Choosing the best WordPress host isn’t an easy task, as you have a plethora of options in front of you. If not in hundreds, you have options of web host providers in abundance. Here is an excellent guide for you, that may assist you in choosing the best hosting service provider for your website.
Now before hunting for the right host provider choice, it is important to dive deep into the detail about the four types of hosting services. These are:
All the above mentioned hosting methods are competitively best than other and are more or less equally priced. Apart from these four choices, there is also free WordPress hosting service. But of course, free hosting providers are not as trustworthy as a paid hosting plan. Whether you're an amateur or veteran, it is always suggested to use a paid hosting plan to create a good website and generate revenue out of it.
This is one of the most popular hostings in the market. It offers multiple sites to host on the same server. This means that you're sharing your Internet corner with other websites. It isn't a bad idea as it enables the host to charge a much lower fee for their plans. It is thus, most inflexible, cheapest and least configurable type of hosting. It works on an assumption that the website with less traffic will not consume server's resources.
As a user, you should be aware of the deceived shared hosting service providers which announce for unlimited storage and bandwidth. It can be fallacious anyway! This is because performance will be measured on processing power over storage and bandwidth.
Pros: It is affordable and can be installed in one click. There are numerous shared hosting service providers which offer convenient basic functions with easy accessible navigable cPanel.
Cons: As it is a shared hosting if your site grows quickly, you'll be forced to upgrade the prevent from server load. This can be little expensive and may have an adverse effect on website performance.
A VPS hosting divides a server into virtual servers, wherein, each of its users is like hosted on their dedicated server, but in actuality, they’re sharing a server with a few different other users. You may give root access and can modify the performance-related components of the server to meet your needs.
Pros: It offers control on how to setup your server. It maintains the privacy of a smaller server and can run the most accurate software to support websites with a larger amount of traffic.
Cons: It is expensive than shared hosting. The VPS hosting is never recommended for a newbie as it requires technical expertise to proceed.
It is best recommended for non-tech savvy people. Its is taken care of by the hosting company leaving you free to concentrate on other things such as marketing, publishing content or creating products. WP Engine is the best recommended managed WordPress hosting provider.
Pros: As staff trained in WordPress completely manages it, it will ensure to optimise site performance, boost to create backups regularly and will keep the website most secured.
Cons: It is incredibly expensive if you're hosting multiple sites.
A dedicated web server offers the maximum control over the web server on which your website is stored. The hosting provider directly rents or leases it. It means that you'll have the entire server physically at your host place, which is wholesomely for your website. This is the most recommended solution if your website is a raving success and has a plenty of daily visitors.
Pros: It offers complete control over the dedicated server resulting in increases site performance. It provides the owner with the complete authority to use its memory, processing power and disk space at their disposal.
Cons: It is very expensive and recommended only to those who need the maximum control and better server performance.
So these are the hosting options for WordPress users. Now to choose the hosting options, it can be incredibly tempting to go for the cheapest hosting options available. While that’s acceptable if you’re trying to save money, but there are few aspects need to be considered while choosing the perfect host.
The WordPress website host should guarantee minimum 99.9% of the website uptime. This figure is difficult to achieve, but at least you should be compensated for the excessive downtime. This motivates your host to create a backup of your website.
The host should ensure that the WordPress pages are loading quickly in all the respective browsers on the internet. It is because loading speed is crucial. You may even check the performance of the respective hosting company with its clients. Just see how quickly connection is established, and how quickly the server is responding. Try to maintain an equilibrium between host services, features and your budget.
There are often issues relating to host. So your WordPress host should be available 24x7 on multiple support channels like email, phone calls, Skype or live chat. If anyone is facing problems in real-time, you can directly connect with them for a friendly and knowledgeable support. In general, it is seen smaller companies are more concerned about their clients, while bigger hosting organisations accommodate multiple requests.
It is critical for WordPress users to understand how do hackers enters the WordPress website. In a study, it was found that nearly 41% of the hackers enter the WordPress website via hosting platform. Now to avoid WordPress site from being hacked, your host should be good enough to hold a smart security system.
The hosting provider should provide an appropriate WordPress update within the recent WordPress version and all the related plugins. This will make your WordPress site less prone to risk. Not much, at least the hosting provider should send the emails about available WordPress updates.
The game can be only successful if the hosting package you choose fits your WordPress website needs. Each of the hosting plans has pros and cons. Therefore it is worth in investing only for a plan which fits your growing stage. And ultimately your budget can better help you to make a final decision.
Good article Sophia. I have a question though.
Can you recommend me some companies that offer managed hosting?
I searched the net for some time but the only reputable company I’ve found that doesn’t charge for the managed hosting is Rosehosting.
Since I always like to have choices recommending me some other host will be great.
Thanks for your answers if any.