As I have said before, I promised myself that I would blog about setting up this blog because I learned so much in the process and the entire premise of Learn Like A Mom is learning through life’s teachable moments. Let me tell you, I haven’t run short of those! However, I have fallen short of taking the time to write about blogging! (I’ve just been so busy trying to share other fun things!)

So, the first topic I wrote about was three steps to consider when choosing a domain name.

Today I am going to share some things I’ve learned about web hosting, which is the next step with blog creation. This post is based on my experience in setting up Learn Like A Mom. I will also share some experiences from others that will highlight why it is so important to choose a great hosting company and why you may want to switch.

This post contains affiliate links. There’s also an RFE Hosting link in my sidebar if you decide you want to check them out!

Why Care About Web Hosting?

Choosing a web hosting company that will serve you, your blog and your audience well is an important step when setting up a site or blog or changing host companies. Afterall, you are paying for a spot on their server! Is the name a coincidence? I think not.

What did I know about web hosts before LLAM? Nothing. What do I know now? Not much more than the fact that they are a place to park your domain and they keep your blog or site functioning when your content is in high demand. But, to be fair, I don’t think I’m alone in this boat.

When I was starting up Learn Like A Mom, I asked my friend from Mom Endeavors who she used because I figured they would be good. I remember her talking about how she switched from Blogger to WordPress shortly after starting her blog. Indeed that is a service that RFE Hosting offers. You can see here that Mom Endeavors is not the only blog that has paid RFE Hosting for their Blogger 2 WordPress Migration service. Knowing that other bloggers use this hosting company made me happy.

I looked at their plan comparisons and honestly, not a whole lot of it made any sense to me. My largest concern was whether I purchase the domain before paying for hosting or pay for them at the same time. My second largest concern was whether I’d get an email (at) domain (dot) com. Clearly, I was not focusing on more important factors. And, I don’t even use that email anymore.

RFE stands for Reliable Friendly Experienced. Sara from Mom Endeavors had told me how quickly they replied to her questions. I think Aaron Eaton from RFE Hosting deserves a medal just for dealing with me. I laughed out loud today at some of the questions I was asking him just 5 short months ago…but I’ll save that for another post.

After contacting him for the first time, we exchanged 12 emails that day that covered my initial inquiry all the way to getting me set up with a plan. I read, “OK. Sounds good. Let me know if you have any other questions,” a few times and he didn’t even tell me how silly this portion of an email I sent him was:

“Quick question if you don’t mind…With downloading WordPress, is that to the domain or you or is that to my computer? If so, what if I work from different computers in the house or from my phone or something?”

OK, some of you are laughing out loud right now…right along with me. Others that aren’t as familiar with this new language I’ve picked up don’t quite get the humor in this quote. That’s okay. Focus on the first step. Choose a hosting plan and a domain and go from there. My point is, Aaron illustrated the RFE really is RF and E.

Confused as to why you’d want WordPress or about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? I thought I had it figured out until a friend asked me last week about the differences and I got them backwards! So, keep this article handy when you start confusing yourself. Amy does a wonderful job explaining the differences.

Still aren’t convinced that choosing your web hosting company wisely matters?

Well, Becca from My Crazy Good Life has a wonderful and horrible example about why it does matter…especially when your content goes viral. If something ever goes wrong for me with RFE Hosting, I will likely choose A Small Orange based on this article.

Stacie from Blogging With Simply Stacie also has an eye-opening article about why she switched hosting companies. After reading this article and the one mentioned above, you can guess which company I’ll avoid if I can. I can’t believe what she went through before finding Wired Tree.

So far, I’ve been lucky, but had I read these articles before starting Learn Like A Mom, I would have taken some time to research and ask around about web hosting companies in order to make a more informed decision. Hopefully this post gets your investigative juices flowing!

What hosting company would you recommend and why?