Thursdays with Amanda: Web Hosting Analysis for Authors, Part 1
Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent. Her author marketing book, The Extroverted Writer, is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Alight, folks. Here is round one of analyzing the various website hosting services that were recommended to me. All in the name of finding the PERFECT fit for an author site.
Now remember, I don’t really know much about tech stuff. I’m your run-of-the-mill person who can stumble through it without totally understanding what’s going on. So, my analysis reflects that! I’m sure there will be important things that I’m going to miss, and if you spot them, be sure to let me know! Especially if I have missed an important item that would be a deciding factor for an author website.
WEB HOSTING ANALYSIS FOR AUTHORS
- PLANS: for an author website, you would probably only need the Hatchling or Baby plans.
- PERKS: Compatible with WordPress; Unlimited usage space; 24/7 support; weekly backups; Free website transfer (not totally sure about this one)
- COST: Hatchling is $3.96/month when you order 36 months. Baby is $6.36/month. They also try to sell you other things like web backup, SEO help, and site security. The domain is roughly $12.95/yr should you purchase it from them.
- PLANS: shared hosting plans: for an author website, you’d want the Plus Plan or the Business Pro plan. WordPress hosting plan: for an author website, the Blogger plan looks great.
- PERKS: $29.99 for 45-minute 1-on-1 help session; Free domain name; $99 website migration
- COST: $5.95/mo for 36 months for the Plus Plan; $13.95/mo for 36 months for Business Pro plan; $24.99/month for WordPress Plan
- PLANS: Gold and Platinum
- PERKS: A set monthly cost that doesn’t seem to fluctuate; Free domain; No outsourced support
- CONS: they have limits on usage, and they tout free setup, but most companies also offer this
- COST: Gold Plan $9.95/mo; Platinum plan $19.95/mo
- PLANS: Essential Hosting; WordPress Hosting
- PERKS: Seems SUPER cheap, but beware of how prices may skyrocket when you renew; US customer service; Free domain; Free space; lots of free stuff; on the WordPress end they seem to have lots of tools for making the most of your WP site
- COST: Essential – $1.68/mo for 36 months; WordPress – $6.95/mo for 36 months
Okay, that’s enough for this week.
I NEED YOUR INPUT! What did I miss? What is important that I failed to consider? And which of these hosting sites looks the best to YOU?
We’ll review more next week!