Did I Make A Mistake by Buying WordPress Hosting?
I had been a happy WordPress user for a while before I actually purchased hosting, but when I did I found myself regretting it. What I initially liked about WordPress was how easy it was to use and how much fun I had while building my blog. I often had ideas for posts while walking, cooking, or vacuuming and often found myself jotting them down. However, after I started to publish my posts I found that I struggled with maintaining a regular schedule as I could never quite know how many readers I would get or when. This uncertainty is something that you don’t have to worry about if you host your WordPress site on a dedicated server, but it’s still something that nags at the back of your mind when you use shared hosting.
Features That I Missed Out On
One of the main things that I missed out on when I used shared hosting was the ability to install WordPress plugins. Now that I’m more accustomed to using them I realize just how much feature-rich content I could have if I only knew how to use them. There are numerous plugins that can be used to optimize your blog for search engines and make your content look more presentable, and by not using them I was limiting myself. Now that I use them I often find myself wondering why I didn’t bother trying them out before I knew how to use them. This brings me to my next point.
Security
Shared hosting offers very little in the way of security, so you have to make sure that you take the necessary measures to protect your blog. If you use the right plugins and put in the necessary work then you shouldn’t have any problems, but you still need to be careful about what you post and who you allow to access your blog. You can use two-factor authentication for your email (something that I recommend) and disable the login pages if someone tries to break into your blog. This won’t stop a determined hacker, but it will make your life a lot easier if you are targeted by such an individual. When it comes to security it’s important to take things slow and be realistic about what you expect from the service you are using.
Reliability
You want your blog to be reliable and you want to be able to rely on the service you are using when you need it. It’s not always the case with shared hosting, as you have no control over the server and it can go down at any time. If you are someone who wants to keep their blog up and running regardless of what happens to the server then you should look into buying dedicated hosting. Even then, if you are not hosting your blog on a dedicated server but you are using a reputable service, things can still go wrong. If you are hosting on a shared server then you should expect some down time, as things will occasionally go wrong and the server will need to be rebooted or restored from a backup. Keep this in mind and you’ll rarely have problems.
Efficiency
Efficiency is always a key consideration when you are paying for web hosting, as you don’t want to be paying for all that bandwidth that you aren’t actually using. The more you use, the more you pay, and it’s not always easy to determine how much bandwidth you need beforehand. The solution is to look into hosting plans that are pre-configured for the amount of traffic that you expect to see. This way, you’ll know exactly what you’re paying for and won’t be accidentally paying for more than you need.
The point of all this is that not all shared hosting is created equal and if you’re looking for a fast and reliable service then you should consider looking into dedicated hosting instead or at least a reputable host that offers both shared and dedicated options. Having a stable and reliable service will make all the difference in your ability to grow your blog successfully, so don’t be afraid to consider dedicated hosting if you’re looking for an optimum experience.