Where should I host my blog?

This question is possibly the hardest decision you have to make before starting your blog. You can either choose free blog-optimized hosting, paid domain hosting, or paid premium blog-optimized hosting.

Firstly, just to give you some of the basics, blog-optimized hosting is where your (sub-)domain will be www.(your chosen name).(your hosting's name).com. An example of this would be Blogger (e.g. www.johnsmith.blogspot.com). Paid blog-optimized hosting usually has more features and more storage space for you to upload items into your website.

Domain hosting is where you have to buy a domain name (e.g. www.johnsmith.com), buy hosting space (although it is actually renting), before you can create a blog.

Here are the pros and cons of each type of hosting:

Blog-Optimized Hosting (whether free or paid)

Pros

1. No costs for building your blog
2. Blog comes pre-installed, saving any fuss or hassle
3. You can start as many blogs as you like
4. You can practically create a blog, choose a domain and do up your first post within 5 minutes

Cons

1. Very few features compared to other types of hosting^
2. Little flexibility with domain name as most good domain names are already taken up
3. Your domain name is longer
4. You cannot use CSS^ (which is a type of script used to design and configure things such as fonts and colours) and upload your own webpages
5. You cannot upload anything with the exception of photos and possibly videos^
6. You cannot upload too many photos or create too much stuff on your blog because of space limits^

^ means that this does/may not apply for paid blog-optimized hosting.

Domain Hosting

Pros

1. Many features, usually even more than paid blog-optimized hosting
2. More flexibility with domain names and more domain extensions (e.g. www.johnsmith.net & www.johnsmith.co.uk)
3. Shorter domain names
4. CSS can be used and other webpages can be created and uploaded onto your blog
5. Movies, photos, PDF files and practically anything can be uploaded.
6. Space limits are quite high and are sometimes unlimited so you can upload as many things you want.
7. You can create email accounts for your blog (e.g. enquires@www.johnsmith.com)
8. You can install Google Adsense and other widgets like Google Maps, games and can use java and flash.
9. You can treat it as a portable computer! (Simply because its online, you can access it from anywhere as long as you have internet access and have the password that you create when you create a domain)

Cons

1. Costs can vary from $2 a month per month to as much as $20 per month (only if you are a company or want professional support and other features)
2. Some websites do not have the software to install a blog platform immediately
3. You cannot start as many blogs as you like (unless you have unlimited space)
4. It takes time to set up the blog (about a week or so)

For domain hosting, you need to get a good hosting provider. Popular ones include Bluehost, Hostgator and Inmotion Hosting(more for businesses).