One of the major setbacks for many aspiring bloggers is the cost related to starting up their own self-hosted blog.
Self-Hosted blog is blogging on your own domain like www.myblog.com, as opposed to free blog platforms such as WordPress or Blogger, which will have domains like myblog.wordpress.com or myblog.blogspot.com. The problem with not having a self-hosted blog is you won’t be able to customize freely, such as theme editing, adding Adsense ads (for WordPress), and last and most importantly, OWNERSHIP of the blog posts & articles written. Believe it or not, there is a clause stuck in the large pile of Blogger’s User Agreement whereby it states that the posts, articles and everything you upload on Blogger remains a property of Blogger, not you. Pretty scary isn’t it?
So self-hosted blog is the way to go, but the cost of buying a domain and web hosting service is pretty costly. Most web hosting companies only offer semi-anual or annual billing, so it will cost at least $50 for you to start up.
However, there is a much better and not-so-costly way to start up:
Step One – Buy a domain at Yahoo! Domains
Yahoo! Domains is currently offering domains for only $1.99 for the first year (other sites charge at least $8.00). This is by far the cheapest price to get your own domains (either .com, .net, .org, or .biz). Go to Yahoo! Domains to grab this offer.
Step Two – Signup for Web Hosting at Hostgator.com
Hostgator is one of the few web hosting companies that offers a monthly billing cycle. While most companies will lock you up in at least a 6 month contract, Hostgator offers a monthly contract.
On top of that, Hostgator is packed with many features, including Fantastico which will automatically install WordPress to your hosting account in just a few clicks.
Hostgator is currently running a special offer where hosting for the first month is only 1 cent ($0.01)!Use their coupon WORDPRESS and you will only be charged 1 cent for your first month of hosting with them.
Step 3 – Update your Yahoo! Domain’s Name servers to point to your Hostgator Web Hosting Account
This last step is pretty tricky, but there is an extensive step by step support on Yahoo. If the going gets real tough, you can request Yahoo! to call you and help you with the configuration.
So there you go. I’m sure almost everybody can now afford their own self-hosted blog. No more annual contracts which will cost a lot, only low monthly payments.
However, if you can afford a little extra, iPage Web Hosting is currently offering 1 year worth of Unlimited web hosting for only $42. Checkout their offer.
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Instead of saying something like "Coming Soon" or "Under Construction", I am going to say that I am still thinking of what to write about myself. A Jokester most of the time and a serious Dad for those rare times, this blog is dedicated for helping other noobs like myself.