The Cheapest WordPress Hosting – Is It Worth It?

You have a great idea for a blog. You’ve been thinking about the concept for a while, and finally, you’ve decided to take the plunge and start a blog. You know what? So fucking awesome! Now, all you have to do is figure out how to make it happen. There are plenty of cheap hosts to choose from if you don’t want to spend a fortune, but which one is right for you? Let’s explore.

Features

The price of a host is mostly determined by features these days. You want to look for a hosting provider that offers the basics well and adds extras for free. This will make a huge difference in your overall experience. Here are the features to look out for:

• 1 Click Install – If you’re tech-savvy and knows what you’re doing, you can install WordPress in a snap with 1 click. No need to worry about configuring the platform or figuring out how to use it. Just click on the install button and you’re good to go.
• 24/7 Live Support – If you ever go into panic mode wondering whether or not your blog will go live, you can contact the friendly support team and get all your questions answered. They will walk you through the whole process of setting up your blog and give you all the tips and tricks you need to know. This is especially useful for newbies who aren’t tech-savvy or for those with less experience who need some help.
• Free Backup – One of the worst things that can happen to your blog is losing all of your content in the event of a hard drive failure or catastrophic system crash. Fear of the loss of data is one of the main reasons people avoid blogging. Having a free backup is the best way to protect yourself from this. A reliable host will automatically back up your blog every day so you can rest assured that your content will be safe and secure.
• Free Domain – If you’re looking for a free domain, this is the hosting platform to choose. Not only will you get the perfect.com or.ca for free, but you’ll also get to use a dedicated IP to ensure that your blog can’t be censored by your ISP. A dedicated IP adds an extra layer of protection to your blog, giving it the best chance of reaching your target audience. Protecting your freedom of speech means a lot to us here at WPEngine.
• Free Premium Theme – It’s important to find a theme that suits your blog’s subject matter. For example, if you’re blogging about fashion, you might want to try for a style-neutral theme that will make your content look more modern and fresh. If, however, you’re a foodie and love to cook, you might want to look for a theme that compliments your culinary skills.
• Free Hosting – If you’re a blogger who wants to save money, you can look for a host that offers free hosting. This means that you don’t have to buy expensive accessories to get your website up and running. Your host will take care of everything from installing WordPress to providing you with a free domain and hosting plans that are suitable for your needs.
• SSH Access – If you’re looking for a way to secure your blog and prevent unauthorized access, you can try out an SSH access plugin for WordPress. This will give you complete control over your blog’s security and allow you to fully protect yourself and your content. Without needing to remember passwords or rely on third parties to keep your account secure, you can prevent hackers from gaining access to your blog. It’s important to remember that most hosting providers offer this feature as a premium option.
• WordPress Version – Most hosts will provide you with the option of installing a specific version of WordPress. It’s generally best to go for the latest LTS (Long Term Service) release to ensure that you’re always up to date with the latest features and enhancements. In case you want to explore other alternatives, you can find many WordPress hosts that offer the classic version.
• PHP Version – Another crucial factor to consider when choosing a web host is the PHP version that they support. Make sure that they support the latest stable version of PHP (for security reasons). This will give you the best possible experience when it comes to keeping your blog safe from hackers and keeping your content secure. If you’re looking for a cheap and dirty way to cut corners and get your site up and running quickly without having to worry about security, you can choose a host that uses an outdated PHP version. However, if you value your safety and security, it’s best to choose a host that supports the latest stable version of PHP. In either case, make sure that they update their version regularly so you don’t end up with a vulnerable platform that hackers can exploit.
• MySQL Version – In order to have a secure blog, you need to have a MySQL version that’s up to date. The latest stable version of MySQL supports many important features that will make your blog more secure and stable. In case you’re looking for a cheap host that doesn’t offer this option, it’s best to choose a host that uses an older version of MySQL and is up to date with all the security patches. Not only does this protect you from online attacks, it also keeps your database safe from being hacked. If you have a dedicated IP, you don’t need to worry about this as they will always be keeping your database up-to-date.
• PHP Memory Limit – Depending on your blog’s needs, you can choose between different PHP memory limits. Generally speaking, the higher the better as it will make a huge difference in how your blog performs and how much content you can store. For example, if you have a large audience and a lot of monthly activity (posts, comments, etc.), you might want to choose a higher memory limit so you don’t risk running out of memory when other tasks (like serving pages or running analytics tools) need to be done. On the other hand, if your blog is relatively small and hasn’t attracted much attention so far, you can choose a lower limit to keep your resources more carefully managed. You will still have enough memory to operate your blog, but you won’t have some of the extra features that are sometimes offered by higher end hosts.
• Uploads – One of the biggest concerns that some bloggers have is the amount of space that their hosting provider provides for uploads. If you have a lot of images and videos that you want to feature on your blog, it’s best to look for a host that provides enough storage for your needs. Sometimes bloggers will choose cheaper options just to have enough space to upload their content. Although this may be tempting, it’s not a good idea to go for a cheaper option if you want a stable and secure platform. It’s always better to spend a bit more money so you can be sure that you’ll get the quality you’re looking for.

Performance

Aside from features, the performance of a web host is one of the other crucial areas to consider. In order to have a successful blog, you need to make sure that it performs well enough to attract and retain your audience. This means that you need to look for a host that’s either fast or has a fast enough host. Anything less and you might start losing potential readers due to sub-par performance.

There are a few things that you can do speed up your blog’s loading time, which in turn will make it more attractive to your readers. One of the simplest things is installing a caching plugin for WordPress, such as W3 Total Cache or WordPress Fastest Cache. The second simplest thing is to use a dedicated IP when setting up your blog. A dedicated IP is a virtual IP that is associated with a single device, which means that all of the content and resources that are hosted on that device will all have the same IP address. This makes it simpler for search engines to identify your content and pull it directly from your website, rather than having to first go to another site to get the content that you’re offering.

Aside from these two options, there are a few others that can help, but they’ll all require some technical know-how. The easiest method is to install a caching plugin, such as W3 Total Cache or WordPress Fastest Cache. This will help reduce the load time of your blog’s content so that your visitors don’t have to wait as long to view your content. The next best thing is to associate your blog with a dedicated IP so that all of your content can be easily found and indexed by search engines.