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So, I’ve decided to start a blog—AGAIN! This isn’t my first attempt and I’m giving myself another chance to make blogging work. This time, I want to make it right. And if you’re like me, you’ve probably spent hours scrolling through beautiful, well-designed blogs on Pinterest.
Great content is essential, but let’s be real, first impressions matter. A clean, professional, and aesthetically pleasing website makes a huge difference in attracting and keeping readers. It’s like walking into a cozy café versus a messy, outdated diner. The experience matters.
Every blogger seems to have such visually appealing and well-designed websites, and whenever I go to Pinterest to just scroll, I’m finding myself reading blogs and I can’t help but get hooked! Not just by their content but also by the aesthetics of their site. A beautiful website is definitely a big plus for us readers!
As I embark on my blogging journey once again, I always wondered: How can I create a website like this?
Just like me, you might want to become a blogger! Now, by searching and reading other blogs, you’ve realized that to create a website like the ones you admire, you need a web host. But as you start searching, you quickly get overwhelmed by the countless options available.
The truth is, there are many ways to build a website. Some are free, while others require a paid subscription. But let me tell you, if you want your website to run smoothly and professionally, paying for a web host is non-negotiable.
Why You Need a Paid Web Host (and Not Just a Free One!)
If you’re serious about blogging, a paid web host is a must. While free hosting seems tempting, it comes with limitations that can hold you back. Here’s why investing in a paid web host is worth it:
- Reliability and Speed – Free host often have slow loading times and downtimes. Frequent crashes would make your site look unprofessional and not always accesible. It could drive the readers away. It has a great impact especially for the readers since we want a smooth working website. It’s gives a better user experience and would give you more conversions and higher search rankings! (Google likes suggesting a fast-loading website on search results!)
- Ownership and Professionalism – A blog that has own domain (yourblogname.com) looks more professional and trustworthy compared to a free subdomain (yourblogname.freehost.com)! It shows your brand and its identity. It helps you stand out! Companies and loyal readers prefer to trust, and working or collaborating with bloggers who seem reliable. This shows how you set up your site. Plus, free hosting has limitations and you need to follow the terms, of course. You don’t really have a full control over your content and design. It’s not just about aesthetics, it’s about making them feel and see that you’re legit!
- Difficult to monetize – If you plan to monetize your blog, collaborate with brands or attract loyal audience, you must have a professional looking site and paid web hosting service can give you this! Many free hosting site limit your ability to run ads or sell products, even designing your website has limits. They could potentially shut down your website too if you don’t follow their rules! It’s also easier to rank on any web searching site when you have a paid webhost (gives you a better SEO benefits) and it’s easier for people to find your blog.
- Better security – We don’t want our website to be vulnerable to cyber threats! Paid web hosting includes security measures like SSL ceritificates and backups. It protects your data and your readers information. It prevents hacking attempts and website crashes due to malware infection (we need a firewall!). Google penalizes hacked or no SSL websites which can push the site down in search rank. You have to make sure that your site is encrypted and trustworthy.
- Flexibility – Paid webhosting can give you full customization – you can install custom themes, plugins, upgrades, and tools to make your site unique! You’ll have full control over the ads that you’re putting on your site and the affilitate marketing. You decide how you want to monetize. Basically, you can do what you want on your website — just don’t copyright!
With all these information, are you now convince to go for paid web hosting? (I hope so!) If so, it’s important to choose one that best fits your needs. But how do you determine which one is right for you?
With so many web hosts out there, picking the right one can feel overwhelming. Trust me, I’ve been there.
To help you out, I’ve put together a list of important things to consider when choosing a web host. These will make a big difference for your website and help you out in the long run!
Factors to Check When Choosing the Right Web Hosting for Your Blog
We’re all started as a broke beginner (or at least most of us) and we all want a web hosting that fits our budget but as the time, gives us a better and quality service. These are the factors that were mainly considered when choosing a web hosting for a blog:
- Affordability – I mean, come on – It’s the number 1 on the list! Web hosting service has recurring expense and choosing a plan that make sure your site runs a long term without financial stress is our main goal here. The cheapest option isn’t always the best but spend too much either! You should find a web host that offers the right balance of price, peformance, and features (with no hidden cost).
- Easy to use – We need to look for a beginner friendly web host, not just user-friendly. Some web host still require technical knowledge to get started. Before I decided to build my website, I had to learn how to build a website by paying a course and purchasing an E-book guide. This helps me a lot to understand what are those options you see when you’re at the WordPress platform and not just following what to choose when I don’t know what its used for. But not everyone can pay for a course or an ebook. So it’s important to look for a host that makes the setup quick and hassle-free if you literally have no experience or knowledge. There are websot out there that provides tutorials, onboarding guides, and one-click installations for WordPress. It saves you time and frustrations!
- Better performance and speed – I’ve mentioned this above because it’s super important that you pick a web host that gives you a quality service and make sure your website is smoothly running! A fast-loading site keeps the readers engaged and it helps with SEO.
- Inclusions of plans – It’s important to check what’s included in the plan that you’re picking to make sure you’re getting the best value for your money. Make sure that’s no hidden cost (some plans are cheap upfront but they charge extra for SSL certificates, backups, professional email, domain name, etc.). Make sure you use all the features that you need and still have room to upgrade. Avoid suprises after you subscribe to a plan. Carefully check the inclusions.
When I started working on my website, I did a lot of research—and I know how overwhelming it can be! To make things easier for you, I’ve put together a simple breakdown of what I learned. I looked into five popular web hosts that bloggers and content creators love, compared their features, and put everything in one place. Hope this can help you find the best one!
GoDaddy
I got curious about GoDaddy since one of my clients uses it, so I decided to check it out. From what I found, it’s super popular among small businesses and entrepreneurs, especially those using WooCommerce or Shopify to sell products online.
GoDaddy is known for its solid performance and speed, plus it offers daily backups to keep your site safe. It’s also pretty easy to use and comes with a bunch of helpful features for running a website smoothly.
The best plan I found was $7.99/month (annual term), which includes a free sub-domain, free SSL, and a 7-day free trial so you can try out their premium features. They also have 24/7 customer support, which is always a plus!
But honestly, I didn’t explore it too much. Once I realized it’s mainly designed for businesses selling products online, I figured it wasn’t quite what I was looking for and moved on to check out other web hosts.
Bluehost
Bluehost is my second top pick when it comes to affordable web hosting. I actually used it for my first website, and I can say it’s very beginner-friendly! However, you’ll still need some basic knowledge of setting up a website. When I first tried Bluehost, I already had some experience with free platforms like WordPress and Wix, so it wasn’t too overwhelming for me.
One of the biggest things that helped me was Ling from FinnSavvy Panda’s eBook—it seriously made starting my blog so much easier! I totally get that when you’re just starting out, you don’t want to spend a ton of money. But if I had to recommend must-haves, I’d say:
- A reliable web host
- An eBook or course to guide you
- Marketing tools to help grow your blog
What I Like About Bluehost
- Free domain name for 1 year
- Free SSL certificate (for security)
- Professional email included
- 24/7 customer support
- 30-day money-back guarantee!
Plus, Bluehost is one of the top web hosts recommended by WordPress.org, and I’ve noticed that a lot of bloggers from Pinterest use it too!
What I don’t like about Bluehost is their not very cheap renewal rates. When my free domain expired after a year, I had to renew it for around $70–$80 USD, which felt pricey and misleading pricing. At first, I thought Bluehost’s plans were $2.99/month (or lower if they had a promo) since this is what they advestise on their website. But when I actually went to sign up, I realized that price was based on an annual or 3-year payment—not a true month-to-month option. I get why they do it (paying annually can be more convenient), but they should be clearer about it upfront. There are only few bloggers that mentioned this. All I read from others were the lowest monthly price that Bluehost is offering.
But overall, Bluehost is a solid choice for new bloggers, especially if you don’t mind committing to a longer-term plan. Just be sure to check the renewal costs so you’re not caught off guard later.
Squarespace
I first heard about Squarespace from YouTube vloggers who were promoting their websites or courses on it, so naturally, I got curious and decided to check it out. And honestly? It’s one of the smoothest websites I’ve ever visited! The way their site flows, with its sleek animations and modern design, gives off a sophisticated, artsy vibe—perfect for professionals or anyone who wants a visually stunning website.
One thing I really like is that Squarespace offers both monthly and annual subscription plans, which is great if you just want to try it out for a month before committing long-term. Unlike other web hosts that rely on third-party tools to help users build a site, Squarespace is a fully integrated cloud hosting service (similar to WordPress). This means everything—themes, features, and customization options—is built right into their platform.
The best part? It’s super beginner-friendly! You don’t need coding skills since it uses an easy drag-and-drop editor for designing your site. They also offer a 14-day free trial, though customization options are limited on the free plan (which makes sense).
If you’re looking for a website that’s aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, Squarespace is definitely worth considering!
Hostinger
Hostinger is by far the most budget-friendly web hosting option I’ve come across! It’s super easy to use, beginner-friendly, and comes with 24/7 support—which is a lifesaver if you’re new to website building. Like Bluehost, they advertise their pricing per month, but the actual payment is billed annually (just something to keep in mind!).
One thing I love about Hostinger is its fast performance and quick response times. If you go for a higher-tier plan, you even get AI-powered tools to help with your site! They also offer flexible subscription options from 1 year up to 3 years, so you can pick what works best for you. Right now, I’m using their basic plan, which is perfect for small blogs. It comes with unlimited SSL, weekly backups, one professional email, and a couple of cool features like account sharing (yep, you can share your account!) and a vulnerability scanner to alert you of any security risks.
When I was looking for an affordable web hosting plan that worked just as well as Bluehost, Hostinger was the closest match I found. I know there are other cheap options out there, but after seeing a few bloggers on Pinterest using it, I figured it was a trustworthy choice for starting a blog.
That said, I did notice a couple of downsides. Not many bloggers talk about using Hostinger, so finding tutorials or tips from other users is a hit hard. Also, like Bluehost, some WordPress features require a premium plan, meaning you might need to pay extra for certain tools.
Another thing was the setup process. When you first sign up, Hostinger asks how you want to build your website and gives you a few options, but you can’t skip this step. I had to pick a theme right away, and later, when I got into WordPress, I saw even more themes, which made things feel a little overwhelming. But once I figured it out, I was able to find the perfect theme for my site!
Overall, Hostinger has been working great for me, and I’d say it’s an awesome option if you’re looking for a reliable and budget-friendly web host.
WordPress.org
Unlike Bluehost or Hostinger, this isn’t just another web host where you log in separately to WordPress. This is WordPress’s own hosting platform, offering premium features for those who want a more seamless experience. It’s basically the paid version of WordPress, often used by those looking for a fully managed WordPress site.
I first checked it out thinking, If I’m building a website on WordPress, why not just host it directly with them? But I quickly realized that WordPress itself actually recommends using one of their trusted hosting partners (like Bluehost, Hostinger, or Pressable) for smaller websites. Still, their hosting platform has fast performance, strong security, a refund policy, and plenty of themes—so you don’t necessarily need to buy a premium theme to create a great-looking website.
When it comes to pricing, their recommended plan is $8/month ($96/year), which gives you 13GB of storage and access to all premium themes. But honestly, their cheapest plan at $4/month ($48/year) is plenty for beginners, with 6GB of storage and dozens of premium themes to choose from. Plus, they throw in a free domain name for one year, which is a nice bonus.
That said, this isn’t the most budget-friendly option if you’re just starting a blog. Let’s be real—most of us start blogging on a tight budget, so it’s important to spend wisely when choosing a hosting service that will support your site for the long haul.
A couple of things to keep in mind: Some plugins and premium themes come with extra fees, and while WordPress does offer a free version, you won’t have full ownership of your site. Plus, your domain name will include “wordpress.com” at the end (yourblogname.wordpress.com), which makes it obvious that you’re on a free platform—something more experienced bloggers will definitely notice.
To sum it up
Here are the web hosting services I explored when starting my blog. There are plenty of options to choose from, but for me, Hostinger stood out as the best choice—especially for small websites. It’s simple, easy to use, and does exactly what you need it to do.
You don’t need a ton of storage, premium themes, AI tools, or fancy extras to make your website look polished. You also don’t need to spend a fortune just to get started. The main goal is to build a simple, fast website that makes it easy for your readers to navigate and enjoy your content. Most basic hosting plans already include plenty of theme options, so you can create a great-looking site without upgrading to expensive features.
The key is to stay focused on what matters—a website where you can write, share, and promote your content. Don’t get overwhelmed by all the extras that web hosts try to sell you. When I was searching for a web host, my top priority was affordability. Then, I looked for the must-have features, like a free domain, fast performance, and reliable support.
Bottom line? Get your site up and running as quickly as possible so you can start blogging. It doesn’t need to be complicated. Everything else can come later!