[IB]

First, thank you to all the KBers who helped me make a decision regarding Wordpress.com vs Wordpress.org. I promised myself I'd make the decision today, based on your advice and I did. So now, I need to make the last decision.

For those of you joining in during the second season, I made the decision to go with Wordpress.org and I purchased a domain name.

Now, I'm seeking advice on hosting.

I've heard a lot of positives about HostGator and BlueHost, but I'm open to any suggestions. Please let me know your thoughts.

 

[Rich Walls]

I use and am satisfied with BlueHost, but I would hardly consider myself a heavy duty user.

 

[Al Schneider]

I have clients who use Godaddy, Bluehost, and Startlogic. They seem to be happy with them. As for me, I run my own servers in a couple of co-lo facilities, but I have used Godaddy before with some success.

 

[MsTee]

Since you'll not be running heavy processes and/or a serious database reliant website: HostGator or Bluehost is the best for you. GoDaddy isn't too bad either, although I just don't like that name. I've used Hostgator before, and from my experience, they were fairly easy to get a hold of and chat with. Their control panel to access your core files was a bit complicated though.

However, Bluehost seems likely to have current/up-to-date software and more functionality.

Reviews for Bluehost: http://webhostinggeeks.com/user-reviews/bluehost/

Reviews for HostGator: http://webhostinggeeks.com/user-reviews/hostgator/

They're both 3/5, but Bluehost has more customer reviews. Read through the two pages, and try to remember that not every aspect of the service is going to be 100% perfect for you. So, weigh the positives versus the negatives, and make a choice.

Judging the type of user that you are, things you'll need:

- Ease of use around their control panel
- Ease of use of the FTP programme
- Availability of customer service (chat/telephone)
- Availability and ease of use of email programme

Don't be dazzled by glitzy stuff like 'Free Site Builder!' because with Wordpress, you're already set, or '$100 Google Advertising Credit!' because if you sign up with Google Adwords, they offer you that on the spot, or 'Statistics for who visited your site!' because with Google Analytics/Webmaster, you can have more power and control over your site statistics.

My very long $0.02.

 

[Hildred]

I and all my friends use Dreamhost. Friendly, always a good deal, and very helpful with support.

My friend used to use GoDaddy and she always had stability issues, and support almost never answered her questions. That's just hearsay though. I've only ever used Dreamhost.

 

[erikhanberg]

Bluehost!

 

[IB]

I and all my friends use Dreamhost. Friendly, always a good deal, and very helpful with support.

My friend used to use GoDaddy and she always had stability issues, and support almost never answered her questions. That's just hearsay though. I've only ever used Dreamhost.

Dreamhost? How does that compare to Bluehost?

 

[Hildred]

Dreamhost? How does that compare to Bluehost?

I wouldn't know offhand, since I never heard of Bluehost until this thread But looking at their website, they seem to be a pretty good deal too.

 

[Matthew Stewart]

Unless you're doing something very specific, StartLogic, GoDaddy, HostGator, BlueHost, FatCow...basically all the major names will fit your needs.

 

[Dawnchapel]

I've been using Lunarpages for the last ten years and I am still a fan. They have one-click installation for Wordpress and a bazillion other services, a few mailing list packages among them - they're all bundled in something called the Fantastico script library, and you can pick and choose the modules you want active on your site.  But it makes it dead easy to get your Wordpress blog up and live, if you're not a fan of fiddling with code to get that sort of thing set up on your own.

 

[K.T. Parks]

I wouldn't know offhand, since I never heard of Bluehost until this thread But looking at their website, they seem to be a pretty good deal too.

I just picked up Dreamhost yesterday. They have a 1yr deal going on with unlimited everything for $47.40. The first two weeks are a free trial period and you do not get billed until after the trial period is over.

Just be sure to uncheck "Auto-renew" if you do not want to get charged regular price ($120-ish) after your first year.

 

[Patrick C. Greene]

At this point, until we have more money to invest, we just bought a domain name from GoDaddy and linked it up to Patrick's free Blogger account.  I'm learning how to add new widgets and gadgets all the time.  This is definitely a newbie answer, but I thought I'd share.

Jennifer

 

[BillSmithBooksDotCom]

I have been with Verio for about 15 years, their service has ALWAYS been stellar for me (but I am also a low-load user).

Bottom line, for <$10/month, there are a host of great web hosts out there. It is a pretty minor investment for a business where you can sell to anyone in the world! (In theory )

 

[gljones]

I use the very basic Godaddy package and have had no complaints or problems.  I will move up to the next package sometime in the spring, so I will see how it goes.

 

[Rin]

If anyone wants to go with GoDaddy,there'a s list of discount codes here.

 

[lcharnes]

I've been with GoDaddy for several years and have never had any trouble. I've also had good experiences with their support line, including calling in the middle of the night. Their rates are competitive and their online help library is actually helpful (imagine that!).

I don't know if you're buying a URL for your name or your book's name, but something to consider is getting the same name in all the major top-level domains (TLDs, such as .org, .net, .biz and so on). That way you have the real estate staked out. I've done this for both my name and Wombat Group. It's easy enough to forward those URLs to the one you have hosting for so no matter what TLD your visitor uses, he/she always ends up in the same place.

Once you've staked out your turf, go out to a random sampling of big-name author websites and make a note of the features you like the most. Chances are you'll be able to duplicate them in Wordpress.

Good luck.

 

[sweetcrabhoney18]

I have been a webmaster for over 8 years. During that time I have owned over 100 websites. All my websites have always been hosted with Hostgator. They provide a great customer service and their uptime is amazing. If you can't go with a dedicated server then using them is perfect. Good luck with your new website!

For domains.. Name.com is much less on the renewals compared to godaddy. It's also a lot more user friendly for those new to building websites and buying domains. They offer hosting but I've never tried it.

 

[Honeybun]

I set up an account with Bluehost today.  I read some comparison reviews and decided to go with them.  I called them, got someone on the phone to answer some questions (such as domain privacy - this is a big, big deal) and some other questions.  The guy I talked to was great - nice, positive attitude, helpful, patient, etc.  Since this is my first day, there's not a whole lot I can tell but I am happy with them so far.  And, they are running a special for New Year's.

Btw, my new website is www.adaoflaherty.com if you're interested in checking it out.  This is my first go at doing this type of thing.

 

[[email protected]]

This thread is perfect timing for me. I currently use GoDaddy and am not that satisfied. Uploading bugs out a quarter of the time for me. Then I have to watch for problems afterwards when I do finally get it to load. The price was right, but at this point I'm ready for something a bit more reliable. Everyone's experience is different, but I hope that helps.

P.S. I don't want to hijack the thread, but if anyone knows of a solid host that's easy to use and heavy image friendly I'm all ears.

 

[Honeybun]

Things are going well for me with Bluehost so far.  I am completely new to this but each time I Publish, it gets the changes out there in seconds (literally) and has not failed to successfully Publish yet.