Where should I host my blog?

Optimally, you would have a business blog on its own domain on a separate server so that when you blog and link to your business projects they would count for maximum search engine optimization value. (There is evidence that Google gives higher value to a link from a website on a different server than a link from another site on the same server.)

If incoming links aren’t of great importance to you, you could still grab a domain name and host the blog on your main hosting site. If you have an existing website, it is also totally appropriate to install the blog script into a sub-directory on that site.

Don’t use Blogspot.com or Wordpress.com for a business blog. Your customization options are very limited and you won’t get decent statistics on your blog activities. You can install secondary stat tools but why go to that extra effort?

There are some hosting sites that don’t work with Wordpress. Before you sign up for hosting, ask customer support if they are Wordpress friendly.

At Girly Website Hosting we do offer FREE Wordpress installation with your website hosting package purchase. Affordably priced, our hosting packages start at just $3.95 per month and are designed to help you get a professional self hosted Wordpress website/blog.

Click here to view our package pricing, and if you have any questions then please feel free to submit a support ticket.

What Blogging Platform Should I Use?

There are several blog scripts available for use, including:

• Blogger – Free to use, can have a blog on their site (blogspot.com) or publish the content to your own hosting account.
• Wordpress – Free to use, can have a blog on their site (wordpress.com) or grab the open source script (wordpress.org.) for use on your own hosting account.
• Typepad – Paid service (typepad.com)

There are bloggers using every type of blog script who swear by their tool of choice and list off great features that keep them loyal. So your own choice will be a personal one.

For a business blog, a common choice is a self hosted Wordpress blog only because of it’s option to have static pages, and with a self hosted Wordpress blog you are allowed to have an ad supported website.

Wordpress is feature rich. It is an Open Source script. This means that anyone can take the source code and edit it. A community of creative and talented people are constantly improving the code and releasing updates for free use.

Wordpress is flexible. It works with a variety of ‘plug ins’ which are like hacks for the base code of the scrip. When uploaded and activated, they make the blog script work differently.

At Girly Website Hosting we definitely recommend using a self hosted Wordpress blog, and with your hosting package purchase you can actually put in a free request for us to install Wordpress for you! Also as a hosting install and customize our free themes at no charge!

What Makes a Blog Different From a Regular Website?

Assuming that a ‘regular website’ is referring to a static HTML site, it is the database driven content that really sets it apart.

There are many websites that have been built using a similar script/database (known as a Content Management System or CMS) and these sites have a lot in common with the blog since a blog script is essentially a CMS.

The lines between blogs and other types of websites are blurring as more business owners choose to build their site with a CMS. While many blogs are designed to look like a web journal, more and more are being designed to look like a regular website.

Because the content you enter into the blog is stored in a database, it can be distributed as a data feed. RSS is the feed that most blogs employ. (RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.) With RSS, your content can be viewed through any RSS reader or aggregator on another website or on a computer or portable device.

Another benefit to being database driven is that the script can accept and display comments on specific posts and can detect when other sites link to one of your blog posts.

Wordpress blogs are, in my opinion, the most versatile where you can either use the blog as a regular blog, or as a static website with a static home page. You can use a blog pretty much however you would like, and it is a lot easier to add, and organize content to a blogging platform unlike a regular html website.

Another benefit of using a blog - Wordpress - as your content manager, no exspensive software to buy! Unlike a regular website, with a blog you can easily install a Wordpress blog on your domain and you can do this for free!

If you have any questions about blogging or starting your self hosted Wordpress blog then please feel free to contact me here.

Are you blogging yet?

Some script savvy people were blogging before blogging became a ‘cool’ activity. Some of us have been blogging steadily since mid 2004. Some picked up the habit in 2005 and more joined up in 2006. Now, in 2008 about half of the on line business owners you run into are blogging to some extent.

That means that the other half are not blogging yet!

Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to answer ten common questions that people still ask about blogging everyday. Hopefully by doing so we’ll overcome any reticence you may have about becoming a business blogger.

I know when I first decided to start my very first website back in 2004, it was a big dream and I had NO idea where to even start! So I hit the web and did searches on “how to start a website” and my search brought me to the idea that I would either have to learn how to hand code an html website or buy an expensive piece of software to help me build the website of my dreams. Well needless to say, being a busy mom of two with one on the way, I opted to buy the expensive piece of software!

I was really surprised to find out that designing a website was a lot harder than I thought, and it ended up NOT looking like the website of my dreams.

Once I got my first website up and running I came across a platform called Wordpress, and I was little confused at first, but once I started using the software I quickly began to realize I wasted all that money on the expensive software because Wordpress was what I was actually looking for!

So now I have more than one website…yay, and they are ALL ran on the Wordpress blogging platform. I like to think of myself as a Wordpress snob! I recommend Wordpress to everyone one of my design clients because it is made for not only hosting blogs, but you can use it as a static website too, and best of all the script is free - no expensive software needed!

I really wish someone would have explained to me more about blogs and Wordpress when I first started venturing into the on line world, so that’s why for the next few weeks we are going to talk more about what a blog is and why you should consider a blog for ALL your on line website needs, which includes managing your website all the way to gaining more traffic and more clients.

If you would like to stay up to date as to when a new post is made in the series then please feel free to subscribe to our blog using the options below!

Upgraded Packages!

We recently went ahead and upgraded all of our packages to reflect more bandwidth AND disk space, however we did NOT increase the prices, yay!

We also got rid of the “mega room” package, however if you had your eye on that package, just let us know and we can get your situated. We just felt the three packages we have available best meet the needs of our clients.

Wordpress 2.6 Now Available - Free Upgrades for Clients!

Well it has just been announced today that Wordpress 2.6 is now available to the public! If you are a client of Girly Website Hosting we are offering free Wordpress upgrades.

If you would like to have your Wordpress blog upgraded then please submit a support ticket here and we will get to your blog as soon as possible.

Features

**All new hosting accounts will be set up within 24 hours**

Girly Website Hosting is here to make your dreams of owning a small corner of the web easy, affordable, and pleasant!

All of our hosting packages include the following features:

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Room to Grow Hosting Package

Room to Grow - You can host up to 7 domains with this package, as long as they fit into the allocated disk space listed below.

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Starter Hosting Package

Starter Hosting Package - You can host up to 3 domains with this package, as long as they fit into the allocated disk space listed below.

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Super Mega Hosting Package

Super Mega - You can host up to UNLIMITED domains with this package, as long as they fit into the allocated disk space listed below.

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