If you tried to access Gamer Hero yesterday and got nothing, we apologize. Apparently, my web host - even with my recent upgrade to a dedicated server - can’t handle even 25k hits in one day. Weak. But yeah, I figure that now’s as good a time as any to continue our miniseries on starting your own gaming site - today’s topic is, of course, web hosting.

The main thing - and I can’t stress this enough - is research, research, research. I would’ve saved myself so much work, heartache, and wasted money if I’d put more time into reading forum & blog posts about various web hosts before I tried them. Try and find a company with a good reputation for honest billing, quick customer service, as little downtime as possible, and an accessible, friendly, and knowledgeable staff. Trust me, paying a bit more for a company with a better reputation will be worth it in the long run - I’ve learned this the hard way! Having the trust and peace of mind that your websites won’t randomly vanish into the ether is way more important than saving a few bucks. So yeah: research.

Hey y’all, Zee here. So this post is kind of a departure from our usual all gaming, all the time programming, but I’ve been getting enough e-mails asking “how do I do what you guys are doing?” that I figured it was time to make a few how-to posts about starting your own blog. So consider this post the first of a series; I’ll be breaking it down a bit to tell everyone how you can create (and maybe even make a few bucks from) your very own gaming blog.

The first and most important step is obviously domain registration. I mean, you CAN get a free blog at BlogSpot or Xanga, but honestly… those are way harder to brand and thus keep readers coming back, so to me, domain registration is a necessary expense. Plus it’s only like $15 a year, on average, so it’s not really a huge purchase or anything (and by that I mean that you do have to renew your domain name yearly, but most registrars make that incredibly easy and painless).

Unless you immediately come up with an awesome & available domain that you can’t live without, I’d recommend spending a few days coming up with ideas before you go through with domain registration - remember, it has to be something you won’t get sick of in a few weeks. Assuming you’re in this for the long haul, a well-chosen domain name is critical to blogging success.

So that’s the first step! Easy, huh? Keep your eyes peeled for the next part of this ongoing series - and remember, if you do infact start a gaming-themed blog after reading these posts, feel free to contact us at GH and ask for a link trade - we’re always looking for more affiliates!