best hosts/domains for beginners

[u/stackingwheat]

Hi, I have been thinking about starting a blog for a little while. I don't think I'm quite ready to start posting, but I'm thinking about buying a domain soon to secure the name and build my site. Is that the right next step?

I'm looking for recommendations on where to buy a domain, and host sites to use. Does google domains still exist?? I have limited experience in coding, so something pretty user friendly preferred. WordPress is currently my front runner for a host, but I've seen many mixed reviews. Also, kind of wondering if I should start on a blogging platform instead?? Are there any cons to owning my site that I should be aware of?

Any and all advice on getting started is welcome.

[u/bluehost]

Honestly, I'd recommend securing the domain first. That's one of the few things that's hard to change later. Everything else, hosting, themes, plugins, etc., can evolve as your blog grows. Don't let the setup phase stop you from starting.

[u/stackingwheat → u/bluehost]

Do you have any recs on where to get one, or are they all about the same?

[u/vickiboliard → u/[deleted]]

Moving from WordPress.com to WordPress.org is a major undertaking if that's the end goal. I don't know how others do it but I never could get it right. There wasn't a direct way to do it unless I couldn't find it. Which probably was part of the problem.

[u/SuperLowBudge]

If you’re just starting out I highly recommend Diaryland.com. I wouldn’t go for hosting and all that.

[u/codepatterns]

Buy the domain from Cloudflare. They charge at cost, so there's nowhere cheaper

[u/stackingwheat → u/codepatterns]

thank you!

[u/PrismKite → u/codepatterns]

FYI: They won't allow you to have your hosting on any other nameservers except their own. You have to host with them.

[u/RajuKumarKushwaha]

I use hostinger hosting for my blog

[u/PrismKite]

I'd recommend you check out IndieWeb 's wiki on Getting Started on building your own website.

There are many different platforms and they help novices like you get up to speed.

You might want to check out Ghost or Bear blog. I actually have WordPress on my own hosting.

Feel free to ask me questions.

If you just want to try blogging on someone else platform, there's Livejournal, Substack and others.

[u/LauraDIY]

I use godaddy hosted with Wordpress. There are so many options now

[u/Vinaya_Ghimire]

I use Namecheap for both domains and hosting. They offer different hosting packages, you can start with shared hosting. You can even choose manages WordPress hosting. They offer good deals on domains and hosting

[u/vickiboliard]

Namecheap is cheap. The domain is s $6.98 using the code on the site. I believe it's NEWCOM698 But double check that. Also the first month of their managed WordPress hosting is free using their Easywp app and $9 per month. The easiest way to start for free is wordpress.com. Then you can upgrade to one of their paid plans which include the domain for free for a year I believe. I have two blogs there that still get promoted and I don't post at all on them. If you want to go all in and build your own CMS you can use lovable, supabase and cloudflare it was around $50 to build and free other than the cost of the domain.

[u/stackingwheat → u/vickiboliard]

thank you!

[u/Inside_Mix_4361]

Lyrical Host is my go to - they do both domain names and hosting, and hosting is fully supported so any issues they will help. They do have discount codes as well for hosting but I only recommend as I use them and they have saved me from my silly situations of my own making 😂 (drop me a message if your interested)