WordPress Hosting: Which One to Choose 

If you’re looking for a WordPress hosting solution, things can get very confusing very quickly. There are many options out there for 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 charged between $5 and $15 per month, while other companies provided 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 critical 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 learn about different types of WordPress hosting and what factors to consider when picking the right provider.

Different WordPress Hosting Options

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

You can also use virtual private servers (VPS) and cloud servers. These 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 starting, there probably isn’t a need for this. Dedicated servers are great because you don’t have to share them with anyone; they’re jam-packed with power. This is something to look into if you expect a large amount of traffic to your site or have a sizeable corporation.

Important WordPress Hosting Features

Cost

This is often the primary deciding factor for people choosing 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 should know is never to choose free hosting. This option often comes with inadequate security and is prone to being a playground for amateur hackers.

You can usually choose from several plans, ranging from basic to premium. The cost will vary depending on the quality of support, the health of the servers, and the frequency of services.

If you 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 in your WordPress site.

In fact, around ten years ago, Google decided that your website’s loading time would 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 at least three seconds before 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 is unimportant for 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 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 who guarantees 24/7 customer assistance and has great reviews online.

WordPress Features

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

Backups

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

WordPress website hosting services will back up your data, 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. When it came to choosing your host, it all depended on your budget. In today’s climate, there are so many things to think about. It’s simple to get lost.

Essential 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.