  Reliability, Compatibility, Functionality, and Speed.

TYPES OF HOSTING

Shared Hosting is a hosting account which has numerous shared accounts on a single server, sometimes even with the same IP Address.

Reseller and VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting depends on the Hosting service and how they have it setup though.  The main difference is that with Reseller Hosting you have the ability to Resell Hosting accounts under your main account.  Reseller Hosting and VPS Hosting are the same thing really, just the VPS packages don’t usually come with the ability to Resell.

Dedicated Servers and Cloud Hosting both required Intermediate to Advanced Skills in setting up and Managing. Cloud Hosting is like having a Dedicated Server, but more setup is involved, depending on the host once again.  Large websites with huge amounts of traffic require Dedicated or Cloud Hosting to support them.

Here are a few things to consider when looking for a Blog Web Host:

• Must be a Linux Host.  (WordPress runs best on Linux Systems and most of the Plugins and companion products you will want to use do to.)
• Must have around 500MB+ of Space.
• Must have between 500MB to 1GB of Bandwidth.
• Must be a cPanel/ WHM (Web Host Manager) Host for ease of use.
• Must use PHP5+
• Must have at least 64MB (or more) of PHP Memory (most substandard shared hosts use 32MB)
• Must Have PHP Timeout Settings of at least 60-120 Seconds (most hosts will not tell you this)
• Must Be Server Buddy Plugin Compatible

I also Recommend running the ServerBuddy WordPress Plugin on any new Hosting account you have to ensure all Server Settings have been Optimized to run WordPress.  ServerBuddy is still just for a basic setup of WordPress and does not encompass more complicated software.

RECOMMENDED HOSTS

• HostMonster
• Site5
• LiquidWeb
• Servint
• Storm on Demand by LiquidWeb (*Profit Marketer is hosted by SOD)