This whole blog design thing is going a lot slower than I had intended it to. I was going to have the site up and running two weeks ago. That didn't happen. Then I was going to have it ready last week. Thanks to Ear Gate--what I'm not so affectionately calling the ear pain that I was having last week--that didn't happen either. Assuming that I don't have to run errands, wait on a realtor, or dodge another guy selling enigmatic meat out of the back of his pickup truck, I plan on working on it tomorrow.Meanwhile, I was wondering if there is anyway to design Wordpress blogs without actually having Wordpress. I'm guessing the answer is no. Thus, if I eventually decide to go that route, I'm going to have to choose a paid host for my test blog.
I actually looked into several website hosting companies last month. Even though I printed out the information that I found this time, instead of going crazy with the bookmarks, my eyes still crossed after a few hours of comparing plans and reading reviews.
One site that I used to uncross my eyes for a little bit was WebHostingGeeks.com. The "geeks" behind Web Hosting Geeks looks at the various paid hosts that are out there; analyzes such things as price, host reliability, uptime, and customer service; and then arranges the hosts into a Top 10 list, taking the characteristics into account. The site also recommends hosts based on certain factors that you're looking for, like best blog host and best e-commerce host.
The information was helpful, and I especially liked reading the user reviews on the hosts. They help to distinguish the good deals from the too-good-to-be-true ones. Often they also prove that the age-old adage is true; you get what you pay for. For instance, the user reviews might tell you that the host's low price may come with a lot of downtime or customer service reps who would sooner bite your head off than help you. I would recommend that anyone looking to switch hosts read them before handing over your money and, worse yet, a year of your blogging life.
While I found Web Hosting Geek's information useful, I still wasn't able to make up my mind. I think in part it was because I'm scared that I'm going to shell out money that I don't have for a paid host, only to find out that I'm Wordpress-challenged. I think the other part is because I'm scared that I might find out that I actually like Wordpress, so much so that it's going to become my new thing to tinker with, and then I'm going to get anything else done. Like I don't have enough ways to procrastinate already.
