If you’re about to install WordPress as a blogging platform then you actually need to know that a WordPress blog installed on the incorrect host could get your account banned.

So let me explain the different kinds of hosting for you. If you’re just starting out in the blogging world commonly know as the blogosphere you have a couple of options.

The first one being that you can use the WordPress.org site to host your new blog. Using the site walks you through the simple step by step process and allows you to get going within minutes. This service is idea if you have no online technical experience. The only thing to remember that if you opt for this type of blog hosting is that you will have the word “WordPress” as part of your domain name such as “Yourblogname.WordPress.com”. The terms and conditions of the WordPress site don’t allow business blogs to be hosted so if your intention is to use your blog to make money you’ll need to find an alternative place to host your blog.

Another draw back to this method of blog hosting is that the blog doesn’t actually belong to you. So say you managed to build your blog up to receive loads of daily visitors then for some reason or another, WordPress decided to ban your account, there is absolutely nothing you can do. You will loose your daily visitors and will have to start a new blog from scratch. There are ways of backing up your blog so you could reload it, but just imagine the effect this will have on your visitors. Initially your pages may have disappeared so it will look like you’ve given up on your blog or gone out of business, secondly returning visitors will be suddenly thrown into something completely new with a new domain name and possibly a different look and feel, which may cause them to decide not to hang around.

The best thing about this service is that if you have something you and many other people in the blogosphere are genuinely interested in, you can start building a community focused on your blog in no time at all.

The other way to set up a WordPress blog is to install the WordPress content management system on to your own server or web space. This involves uploading a set of files to your webhost via a ftp program. Ftp stands for file transfer protocol. It’s a program that allows you to upload files to your web space. Thanks to a server based program called Fantastico this task has been made really easy. Unfortunately not all servers have this program installed so double check that its available before buying any web hosting. The other program to check that the server runs is a piece of software call cPanel. This gives the user an easy interface to use when logged into the server or web host.

When using a web host that has cPanel installed for it’s users and Fantastico for installing WordPress, a blog can be installed in a couple of minutes. All files are set up for you and all you need to do is pretty much tell the program where to install WordPress and what user name and password you require. The software even offers you the option of having your settings emailed to you.

Don’t worry if your host doesn’t have cPanel or Fantastico installed as you can still set up your blog in a couple of minutes, you merely have a few extra installation steps to complete on the way.

Author Bio: Go to WordPress blog mastery.com for free step by step video guides on how to do a wordpress install. Including installing on the WordPress domain, installing using Fantastico / cPanel & installation of WordPress via ftp. You’ll also discover the most common errors you can easily avoid.

Category: Internet
Keywords: WordPress, blogging, WordPress install, blog installation, fantastico