Four Reasons Why You Need Decent Hosting

Anyone who has been using the internet with their own websites for a while probably has some experience with hosting. There are definitely some good and bad hosts out there and you normally get what you pay for. I’ve had free hosting, SA hosting and USA hosting and can safely say it is worth paying for the peace of mind of knowing that your blog will be up and running at all times. To break it down further, here are my top four reasons why you need a good host.

1) Prevent Hacking;

I have a sad story to tell about hacking. I used to have a blog (http://surviveandthrive.co.za) which got hacked to death. (At one stage I was getting hacked every second week). In the end I gave up and changed domain names (to http://onestepatatime.co.za). Even that did not help. At the time I was using a cheap SA host (R30 per month) who were unable to help me. (Well, they re-directed me to a person I paid to install further security which did not help). I then joined Hostgator who, as an add on to their package, had an discounted option ($14.95 per year) called “SiteLock” which would give me better security. I haven’t had a problem since. This does not mean we should relax about this issue, other than putting measures in place you need to make sure you keep backing up. Hostgator do it automatically but you have to pay $15 to retrieve it if you need it. There are plugins that help here too.

2) Keep control of your content:

I had the fright of my life once when using a free host. Instead of displaying the normal “page not found”, it redirected to a porn site! Now that is not very professional. Free sites also often require advertising on your site.

3) Keep your site up:

Using a free host will often mean that your site is down.

4) A self-hosted blog means you can control your policies and advertising:

If you are using wordpress.com, for instance, you will not be able to run adverts or make money from your blog. This is fine if you are just looking to have an online journal, but if you would like to make money, you need the freedom of having your own host. Using a host you can still use WordPress at wordpress.org.

I’m using Hostgator not only for the security of SiteLock, but also for the fact that I can run several sites without costing more. A year ago when I signed up it worked out to about R65 per month, and I took the second plan up. I’m not sure what it would be now. (Update: 2022: I have the “Baby Plan” which I see on their site is currently 3.5 dollars a month that’s about R55 per month and it’s on special at the moment).

Another one I use is Domains.co.za. For R119 per month you can have two sites and free SSL (that’s https – secure site).

I’d like to hear from other bloggers about what you are using, the costs and the value you’re getting.

This is not a sponsored post but it does contain affiliate links.