Now you want your blog to be self-hosted, it is critical to know what it takes to have one.
What it takes
You need a domain name and a hosting solution.
Why?
Free hosting mostly is on a sub-domain e.g myblog.wordpress.com
- With self-hosting, you maintain your own domain as well as content. This means you have access to your custom domain, content and many more.
- You can create your own emails e.g [email protected]
- Have your own custom domains e.g. events.myawesomedomain.com
- Become a brand that you can be associated with.
The cost implications
Most services offer a combination of both the domain and hosting space. Depending on the number of emails, space required and bandwidth they can affect things like the ability to upload large content sizes. It also affects how your website loads in terms of speed access
Depending on the packages that the provider gives you can choose which one works best.
The support
Most people overlook this when choosing a service provider. The response time when it comes to sorting issues with hosting really matters. You should have your site being down for just 2hrs at most.
Types of self-hosted services
Shared hosting
Shared hosting refers to the hosting plan that has multiple websites hosted together and sharing resources on one server (disk space, storage, bandwidth and databases etc).
Most, if not all the web hosting providers offer this hosting plan. Shared hosting requires a dedicated web server provided by the web hosting provider.
pros
- Easy to install and maintain
- Cheap
Cons
- Limited access to code and modifications e.g some providers don’t give you https encryption services
- Limited to provider software e.g cpanel services
- Shared hosting means you share resources with other domains
- Not the best option for blogs with the best traffic
Virtual private hosting
Virtual private hosting or cloud hosting is where your website is hosted on a cluster of servers instead of having your site hosted on one server. In case of an issue, your site can be migrated to another server.
Based on the cloud computing technology, it allows numerous machines to work in synchrony as one entity. The success of cloud hosting is guaranteed by the presence of many servers.
Pros
- Full access to code and modification
- Choose what to install & what not to
- It is fast and flexible
Cons
- Expensive
- Hard to maintain and requires expertise to manage
From the above, you can choose what works best for you and your blog. Remember to choose a platform that you are comfortable with and that will give you the best services for the type of your blog