“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call…web hosting.”

Okay, so web hosting isn’t exactly The Twilight Zone. Nevertheless, it is just as mysterious a realm to many of those who have a real need to investigate and understand it.

I do believe that I have made nearly every mistake a blogger can make. Some blogging mistakes are relatively small – you simply acknowledge them and move on. Others, take quite awhile to overcome.
One of my first and biggest mistakes was made right out of the box. I could not comprehend why anyone would pay for web hosting when there were a number of reputable and reliable companies that do it for “free” – Blogger, WordPress, etc. My mistake was in looking at this topic in terms of “cost” rather than “opportunity costs”.

The decision you make about web hosting, and even more critically about ecommerce hosting, will have a tremendous effect on your search engine traffic, online reputation, revenue potential, and the amount of enjoyment you get out something into which you are investing serious time and mental energy.

I strongly advise you to avoid the mistake that I made. Get started right with your own domain name and web hosting arrangements. You may choose to avoid this decision because you find the whole topic confusing – a kind of Twilight Zone. But I encourage you to invest a few hours reading some online articles on web hosting, talk with bloggers you respect, and make a thoughtful decision.