3 Preliminary Steps to Setting up my Blog, in Plain English

A while ago I Googled my name to see what gory, embarrassing details were on public display. There was nothing too surprising – yes, I went to Tulane University; ok, 4 minutes in penalties put me on the goon list in my rec hockey league – until I saw it.

The porn site.

Someone had hijacked my name and turned it into adult site. All those jokes I endured from my friend Paul who insisted I had a “porn name” had come true. With great trepidation I clicked the link. Oh no, adult site. Or so I was completely convinced until I started to really look.  Turns out it was a rather innocent web site created by an Essex teenager, “Sexi Lexi”, whose real name was… Alexa Samuels.

Step 1 – Buying the domain name

Discovering that my name was a growing trend amongst Jewish and Jamaican teenage girls in the US as well, I decided to claim to my name and bought the domain.  In other words, I bought the exclusive rights to use alexasamuels.com. I purchased it through Yahoo! Small Business (someone had recommended this), but there are many domain name registrars (companies accredited by ICANN, the Internet naming controllers, to sell the use of domain names), such as GoDaddy, through whom you can buy domain names. Note: many web hosting companies are domain name registars too.

Step 2 – Finding a web hosting solution that works with WordPress.org

It’s not enough just own a name.  You need to find a web hosting provider – that is, an “Internet landlord” who rents you space on their server to 1) host your web site’s pages and 2) to make sure these pages appear when a visitor wants to see your site.

I had determined my site would be a blog for posting content, links, Twitter feeds, video, etc. No need for ecommerce or other fancy stuff at this time.

I debated WordPress.org vs. squarespace.com, two blogging software options. While squarespace has strengths – automatic upgrades, tight security, reasonable support – I went with WordPress.org:

1. As a regular user of their free service, WordPress.com, I have been happy with the experience. However, the free service doesn’t offer enough plug-ins (add-on functionality).
2. WordPress.org has better SEO (search engine optimization) features, making it easier for my site to be found by people using Google, Bing or Yahoo to search for web sites. If you want web exposure and traffic, getting found easily is key.
3. If needed I could switch to squarespace from WordPress.org.

Step 3 – Selecting the WordPress.org host

Ugh, do I have a headache.

Everyone has an opinion about the right web hosting tool, and they’re never the same.  I did my due diligence, and where I’ve netted out is to at least use a host that is WordPress friendly. (Alas, this rules out Yahoo! Small Business which, given their lousy no-refund policy, means I have no choice but to suck up the $35 I just spent to renew the domain.)

After some research and considerable hand wringing, I selected Host Gator. To find out why and what happened, read on.