How to Choose the Right WordPress Hosting – 5 Steps to a Quality Hosting Experience
WordPress is the most popular content management system (CMS) in existence, winning the hearts of bloggers, content creators, and businesses around the world. For a while there was a cloud-based hosting option for WordPress called Bluehost, but now that’s owned by the same company that owns WordPress itself, Dreamhost. Between the two of them, you’ll find just about everything you need to get started with a WordPress website.
Whether you’re an experienced web designer or developer, or you’re just starting out, the right hosting is crucial to your success as a professional blogger or business owner. With every other aspect of your site playing a role in earning you money, your website’s hosting is where you make, or break, your online presence. That’s a lot of pressure, but it’s a responsibility you must take seriously if you want to avoid any headaches down the line. In this article, we’ll discuss the key things you need to look out for when choosing your WordPress host, including the pricing plans, performance, and features to ensure you get the best value for your money. Let’s get started.
Features
As a WordPress user or site owner, you’ll eventually come across the term “featured,” which is used to describe a post or page that is prominently displayed on the website’s front page. In practical terms, this just means the post will stay in the same place on the home page for a while, drawing more eyeballs to the site.
You also need to make sure that the host you choose offers the necessary features to fully optimize your WordPress site. These can include things like staging environments, built-in background services, free backups, and so much more. In general, the more features a host offers, the more worthwhile it is. For example, if you’re looking for a free domain, you might want to choose a host that offers this as well.
Pricing
Along with features, you’ll also want to consider your budget when choosing a WordPress hosting plan. Naturally, you don’t want to choose a plan that costs more than you can afford, as that’s money you won’t be able to invest in other aspects of the site. Luckily, with the right wordpress hosting plan, you can have all the features you need without breaking the bank. We’ll discuss more about this later in the article.
Performance
Next on our list of essentials is performance. This is something you can’t measure, but it’s very much based on your own personal experience. The reason performance is so important is because the faster your site loads, the more engaged your audience will be. Even if your site isn’t exceptionally complex, speed is still a consideration.
Every hosting plan is built on a different platform, so knowing a little bit about each one can help you make the right choice. For example, WordPress runs best on the LAMP platform (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP), while sites built on the Magento platform perform best when running on a Linux-based server. When it comes to WordPress performance, the quality and number of servers you are on matter, along with the location of the server relative to your audience. There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to this.
Support
Last but not least on our list of essentials is support. Just like with performance, this one is all about you and your experience. Naturally, you don’t want to choose a hosting plan that doesn’t offer support, as this can leave you helpless if you ever do run into trouble. It’s also worth bearing in mind that some hosts can be more helpful than others if you ask the right questions, so make sure you’re getting the best value from the support team as well.
Now that you have an idea of what to look out for, it’s time to compare the two main options available when it comes to WordPress hosting. Let’s have a look at the two biggest competitors, Dreamhost and Hostgator.
Dreamhost vs Hostgator
Dreamhost was arguably the first popular choice for WordPress hosting, and with good reason, as they offer a reliable service, a 24/7 support team, and a simple pricing plan that gets you up and running in no time. We mentioned above that some hosts can be more helpful than others when it comes to support, and with Dreamhost, this is certainly true. If you’re looking for a simple solution and don’t want to break the bank, Dreamhost is the best choice for you. The good thing about them is they also provide you with a free domain, along with their standard hosting plan. This is something else you can’t get with most other hosts.
Hostgator is another popular choice among bloggers and small businesses, offering reliable hosting, along with a free domain and the convenience of one-click WordPress installations. While they don’t offer the best support in the industry, their pricing is what makes them so attractive to a lot of people.
Both hosts are reputable companies, trusted by millions and millions of websites worldwide. If you’re looking for a no-frills solution and want to keep costs low, Hostgator is the clear winner here. If you’re searching for a more feature-rich experience, however, Dreamhost is the clear choice.
The only downside to choosing Dreamhost is their standard hosting plan doesn’t allow for much customization, which can be a real pain if you’re looking to build a professional-looking site. Nevertheless, if you’re just getting started and don’t need the extra features, their shared hosting plan is still the cheapest option available. And at less than two dollars a month, it’s hard to avoid them.
Final Takeaway
Choosing the right WordPress hosting is very crucial to the success of your site. This is especially important if you’re looking for a no-frills solution and don’t want to spend a great deal of money on expensive equipment and software. If you’re looking for a more feature-rich solution, however, Hostgator is the clear choice, as they offer just about everything you need to get started at a very affordable price point.