We all do it sooner or later – question if we want to host our own blog. For me, it came last year while I was switching from Blogger to Word Press. When I added self-hosted to the mix as well, I was a little afraid that the learning curve would be too steep. Thankfully, I chose my hosting company well and I have had very few issues.

But how to decide on a hosting company? I did my homework and read several different reviews places like the ‘Top 10 Hosting List or the 12 Best Hosts and then I made my decisions. I knew I certainly did not want to have to pay any more than necessary but I wanted to avoid constant problems with downtime or not be able to speak to a live human when I needed help in the middle of the night. I also wanted to be sure that my host offered the ability to host more than one or two domains and have a fast data transfer. In the end, I chose Host Monster.

Hostmonster was offering the following:

• Webspace: Unlimited
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Host Unlimited Domain
• Linux Webhosting: Yes
• Windows Webhosting: No
• SQL Databases: 100
• Free Domain Forever
• Unlimited Pop/Imap Email Accounts
• SSH Access (Secure Shell)
• SSL, FTP, Stats
• CGI, Ruby (RoR), Perl, PHP, MYSQL
• Front Page Extensions
• Free Site Builder w/ Templates
• Support: 24/7 365 Live Chat, phone, and email
• Guarantee: 30 Days
• Free Domain Name or Domain Transfer
• Instant Setup – Use Site Right Away!
• Free Site Promotion
• Free 1 Click Installer For Over 50 Scripts
• 99.9% Network Up time Guarantee
• $25 Free Yahoo Credits
• $50 Free Google Credits
• Free Search Engine Submission

If you are like me, you read most of that and said, “So what…Most of that is alphabet soup that I do not begin to understand”. However, when I began seeing this same information on multiple sites, I recognized that Host Monster is a good, reliable company with all of the things I was looking for. My next question was, “How Much?”, figuring it would be way more than I was interested in paying. At the time I did this (January 2009) they had a very special pricing of $4.95 a month if you payed for 24 months at once so I bit the bullet and did it and have not regretted it for a moment. I love having my own domain (in fact I just bought a second one for an idea..hehehe) and I have only had one issue with the speed/bandwidth. The one time that I had to contact Host Monster with a question, true to their word, there was a live, easy to understand human on the other end of the line immediately and they solved my question with ease.

Bottom line? Do your homework when choosing your host and make sure it is the right fit for you and the needs of your blog. As for my recommendation, Host Monster has done well by me and at this point I do not think I will be changing hosts at the end of the year…but when I do my homework a little closer to that time, who knows what I will find!

Alyson writes at 3PsinaPod, a blog where she shares her crazy life with her hubby and 3 girls. She does loads of Product Reviews and Giveaways along with great information on Humanitarian projects, especially Adoption as her family would not be the same without it!