Having a personal website/blog is awesome. It’s the best way to share your ideas and thoughts with others.
While you can create a free site/blog via WordPress.com or Blogspot.com, it’s always a good idea to have your own domain and web hosting. The main reason is, it gives you the full control.
I got banned by both WordPress.com and Weebly.com because of some TOS issues. Then I decided to create a self-hosted WordPress blog.
If you want to create a self-hosted blog/site, this post is for you. Here I am going to share some affordable shared web hosting services for you.
Here are the web hosts that you can use to create a personal blog/website.
1. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is the largest domain name registrars in the world. It has over 61 million domain names under its management. Though GoDaddy is famous for providing domain names, it has web hosting packages too.
Generally, I don’t recommend GoDaddy for Web Hosting. Domain registrars don’t provide the necessary supports the way Web Hosting companies do.
But when you are going to create a personal site, I don’t think you need a fancy hosting. GoDaddy is enough for you.
You can buy GoDaddy hosting plan as low as $1.00 per month with a free domain name. That means you will get the first year hosting and a free domain name for just $12. But the problem is, the renewal price is pretty high. It’s $7.99 per month.
GoDaddy has three plans on its shared hosting – Economy, Deluxe, and Ultimate. For a personal site, the Economy plan is the best choice. But if you want to create multiple sites, buy the Deluxe plan.
2. Namecheap
Namecheap is another domain name provider that offers cheapest domain names. It’s my personal favorite.
Like other domain registrars, it also offers web hosting services. I’ve hosted some of my sites on Namecheap. All I can say, it’s a decent place for hosting low traffic sites. And the live support is great.
Namecheap offers first year hosting for just $9.88. The renewal price is $38.88/year which is reasonable as you host 3 sites on this plan. You can buy a domain name from Namecheap for less than $10.
3. HostGator
HostGator is one of the leading web hosting companies. It has been in business since 2002.
I’ve hosted my first self-hosted site on HostGator. It’s a great web hosting for beginners. If you have a plan to make money from your blog, I’d recommend you to buy hosting from HostGator.
You can get started with HostGator for just $0.01 for the first month.
HostGator offers 3 plans on its shared hosting. Hatchling is the best choice for beginners. You can buy Baby plan if you are going to create multiples sites.
4. Bluehost
Bluehost is another popular web hosting company that offers affordable hosting service. It is recommended by WordPress.org. 1-Click WordPress Installation of Bluehost makes creating a blog easier.
Bluehost offers a free domain name. You can get started with Bluehost as low as $3.95 per month.
You can buy the Bluehost Basic plan for your personal website. It’s pretty cheap.
5. A2 Hosting
Both HostGator and Bluehost are owned by EIG. EIG owns hundreds of web hosting companies.
If you are looking for an EIG alternative, then A2 Hosting is your solution. It’s very popular for its faster server. You can get started with as low as $3.92 per month.
The Lite plan of A2 Hosting is quite a good plan for hosting personal site.
Conclusion
All of the above web hosts are trusted and have been in business for years.
If you are not sure which one to choose, here’s my recommendation.
- Choose GoDaddy or NameCheap if you are on a budget.
- Choose HostGator or A2 Hosting if you have a plan to expand your site in future.
Hope this post helped you to choose a web host for your personal site/blog. If you have any question regarding this, feel free to ask us via comment.
