What’s the Best WordPress Hosting Theme for Minimalist Designers?
Ever wonder what makes a good website? Is it the content? Is it the design? Is it the host? All of these elements play an important role in the creation of a quality website. In order to have a quality website, you must first decide on the type of hosting you need.
When it comes to finding the best WordPress hosting for your minimalist design needs, you’ll typically have two choices: a simple self-hosted solution or a premium (Powered by WordPress) hosted solution.
The former is fairly straightforward; you’ll simply need to choose a domain name for your site and install WordPress on your own server. From there you can do anything you want with the platform, including change the appearance of your site with either free or premium themes (more on these types of things later).
The latter is where things get a little more complicated. With a premium host, you’re not only getting the service of maintaining a virtual server but you’re also paying for the convenience of having a professional take care of all the technical stuff for you. So really, it’s up to you whether you want to DIY (Do It Yourself) or pay someone to do it for you.
To that end, let’s take a look at the various aspects that might influence your decision and help you find the best WordPress hosting for your minimalist design needs.
Features
To begin with, you’ll want to look for a hosting provider that offers a variety of features. Some of the more popular features that are usually included with a premium host are:
- SEO-friendly URLs (pretty URLs)
- Free backups
- Free domain privacy
- Free custom themes
- Free plugins
- Free SEO tools
- Free Google Analytics installation
- Free Google Fonts
Reliability
Depending on how much you’re planning on pushing out there, you may want to consider what reliability tier you want to be on. That is, you’ll either want to go with the extremely reliable and stable tier or the more affordable, but still reliable tier. For example, the extremely reliable and stable tier will have you covered for uptime guarantees while the more affordable tier won’t. So it’s all about the risk you’re willing to take.
Performance
This one is pretty self-explanatory. You’ll want a host that can handle the amount of traffic you’re planning on getting. While it’s great to have a beautiful, minimalistic design for your site’s front end, if your site isn’t lightning fast, it can ruin the overall experience for your visitors. So make sure to check out their performance benchmarks before you make any decision.
Apart from the speed issue, you’ll also want to check out their loading time. Typically, the faster the better. However, if you’re going for a really sleek, minimalist look, you may want to opt for slightly slower speeds, as they can sometimes impact the overall performance of your site. So it’s a matter of personal preference.
Appearance
Here’s where things get really interesting. Depending on the kind of design you want for your site, you’ll either need a static or a dynamic front end. That is, you’ll either want to build the entire site yourself using templates or designs provided by the hosting company or you’ll want to use a tool to generate a fully-functioning site from a graphical layout. The later is usually done with a plugin known as a static HTML page builder.
If you go with the static front end method, you’re opting for a completely DIY (Do It Yourself) approach to web design. This means you’ll be responsible for all the back end tasks, including installing WordPress and any other necessary plugins, as well as setting up email notifications, taking care of backups, etc. This can also involve a lot of trial and error as you learn how to use various software such as Photoshop, InDesign, and Dreamweaver to name a few. So if you haven’t done so already, it might be a good idea to learn how to use these types of tools. This will help you in the long run and avoid any surprises once you get stuck.
If you go with the plugin approach, you’re opting for a more automated method of website creation. This means you’ll be setting up the pages using a tool and not doing any of the work yourself. The benefit of this approach is that you can simply choose a theme (this part is entirely up to you) and click a few buttons to have a fully-functioning site ready to go live.
The choice between these two extremes is completely up to you. It’s always great to have a beautiful, fully-functioning website, but sometimes it’s also a good choice to go with something more minimalist, especially if you’re new to the whole process. For example, if you’ve never done any kind of web design or development, it might be a better idea to start with something more basic, like a WordPress-powered blog for which you can find thousands of free themes online. This way, you can actually try out different looks and learn more about web design without risking too much.
Security
Another important factor to consider when finding the best WordPress hosting for your needs is the security of your data. You’ll either want to read about the security of the given host or try out their GDPR-compliant (General Data Protection Regulation) protection. The GDPR standard deals with how data is handled across the Internet and sets stringent requirements for data privacy and security.
For starters, you’ll want to make sure that your data is securely stored. The best way to do this is by using a reputable hosting service that is also equipped with military-grade security measures, such as multiple data centers and firewall protection. This way, even if your website is hacked, your data will still be safe.
Next, you’ll want to make sure that your data is protected from loss. So far, we’ve covered how important it is to store your data securely, but equally important is that you want to make sure that your data is not lost. There are actually a few ways in which this can happen, from your server being hacked to a fire breaking out and destroying all your files. Or, perhaps the worst-case scenario is that you just forget about your site for months and when you finally come back to it, it’s already been taken down by Google (yes, that Google).
Thankfully, this is extremely unlikely to happen. The only way it could is if you do something really, really wrong. So, as a rule of thumb, make sure to store your downloads and important files on a separate system, especially if you’re storing other sensitive information, such as financial details or medical records, on the same computer. Backing up your data is also critical, especially if you’re not using a tool to automate the process. Doing backups manually is also fairly straightforward and, again, not overly complicated. Just make sure to do this regularly.
Support
Last but not least, we have the support options. You’ll either want to go with a hosted solution which comes with 24/7 tech support or take the DIY approach and hire a web developer or consultant to help you out.
It’s always great to have a beautiful, fully-functioning site, but sometimes it’s also a good choice to go with something more minimalist, especially if you’re new to the whole process. For example, if you’ve never done any kind of web design or development, it might be a better idea to start with something more basic, like a WordPress-powered blog for which you can find thousands of free themes online. This way, you can actually try out different looks and learn more about web design without risking too much.