When you are ready to go beyond blogger...

It may seem strange to write this on a blogger blog, but part of the reason why I have not moved this blog over to it's own domain to use wordpress as I did two years ago with my local blog is related to a lesson I learned about the necessary first step, having a domain name. Some individual who will remain nameless, decided to purchase the domain for this blog so that I could not keep the same name. I could create a new one but I'm waiting him out.

Your next decision will be to decide which type of hosting you want, that's the actual service that your new domain would be in use at. You can have a domain name without hosting, but to actually use the domain name for a website or a blog you have to have it hosted somewhere. Managed hosting is not typically suggested for those who are doing this for the first time, you have more space and bandwith, but the cost is much higher. This is why most people start out with a shared hosting plan. These plans start at several dollars a month and up, depending on what your space requirements are.

I recommend looking at more than one hosting provider and compare their prices and what type of specials they might be running at the time. Some will do monthly plans, some expect payment in full for the year in advance. With Wordpress you have the ability to copy all of your posts and comments from a blogger blog and with blogger you can enter the new URL to be able to easily direct visitors to your new home on the web...