If you are going to set up your web blog, your first step will be picking a host. There are two solutions. Either you can use some blogging service or sign up for your web hosting plan and install some popular blogging script like WordPress. Both solutions have its advantages and disadvantages. This article will help you understand what you can expect from these solutions.
Solution #1 – Using a blogging service
What are the advantages of this solution? First, using a service like wordpress is very easy. You do not need any knowledge about setting up PHP scripts. Everything what you need to do is sign up and fill in a few fields in the online form. When you set up the name of your weblog, you can start to publish your articles.
Another advantage is the price. Even though there are many paid blogging services, the most popular are for free. If you have low or zero budgets this solution is your chance how to start your online project.
However, there are also some disadvantages. The free services are provided on the sub-domain which belongs to the provider. It may happen that you will want to move your weblog in the future, but it will not be possible. You are not owner of the URL so you will need to start a new weblog from scratch in this case.
It may also happen that the service will suffer of down-times; the provider can place advertisements on your weblog, disallow your advertisements or completely cancel the service.
Solution #2 – Buying a web hosting package
This solution requires spending some time by researching the web hosting market and choosing some reliable web host. Web hosting package can be bought for a few INR a month. When you sign up for a hosting plan then you will need to decide which blogging script you want to use. The most popular one is WordPress hosting and is used by many big weblogs.
In the next step you will need to install the script on your web space. First, download the script and look for the readme file. You will find there instructions which settings need to be changed before uploading the script to the server and how to install it. Then enter the admin area and make all necessary setting.
The big advantage of this solution is the fact that you have everything under your control. If you will not like the hosting services you can easily move your weblog with the domain to another web host. You can change any settings of your weblog and nobody can put advertisements on your website.
The disadvantage is the price; however, even though you pay for the hosting services the income from advertisements on your blog may cover these fees. Another disadvantage is that it may be difficult for the newbie’s to install the script on the web server. However, there is a good solution for these bloggers. Some web hosts like Hosting Raja provide clients with the PHP scripts installer so you can install the WordPress or similar script without any technical knowledge if you choose a host offering this feature.
