How to Choose a WordPress Hosting Service
If you’re looking for a simple way to build a professional-looking website, complete with an online store, you’ve come to the right place! WordPress offers a great solution, and with the right hosting service in place, the basics are easy to grasp. In this article, we’ll discuss the different aspects that you’ll need to keep in mind when choosing a WordPress hosting service. Let’s get started.
Features
One of the first things that you’ll need to consider is the features that the service offers. While the technical aspects of setting up a WordPress site don’t vary much from one service to the next, features can vary significantly, so it’s worth looking into what is offered before choosing a hosting provider. Some of the features that you might want to consider include:
- Performance – how fast does the service perform? Hosting on a fast server is essential if you want to keep your site performance up to date and avoid any sluggishness or hiccups. Be sure to look into the benchmark scores and technical reviews along with customer feedback when shopping for a hosting plan.
- Uptime – do they offer any guarantees on their uptime, or is it something that you have to take on faith? Most companies will offer some form of uptime guarantee, so you can rest assured that your website is going to be accessible whenever you need it. In case something does happen and your site is down for an extended period, you’ll want to be sure that you’re covered by a reputable company.
- Security
- Features – does the service offer any additional features that you might need, like free backups, free domain privacy, etc.?
- Support – do they offer live chat, email support, or both?
- Location – are they based in the U.S., Canada, or Europe?
In addition to the features that they offer, you’ll also want to look into the price. Just because a service offers a lot of features doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily affordable, so it’s important to do some research and understand how much you’re actually paying for all of that. Keep in mind that the prices for these services can vary quite a bit, so be sure to look into the best price possible before committing to a contract.
Location And Registration
Another important factor to consider when choosing a WordPress hosting service is their location and registration process. You’ll want to make sure that you’re doing business with a reputable company that is based in your country, and that has adequate legal docs in place to protect you as a customer.
To be clear, purchasing a web host in one country but registering a domain in another country is perfectly legal, as long as both countries’ legal systems recognize the agreement. For example, if you live in the U.S. and want to register a domain name in Canada, you don’t have to worry about the legality of the transaction because the companies based in both countries abide by the rules set forth by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).
If you’re doing business internationally, then you might want to consider registering the domain in a trusted name registrar located in your country of residence, just to be on the safe side.
Bandwidth
One of the biggest expenses that you’ll have as a website owner is bandwidth. The amount of data that you’ll be sending and receiving on a daily basis will determine what plan you need to purchase. Make sure to look into the amounts that you’ll be using and how much they cost before committing to a plan.
The amount of bandwidth that you’ll need will depend on the amount of content that you have on your site. If you run a blog with several posts each week, you’ll want to look into a plan that provides at least 6 megabytes of bandwidth per month. This will ensure that you have enough throughput to comfortably handle all of the content that you publish.
Data Centers
Data centers are where all of the physical servers that host websites are located. The closer that a data center is to your location, the faster that your content will be served. If you’re in a rural area, then you may want to consider a data center in a nearby town or city. This will eliminate any potential delays in delivery time as your content travels to your site from the data centers.
To choose a data center that meets your needs, it’s important to do your research and discover what others have said about the company. In addition to reviews, you’ll want to look into the benchmarks that they have achieved and the level of service that they provide. If possible, it’s also a good idea to visit the data center and get a feel for how reliable and up-to-date the hardware and software is.
Backup
Just because your content is hosted on the internet doesn’t mean that it’s easily accessible. Things can, and sometimes do happen that cause data loss. To protect yourself from this, you’ll need to make sure that you back up your site content regularly and manually. Some hosts offer automated backup functions that will ensure that your content is always safe and accessible, but you’ll still need to monitor these functions and take action if anything goes wrong.
To choose a backup solution that meets your needs, it’s important to do your research and discover what others have said about the company. In addition to reviews, you’ll want to look into the benchmarks that they have achieved and the level of service that they provide. If possible, it’s also a good idea to visit the data center and get a feel for how reliable and up-to-date the hardware and software is. The number of daily backups that you’ll need will depend on how often your content is going to be changed or updated. For example, if you run a blog where new content is published frequently, you may want to choose a backup solution that makes frequent backups.
Hosting Service Rating
One of the most reputable companies in the world of web hosting is SoftLayer. To discover why so many people choose to host with them, you’ll need to do some research and read online reviews from previous customers. SoftLayer has built a great reputation over the years by providing a safe, reliable, and affordable hosting service. Even though their prices are relatively high compared to their competitors, you’ll be getting a top-notch hosting experience that is well worth the price.
Performance
One of the things that you’ll want to keep in mind when choosing a hosting service is their performance. Just because a company offers great prices doesn’t mean that their services are any good if they don’t perform well. It’s important to do your research and discover how well their servers perform and whether or not they are up to date with the latest hardware and software. If possible, it’s also a good idea to visit the data center and get a feel for how reliable and up-to-date the hardware and software is.
To choose a hosting service that performs well and has all of the necessary features that you need, it’s important to do your research and discover what others have said about the company. You’ll want to make sure that they are a reputable, established company with a proven track record of providing excellent service and have the necessary features that you’re looking for. Once you’ve made this decision, everything else will seem much clearer!
With the basics out of the way, it’s time to move on to the more subtle aspects of choosing a web host. There are a number of small details that you need to consider to ensure that you’re making the right choice and purchasing a reputable company. Let’s take a look.
Security
The most important thing to consider when choosing a web host is their security policies and procedures. Just like with any other type of service that you might buy, you’ll want to make sure that you’re purchasing a company that shares your concerns for security and privacy. Many companies will guarantee that your private information is safe and secure, so you can rest assured that your credit card details, personal information, and other important data is safe.
To choose a hosting service that shares your concerns for security and privacy, it’s important to do your research and discover what others have said about the company. In addition to reviews, you’ll want to look into the benchmarks that they have achieved and the level of service that they provide. If possible, it’s also a good idea to visit the data center and get a feel for how reliable and up-to-date the hardware and software is and ensure that your private information is always safe.