So you want to start a blog but are unsure how to go about it and many of us have been burnt making the wrong choices. So what exactly are we looking for when starting a weblog up and how can we prevent having to put an icepack on that finger after making the wrong decision?

I remember starting my first blog. I wisely selected a hosting company that offered a cheap $3,95 per/month hosting package. I knew I wanted to run my own WordPress blogging software. So I made sure my provider offered PHP and MySQL (most do), and a nice easy menu system to setup the database that WordPress would require later on. All went well until…

When selecting a domain for my first blog, my hosting provider offered a free domain to start out. On top of this cool offer, they provided a service to hide all my personal details (home address, telephone number etc) when registering my domain. They did this by providing their own (the hoster) details.

This seemed like a great idea at the time, however, 1 year later when the blog had grown and I wanted to move it, I found it became an absolute mission to move the domain. Bad planning can delay growth by months and possibly longer if you are not careful when taking your initial babysteps! The hosting provider was kind enough to assist, but I have heard cases from other bloggers where the hosting provider has not been so willing to help!

Here are some useful tips to remember:

1. Select your domain name carefully. Its always better to register your domain with a third party. When registering any domain, make sure to take control of it by providing your own contact details.
2. Select the blogging software you want to use. WordPress and Drupal are your more popular choices. They provide a number of free themes and plugins that make blogging really easy. Whatever your choice is, make sure you know before hand so you can make sure your hosting provider matches the requirements.
3. Location. The closer your hosted box is to you the faster online transactions will be, perhaps you should consider where most of your clients will be coming in from etc. I.E. if all your clients originate in the UK you might wanna have a box in the UK etc. Also, when you’re constantly writing on your blog, the last thing you want is a slow link.
4. Shop around. There seems to be many service providers available on the net! Each promising you a free lifetime subscription to Russianbrides.com (Which is never provided by the way). Use the search engines to read up on user comments, they help alot! User comments help gauge user confidence, uptime, after sales / technical support etc as well.
5. Make sure you compare apples with apples! So many providers seem to lure people in with attractive offers etc, make sure they are selling you the same equipment, backup, software, apps, uptime, access and line speed.
6. Watch out for introductory offers! Another popular sales gimic, is to lure you in with a “cheap fee” only for you to find out that it was for 1-3 months or only in conjuction with another offer!
7. IF YOU THINK AN OFFER IS TOO CHEAP IT USUALLY IS!!! JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS CHEAPER DOESNT MEAN ITS BETTER!