Today we are going to talk about web hosting company DreamHost.com. I decided to write this review because I use this web hosting and it’s a way how to host and even set up unlimited number of blogs and sites.

Let’s start from beginning. On their homepage there is something I don’t like so much. They keep their home page really short. There is almost no information about their services, only signup button. If I were them, I would definitely described more what’s going on and what do I offer.

After clicking on Signup button you will be redirected into the signing up process which is easy to follow. They keep it as short as possible. You can see an extra options a bonuses you can order, they’ll give you a free domain name.

DreamHost accept various types of payments like Credit card or PayPal. You can use whatever type you want. Their prices are low. If you host over one hundred sites like me, it’s super cheap and amazing. For this price you’ll get unlimited disc space and you can add unlimited number of domains. This can be useful especially later.

Their administration system is well-arranged. It doesn’t matter if you manage your domains, MySQL databases or One-click installations. You can find everything in main menu sidebar on the left. One thing I like is support team. They can help you with any problem. There is a good system for contacting support. They answer fast.

Great feature for every blogger-beginner is One-Click Installation. You can literally install various types of open source software on your domain in a second. You can choose from WordPress and Joomla (publishing systems), ZenCart (online store platform), Gallery (photo manager) or phpbb (online forum) without any need of handling databases, copying files on FTP, rewriting etc.

Other thing that amazed me was integration of Google Apps that allows me to use Google Email, Calendar, Docs, Sites and Chat just for my domain. Personally I use the email the most. It automatically set up everything I need so I can register to my Google Email by typing (mail.yourdomain.com) and I have an opportunity of using Gmail for your own domain for free. If you want to set up Google Apps account with regular hosting your have to go through a process of authorization and it can take couple hours to get is done completely. But with DreamHost everything is ready to use immediately.

I have been using DreamHost for over half year and I have I’m satisfied with it. Sometimes I had problems with their administration system when I used Opera internet browser (I thing it was generating security code for adding a new domain). I also remember one time when their database system was broken for about hour. But over all I really like this web hosting and I would definitely recommend it to everyone who wants to start own blog and later maybe own professional career in order to make money online or already has some sites and blogs.

Visit DreamHost.com homepage.

There are screenshots of what I was talking about:

Next step after choosing domain name is setting up web hosting. This article describes a process of how to get .com domain for free and how to create host account for your blog. After this article you’ll have your own domain on your hosting and you’ll be ready to start real blogging. I’ll recommend some services of other companies. I do this primarily because I’m using it and it’s the best way for me to host my blogs and sites.

What is a web host?

Web host (server in the other words) is like a computer provided by a hosting company. It stores your site and provide it to other people who are also connected through the internet.

Externally hosted blog

Basically you have two options to go with. One of them is externally hosted blog and the second one is self hosted blog. If you just want to get the feel of blogging you can think about 100% free services such as Blogger.com owned by Google.com. This service gives you everything you need for blogging. It gives you free domain name (subdomain- yourblogname.blogspot.com), hosting and blog software you can use to manage your posts. This solution is good to start, but it has several disadvantages. One of them is lack of professionalism. Your options are limited; you cannot customize your blog the way you want. You should know that you actually don’t own externally hosted blog and your provider can switch your blog off any time. So for being a real blogger you need something more.

Self hosted blog

Ideal way to start blogging is self hosted blog. All you have to do is to choose hosting provider and link your domain you got based on my previous post to your new host. I tried many web hosting but right now I’m using DreamHost.com for couple hundreds of my sites. This is unlimited hosting, so you can host as many domains as you want. You have unlimited space and on the top of it you can register 1 domain for free. Because I’m confident it’s the best web host for your blog, I’m offering you 10$ off the price of hosting! This special offer is only for BlogMentoring.com readers. You can use this unlimited hosting for other pages you have or you will create in the future.

Why did I choose DreamHost.com?

The reason is simplicity and sophisticate solution especially for bloggers. In upcoming post I’ll show you, how to install and start your blog in several seconds! If you order through this link, I’ll give you 10$ off for year hosting program, so you save money. Let’s have a look what you have to do to set up your hosting account properly.

How to set up hosting account in 9 steps?

1. Go on www.DreamHost.com and click on “Sign up Now” button. Select “Host Domain” option on sign up page.
2. This will move you to the next step. Now you can pre-pay your hosting monthly, yearly and even for longer. The longer period the cheaper it is per month. I strongly recommend 1 year payment. Things are changing fast and you don’t want to pay hosting 10 years from now even you are not using it.
3. You don’t need private server (don’t choose anything here).
4. You want to use Google Apps (about them later), nothing more.
5. In step 5 you can either register a new domain for free or if you already have a domain, just choose “I already own a domain, I just want to host it with you.“ option. Free domain registration is still later available.
6. In step 6 you have to fill some basic information about you.
7. In final step you can use our special Promo Code “BLOGMENTORING”. If you fill this in, you’ll get 10$ off the price, so it will actually save you money. Check DreamHost’s Terms of Service and push “Proceed to Payment” button.
8. On “Submit Payment” page you will see summary of your order. You can pay by PayPal, Google Checkout or credit card.
9. After successful payment you will receive an email from DreamHost with all information you need. There will be your password too. After that you can login with your email address and password.

Link your domain to your hosting

If you registered domain during sign-up process on DreamHost.com, everything should be ready to use. You don’t have to link or set-up anything.

If want to use domain name that is registered somewhere else, go to Domains -> Manage domains in Dreamhost Panel (administration center). You’ll see there “Add New Domain” button. Click on it, fill your domain name and enter security text in the box and finally click “Fully host this domain now!”. After some time a successful page should appear with instruction how to set nameservers. These servers enable to show content of your blog after you write blog’s domain name into some internet browser. They connects domain and web host. Go to website of your domain registrant and find administration center. Change nameservers there to NS1.DREAMHOST.COM, NS2.DREAMHOST.COM and NS3.DREAMHOST.COM. After 24-48 hours everything should be set-up.

This whole process can take about 5 minutes. Next time I’ll tell you how to install and setup your blog in several seconds with DreamHost.

Read my DreamHost review.