One of my biggest accomplishments so far in my life is that I am the author of Alex and John’s Scientific Adventures. This is a project I started while finishing college and proudly created my very first book. At the same time, I knew I needed to do so much in order to get my book out there.
While writing my book, I was also teaching ‘How to’ classes to both children and adults on a variety of different subjects. With all of these opportunities, I knew that I needed to start a business that would save me from being liable if something unfortunate were to happen.
With that, I turned to some friends who do business in social media to gain knowledge about how to start a business and what all is needed. Of course, on top of all of the legal mumbo-jumbo, they helped me create a website (hosted through their website).
There was one problem with my website. It was not easy to navigate to if you didn’t know that I was using WordPress. I wanted everyone who know of my book to be able to get to the website without having any trouble, so I decided that I needed to have my own domain name.
With the new domain name came many benefits:
- I could create email addresses that included the domain name.
- My guests only needed to remember the book’s name to get to the website.
- My website looked and felt like ‘MINE’
- Being able to put my domain name in my book made everything feel complete.
I used 1&1 for my domain hub and actually liked the service very much.
This blog is also now self hosted through and of course through 1&1. I highly recommend them. I paid less than $1/month for the first year and they are great to help when any issues arise.
Having your own domain is only half the battle
Having your own domain is definitely the first step but, there is much more to a website than a domain name. You need to build your website. This doesn’t mean build the website from scratch, although you can if you want to.
You will need to find someone to host the content of your blog and create the site. There are many websites that will pretty much create the bare bones of the site for you with just a few short clicks. Then, you will be able to upload your theme and get started!
Best10WebsiteBuilders is a great resource for choosing the right hosting and website building company. I of course use 1&1 for hosting as well, but there are many options. This resource will help you to make an informed choice and get you started on your blog!
I've always been on blogger and use go daddy but I've been thinking about making the switch to self hosted. I'll have to keep these in mind.
Search engines will give your site a better ranking if you have your own domain. It's worth the investment, especially with this coupon!
I thought “go daddy” was a self hosted domain? can you clarify for me. thanks.
I think branding is the biggest win with having your own domain – being able to publish the title of your book as your URL, too makes a big impression. Makes you more legit!
Wow, thanks for this post! I was actually talking to my husband about domain names the other day for my other various websites! This is awesome!
I could be mistaken but I believe that the 'self hosted' part of these sites is that the individual controls a lot of the functionality however because it is a third party site, I would still consider them to be the host.