Hello friend, welcome back to my blog. Personal story time: Right now marks two weeks since I returned to work after getting Covid. The remaining symptom that I still experience is a productive cough. The discharge is clear, meaning I don’t have an active infection. But the cough is difficult for me to control. According to the CDC, a post-Covid condition such as my cough can last for weeks or years.
I am not that worried because I have been doing everything I can to minimize the cough: taking vitamins daily ( Vitamin C, L-Lysine), throat soothing tea, and medication for post-nasal drip ( pseudoephedrine and Antihistamine Combo). It seems to work so far. Blogging shouldn’t be difficult. One of the initial steps when creating your website is to pick a HOSTING service. “Why do I need a hosting service?” you may ask. Well, think of a Hosting service as a parking space for your car when you go to a restaurant. If there isn’t a parking space, you can’t go to it using your own vehicle. Today, I will share with you the top three web hosting services you should choose if you decide to create your website.
Why online business such as BLOGGING is a great way to create residual income
As you know, I am a pharmacy director for a small 113-licensed acute care hospital in southern California. My job is fantastic, and I love the people I work with. Working for someone is never my end goal, but it serves some purposes. My interest is always business and helping people solve problems. I choose to blog because I believe that this is a way to help me create residual income.
I have tried a few businesses in the past: selling socks, BBQ cleaning kits, and backpacks. I haven’t succeeded in those business experiences, but it taught me a few lessons. I finally focused on blogging because I didn’t have to worry about physical products. I am trying to be better at blogging to help others create a residual income stream through an online business venture. All I really need is a computer and a lot of determination. Through my blogging journey, I have used a few websites and hosting services: WordPress, Wix, Shopify, BlueHost, HostGator, … I found blogging is a fantastic way to help me create passive income.
If you decide to create your blog, I have FREE TUTORIAL on creating your own blog from scratch with BlueHost.
When creating your blog, you must select a hosting service. What we should look for when selecting a web hosting service:
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Easy to learn and customize: When I started to blog, I had no idea what I was doing, so I spent a lot of time reading and researching. You will want something easy to set up, build, design, and publish blog posts with a user-friendly interface.
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High speed: Lagging or even delaying when readers are trying to access your blog can negatively impact the traffic and decrease search engine ranking. You need a web hosting service that can provide fast loading.
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Customer support: After blogging for four years, I still consider myself a beginner because there are so many things to learn. Beginners often get discouraged if they don’t get the appropriate help. When something goes wrong with your blog, you want to solve the problem immediately, no matter what time it is. You need 24/7 customer support, so you can always get help if your blog crash in the middle of the night.
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Affordable pricing: Most hosting services offer competitive pricing. When you first start out, there is no need to spend hundreds of dollars a month for the service. Look for the service that offers the most bang for your bucks.
Let’s talk about the top 3 web hosting services I think you should use to create a profitable WordPress blog.
#1 BLUEHOST
Who is it for: Best for beginners and best for overall. Bluehost is by far the most successful web hosting service due to its user-friendly design and One-Click WordPress installation.
WordPress integration: top host recommended by WordPress.
Starting Price: $2.95 a month
- Basic – I definitely recommend this plan if you are a complete beginner. You can’t beat this price.
- Plus – For those who have a little more experience and want to try opening up multiple websites.
- Choice Plus – Domain privacy and automated backups are always great features to have. You can also have Plug-in to do that for you.
- Pro – Once you know your way around WordPress and have built a sizable audience, this plan helps you manage great traffic with many cool features such as daily backup, dedicated IP, and domain privacy.
Pros:
- Money-back Guarantee? Yes: 30 days. For the professional, if you are not satisfied with the service, you can cancel the plan .
- Uptime: 99.98%. Uptime refers to the amount of time for which a website was accessible to users. You don’t want your site to be down.
- Free backups? yes
- One-click WordPress install? Yes
- Free domain? Yes. All plans include a free custom domain. If you haven’t gotten a name for your website, Bluehost can help you come up with a creative domain.
- Disk space: 50 GB-Unlimited.
- Google Ads: Yes you can easily integrate. All plans include $150 Google Ads credits. You can easily set up your marketing campaign right there from your dashboard.
- Help and Support: Bluehost is a reliable provider, and they are available 24/7 through Chat, Phone, and knowledge center, where you can find all the answers to your problem.
- Dashboard: Easy and Clean.
Cons:
No free emails are included in the plan. For instance, I need to pay extra if I want to brand my email such as Quan @ TheMoneyTools.com
#2 HOSTGATOR
Best overall blog host but caters to small businesses.
Pros:
- Starting Price: $2.75 per month
- Money-back Guarantee? Yes: 45 days
- Free SSL certificate with their package so you can keep your site secure.
- Uptime: 99.99%
- Free backups? No
- One-click WordPress install? Yes
- Free domain? No
- Disk space: Unlimited
- Unmetered bandwidth. HostGator will never charge you higher fees if your site uses more bandwidth in a given time due to increased web traffic.
- The company’s customer support is available 24/7/365 via live chat or phone.
Cons:
Higher renewal cost
#3 DREAMHOST
Has been in the business since 1996. It is a leading option for a WordPress-supported blog. It currently hosts around 1.5 million sites, half of which are WordPress setups. It isn’t just for bloggers but also for nonprofit organization.
What are they offering:
- 2 shared hosting plans
- 1-click WordPress installation.
- 100% uptime guarantee
- DreamHost excels in is security
Pros:
- WordPress recommended with a One-Click install
- Low Starting Price: $2.59 per month
- Money-back Guarantee: 97 days to try it before deciding if it is right for your blog
- All plans contain SSL certificate: your blog to look more professional and safe to visit
- Uptime: 99.95%
- Free backups
- Free domain
- Disk space: 50GB – Unlimited
- 24/7 email support, live chat available during business hours
Cons:
No direct telephone support. You must request a callback (it does offer fast support via chat or email). if something goes wrong at night, you’ll have to wait till morning
In summary
I have been using BlueHost for about four years now. Let me tell you: I absolutely love it. As a person who likes to do everything myself and hates to rely on others, Bluehost is so easy to use and manage. I can get the answer right away using 24/7 Chat support. I can go on their forum, post a question, and get the answer within 24 hours. I do it all so you don’t have to. I even created a short tutorial to get you started if you decide to create your website using BlueHost. Sign up below for two GUIDES for completely FREE.
