WordPress Hosting: Which One to Choose 

If you’re looking for a WordPress hosting solution, things can get very confusing – very quickly. There are a lot of options out there when it comes to hosting your website, many of which are downright awful.

How much should you pay for WordPress hosting? A few years back, the choice would have been simple. Now? Not so much.

Back then, providers offering shared hosting were charging between $5 and $15 per month, while other companies provide dedicated servers for up to tens of thousands of dollars monthly. The choice would have depended on your budget, but not today.

Here are some of the key things to think about when choosing your WordPress hosting provider:

• Price
• Migration
• Speed
• Security
• Staging environment
• Customer support
• Restrictions and compatibility
• Scalability
• Additional features

Read on to find out about different types of hosting for WordPress and what factors to consider when picking the right provider for you.

Different WordPress Hosting Options

If you’re just starting out, your best option might be a shared hosting provider, as well as managed hosting services. The second option is also technically shared; however, this hosting type also comes with plenty of value and specialization.

You can also choose to use virtual private servers (VPS) and cloud servers. They are different from others in that they don’t have physical servers and therefore come with increased power and storage capabilities.

Lastly, you have the option of renting a dedicated server. If you’re just starting out, there probably isn’t a need for this. Dedicated servers are great because you don’t have to share them with anyone, and they’re jam-packed with power. This is something to look into if you’re expecting a large amount of traffic to your site or have a sizeable corporation.

Important WordPress Hosting Features

Cost

This is often the primary and deciding factor for people looking to choose a WordPress hosting plan. While you might have the impulse to choose the cheapest plan available, you might want to think again. As in life, With WordPress hosting – you get what you pay for.

Web hosts need to make a profit, so the first thing you need to know is never to choose free hosting. More often than not, this option comes with inadequate security and is prone to be a playground for amateur hackers.

There are usually a number of plans that you can choose from, ranging from basic to premium. The cost will vary depending on the quality of support, the health of the servers, and frequency of services.

If you just want to get your website and blog up but aren’t looking to earn an income, you can expect to find a great hosting plan from $3 to $30 per month. Online stores and businesses can do well with a $100 WordPress web hosting subscription.

Page Speed

We cannot stress enough the importance of page speed when it comes to your WordPress site.

In fact, around ten years ago, Google decided that the loading time of your website will impact your search rankings. Search Engine Optimization is critical for the success of your business and your website’s performance.

The facts are in the figures. Forrester Consulting found that 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. Furthermore, 40% of people will wait no longer than three seconds before completely abandoning a site.

So, to check your website’s speed, you can use tools like WebPagetest or GTmetrix. If it takes longer than two seconds to load, you might be looking at a considerable increase in revenue solely by choosing a different WordPress web hosting provider.

Support

Now you might know everything about WordPress and think that support not so important when it comes to your website. Wrong. Even if you know the ins and outs of WordPress, there is always the potential for just one glitch to throw everything off course.

Now, most WordPress hosting providers offer some degree of support, whether via telephone, live web chats, emails, support forums, and support ticketing systems.

The best providers will already have a good reputation for customer support and will offer it in multiple ways – typically via email and chat. Your best bet is to go with someone that guarantees you 24/7 customer assistance, as well as great reviews online.

WordPress Features

There are a few web hosting services out there that claim to be WordPress hosts. This is due to the fact that they offer a one-click CMS installation. However, when it comes to your website, a premium-quality host offers specific features for WordPress.

Backups

Your WordPress website needs regular updates. This might not seem important, right up until the point that the hard drive on your server simply gives up – rendering your data lost forever.

WordPress website hosting services will back your data up, typically on a daily basis. Make sure to read the small print, though, as not all will back up your upload or wp-content folders, which means that if things go awry, you will lose your images.

Final Word

Hosting for WordPress was an issue with a simple solution a few years back. It all depended on the budget you were dealing with when it came to choosing your host. In today’s climate, there are so many things to think about. It’s simple to get lost.

Important elements of your WordPress hosting include security, cost, speed, customer service, backups, and WordPress-specific features. Hopefully, this article was helpful. Now that you know what to look for, you can find the best WordPress host for your needs.