How Much Does WordPress Hosting Cost?
WordPress is the world’s #1 website content management system, and it’s what runs the popular websites like TechCrunch and The Huffington Post. Naturally, with all of its popularity, there has to be a host of options when it comes to choosing the perfect WordPress hosting plan for your needs. In this article, we’ll discuss the costs associated with various hosting plans so you can accurately compare apples to apples.
Basic Shared Hosting
This is the classic option for anyone who’s just getting started. With basic shared hosting, you get the basics—a free domain, plus you can install WordPress onto a Linux-based server. What you don’t get is advanced features or support, which means you may have to figure out some stuff yourself. You might also have to look into purchasing additional tools to manage your website’s growth. For example, you could install a caching tool like W3 Total Cache or a CDN (content delivery network) to improve your website’s performance—especially since a lot of traffic is likely to come from outside of your local area.
The upside to this kind of hosting is that it’s extremely affordable. You’ll typically find that the pricing for basic shared hosting plans is a very welcoming offer. However, the downside is that because this is the cheapest option, it doesn’t offer the most advanced features. If you’re looking for dedicated resources, then this is probably not the best choice. But if you’re just getting started, it’s a great place to start.
Basic Business Hosting
If you’re looking for a way to host your website for free, then you might want to check out basic business hosting. That’s because businesses can get a special rate if they meet certain criteria. To be eligible for this pricing, you need to first register for a free domain name through one of the providers like GoDaddy, Domain.com, or one of the many other popular registrars.
Next, you’ll want to install WordPress to create your website. Once you have WordPress installed, you can use the 1-click installer from the WordPress directory to easily create a login page, a register page, and a website home page with a few clicks of the mouse. If you’re not familiar with WordPress, then don’t worry—you can find free tutorials all over the internet to help you get started. Once you have your basic site set up, you can use the Business Profile from WordPress.com to easily set up all of your business’ essential details.
The advantage to this kind of hosting is that it’s completely free. There are no hidden charges like you see with some other hosting providers. The downside is that it doesn’t have the most advanced features—such as features that allow you to monitor and control your server from anywhere remotely. If you need advanced tools to manage or optimize your website, then this is probably not the best choice. But if you’re just getting started, it’s an excellent option.
Pro Hosting
If you’re looking for the best value for your money, then you might want to consider Pro Hosting. That’s because although there are special discounts for some businesses, individuals can get amazing savings if they meet certain criteria. To qualify for these discounts, you need to be a premium member of WordPress.com. When you become a premium member, you’ll get to try out all of the site building features from WordPress.com, which includes Pro Hosting. So you’ll need to make a choice between this option and the free business option.
To create a website with WordPress, all you need to do is go to the 1-click installer from WordPress.com, and you’ll be taken to a simple setup page. From there, you’ll just need to enter the name of your website and optionally choose a domain for it. Once you’ve entered these details, you can click on the Install button to install WordPress onto your server.
On this page, you’ll see all of the features that come with the plan. The best part is that once you’ve finished setting up WordPress on the server, you can preview the site in a web browser from anywhere—even if you’re not sitting in front of the computer that has WordPress installed on it. This is because web servers are built-in computers that host websites. So even though you may be using your own computer, when you visit a website with WordPress installed on it, your computer will connect to the web server and then the website will download all the necessary files and display them in the browser.
The upside to this option is that it’s quite affordable. You’ll find that the prices for Pro Hosting plans range from $5 to $10 per month. Because this is a premium plan, you’ll get all the essentials: a free domain, plus you can install WordPress to create a fully functioning website. The downside is that this is quite a costly option. If you need more features than what’s built-in to WordPress or you need help with maintenance, then this is probably not the best choice.
Cloud Hosting
This is one of the more advanced options when it comes to website hosting. But if you’re looking for the best bang for your buck, then this is the option for you. To use this hosting arrangement, you need to have a cloud-based server. These are servers that are located outside of your residence. When you use these kinds of servers, all of the heavy lifting is done by the company that provides the server, so you don’t need to worry about maintaining a physical server at home.
When you use a cloud-based server, all of the files and information that make up your website are stored in large data centers that are run by the company that provides these services. So if you want to create a blog about technology, then all your blog’s posts will be stored in a data center somewhere. And when you want to read a blog post, all you need to do is visit the data center and click on the post that you want to read. The nice thing about this is that whenever you want to read a new blog post, all you need to do is log onto WordPress.com and click on the post. WordPress will take you to the data center where your post is located and will make it available for you to read. This is all done remotely, so you don’t need to worry about having your computer on and running your browser.
The advantage of this kind of hosting is that it’s quite easy to use. Just log onto WordPress.com, and you’ll see all of your options for hosting. Next, you’ll want to select the one that you want to use and click on the Create Your Blog button to continue. From there, you can enter the basic information about your blog. Once you’ve set up your blog with WordPress, you can click on the Publishing tab to get to the dashboard. From the dashboard, you can see all of your recent posts and create more posts as needed. To save posts for later, you can use the Save Drafts tool.
The downside to this option is that you don’t have control over the server’s resources. So if you start receiving a lot of traffic, then your site may become unavailable due to the overflow of web requests. The good thing is that you can always purchase extra resources from the host to alleviate this problem. For example, you could pay for additional bandwidth or purchase a virtual private server (VPS). If you run out of space on your cloud server, then you’ll have to contact the support team and request additional space. This is quite an inconvenience that you have to deal with, so make sure you prepare for this before you use this service.
Dedicated Hosting
If you want nothing but the best when it comes to your website’s hosting, then you might want to consider dedicated hosting. That’s because with dedicated hosting, you get to choose the specific server that your website will live on. So you can ensure that everything is running smoothly and that your site has the resources it needs to function.
As with all of the other hosting plans mentioned previously, you need to first register for a free domain through one of the many popular providers like GoDaddy, Domain.com, or one of the many other companies that offer this service. Once you’ve registered your domain, you can use a free tool from WordPress.com to create your website. Once you’ve created your site, you can use the 1-click installer to install WordPress onto the server.
On this page, you’ll see all of the features that come with the plan. Like with the other hosting plans mentioned previously, you’ll need to make a choice between this option and the free business option. However, with dedicated hosting, you don’t need to make this decision—you can just go with the plan that has all the essentials that you need.