The Fastest Way to Host Your WordPress Site on the Cloud
In the world of technology, the cloud is one of the biggest and most influential buzzwords around. Essentially, it means that all of your online content and computing are stored and maintained by a third party – usually a company we’d all trust, like Google or Apple. When you need access to your content, you simply log into your account and download whatever’s needed.
Most importantly, the cloud allows you to create and run websites without needing to dedicate massive amounts of space to house a physical copy of the site. This is a space-saving and cost-effective measure that has changed the way we do business online. Since the cloud is a shared resource, it also means that you’ll share in the costs of maintaining the infrastructure.
The advantages of the cloud are numerous and incredibly valuable. One of the biggest advantages is that it provides a safe and easy way to store and process large amounts of data without running the risk of losing a single piece of information due to a hard drive crash or other forms of system failure. Because all of your data is stored in an online repository that you can access from anywhere, you eliminate the need to back up your data to an external hard drive or secondary storage device such as a USB flash drive.
Additionally, the cloud provides you with the opportunity to scale your business and websites up or down as needed, without needing to worry about investing in additional hardware to accommodate your growth. If you run a blog, for example, you might want to consider setting up a dedicated Amazon AWS account to store your content. Doing this will not only ensure that your content is kept safe and secure, but it will also give you the flexibility to easily add more servers as your business expands.
Choosing the right hosting plan for your WordPress site is an essential decision. Not only will it affect the overall feel and tone of your site, but it will also determine how much functionality you have access to on the backend – something we’ll discuss later. To help you make the right choice, we’ve compiled a list of everything to consider before hosting your WordPress site on the cloud:
The Shared Hosting Conundrum
Shared hosting is, essentially, what we’d consider the baseline option when it comes to hosting your WordPress site on the cloud. In this scenario, all of the servers are pooled together and shared amongst all of the websites and online accounts that are hosted on the server. For a modest monthly fee, you have limitless resources such as storage, bandwidth, and a suite of built-in applications and tools that can be accessed through a shared control panel.
The catch with shared hosting is that, although it might be the simplest and most cost-effective option, it’s not exactly the most secure or stable. Because the hardware and software are shared amongst multiple users, there’s always the risk of hardware failure or unexpected software glitches that could lead to data loss or security breaches. If you’re looking for a safe and stable location to house your WordPress site, shared hosting might not be the best option. However, if budget and space are no object, shared hosting is the clear choice because of its extremely favorable pricing.
The VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting Option
A virtual private server, or VPS, gives you all of the wonderful benefits of a dedicated server with the additional security and stability of a virtual environment.
A VPS is, essentially, a software simulation of a physical server. It runs on its own hardware device that you, as a customer, have access to via the internet. Using VPS is much like using dedicated server, but with the added flexibility of being able to scale your services up or down as needed. If you have a growing business that requires additional computational power or storage, you can simply rent more of these devices via a VPS account.
One of the major benefits of VPS hosting is that it provides you with the option of isolating each web application or website that you host on the server – including WordPress. In the case of WordPress, this means that you have complete control over what plugins and themes are loaded onto your site, as well as the ability to customize the look and feel of your site to your liking. VPS hosting is, therefore, the perfect choice for people who want to take control of their web content and design.
The Dedicated Server Hosting Option
Dedicated server hosting is, in many ways, the opposite of shared hosting. With a dedicated server, you have an entire server that is dedicated to your use, with no other clients or websites sharing the hardware resources. The cost of a dedicated server is usually higher than that of a shared host, but the additional functionality and reliability that it provides is well worth it.
Dedicated server hosting is ideal for people who want to focus more on design and functionality than on cost savings or the opportunity to scale their services. If you’re looking for a reliable and stable location to host your WordPress site, dedicated server hosting is the clear choice because it provides you with full control over your web content and enables you to move your site anywhere you want, whenever you want. Because dedicated servers are usually more expensive than shared hosts, it’s a good idea to build up a credit card or debit account in order to ensure that you’ll have the funds available when needed.
Considerations When Searching For the Best WordPress Hosting Plan
When searching for the best WordPress host, there are several considerations that you need to make. First and foremost, you want to ensure that the web host you choose is reliable and has a good reputation. If you’re looking for a hosting provider with a perfect five-star rating, consider moving on to the next provider – you’ll most probably end up somewhere in the middle. As mentioned above, security and stability are also very important. Ideally, you want to find a web host that is both secure and stable. If you want to keep your content safe and ensure that your website is always available, you should look for a web host that is fully compatible with the popular WordPress content management system – this is essential if you are planning on using WordPress for your site’s content management system, anyway.
Now that you have an idea of what the different types of web hosting are, you can decide which one is the best for your needs. It’s a complex subject, and we highly recommend you take some time to do your research before committing to one option over another.