WordPress Website Installations Across the Globe
WordPress is the world’s most popular blogging tool. With over 26.8 million websites using WordPress globally, this storytelling platform is almost impossible to ignore. The figures don’t lie; WordPress is powering millions of websites around the world and continuing to grow quickly.
WordPress is a free and open-source software, which can be downloaded from wordpress.org and then installed on a website. The tool’s popularity stems from its ability to be easily customized for specific tasks, allowing users with little to no web design experience to create a professional-looking website with ease.
If you’re looking to install WordPress to create a professional blog, magazine, or news site, you’ve come to the right place. Here, we’ll discuss the best hosting options for WordPress.
Choosing A Host For Your WordPress Site
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either already aware of or have at least considered the host you’ll use for your WordPress site. This decision will impact your overall web experience — both visually and performance-wise.
WordPress hosts determine a website’s overall appearance and functionality, as well as its performance when visited by others. Different types of hosts provide different levels of performance and reliability, which you’ll want to take into consideration when making your decision.
Shared hosting providers offer low cost solutions and the convenience of a one-click install for WordPress users. However, due to the platform’s popularity, you’ll likely experience high server loads and performance issues. When visiting a shared hosting site, you’ll notice the loading time for a web page is noticeably longer than it is for a similar site hosted on a premium plan.
If you need an extremely basic and quick-to-setup hosting solution, you can try hosting your WordPress site on a VPS (Virtual Private Server). This type of hosting provides a dedicated IP address and uses a private proxy to handle all network connectivity, ensuring fast load times and reliable service even when numerous people or large amounts of data are being accessed simultaneously.
Shared Hosting Or VPS Hosting?
Shared hosting or VPS hosting are both well-established web hosting options that have been around for many years. Shared hosting is when a website’s resources, such as storage space and CPU power, are shared among multiple websites hosted on the same server.
VPS hosting provides users with resources comparable to those of a dedicated server, but without the cost and hassle of maintaining one.
Let’s take a quick look at each hosting type and how they compare.
Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is usually the lowest cost option, with prices starting at just $2.95 per month. These plans usually include between 2GB and 12GB of storage space, depending on the size of your site, as well as between 1 and 12 CPU cores. In addition, you can get shared hosting with a free domain name, and many providers offer discounts for multi-website setups.
With shared hosting, your websites’ resources are shared with other customers, so you’ll need to make sure you have enough resources to handle the load. If you need more storage, you can always opt for a paid upgrade. This way, you’ll keep your existing storage space and get an additional 12GB of space for free!
Because the resources are shared, you’ll need to make sure you have enough space for all your files. Most shared hosting providers offer some type of space optimization to reduce the amount of space used by your website. However, this usually comes at a price.
VPS Hosting
If you have a limited budget or you just want to try out a new hosting solution, you can get a VPS from Bluehost. This type of hosting provides users with a dedicated IP address and uses a private proxy to handle all network connectivity, ensuring fast load times and reliable service even when numerous people or large amounts of data are being accessed simultaneously.
This is probably the best choice for those who need a reliable and high-performing host with a quick and easy-to-use interface. VPS hosting is also ideal for those who want to try out a variety of solutions, as the platform is highly customizable.
The major downside to VPS hosting is the price. This type of hosting is usually more expensive than shared hosting, starting at just $5.45 per month. However, if you need the higher performance and reliability that a VPS provides, this is exactly what you should opt for.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate For WordPress
An SSL certificate, also known as a secure socket layer, provides added security for users by encrypting information passed between a website and the user’s browser.
When you install an SSL certificate into your WordPress site, all of your website’s traffic, including login credentials, is encrypted before being transmitted to your website. The added security provided by an SSL certificate is ideal for preventing security breaches and minimizing the amount of data that can be accessed by unauthorized users.
An SSL certificate doesn’t guarantee the security of your website, as it depends on you implementing the proper security measures. However, in today’s world, the need for absolute security is less of a priority; instead, websites want to minimize the amount of data that can be accessed by unauthorized users while maintaining high performance.
Basic Or Pro?
With so much discussion going on around this topic, it’s important to keep things in perspective. If you’re looking for a simple, quick, and free way to create a blog, you can use WordPress’s built-in dashboard to create and publish content. With this tool, you don’t need to have any coding skills to get started. You just need to know how to use the keyboard (something all humans can easily learn).
On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with using WordPress’s built-in dashboard; however, if your goal is to create a professional-looking site with a fully customized design, you should look elsewhere.
Here, we’ll discuss the best WordPress alternatives if you’re looking to create a professional-looking site with unique design elements.
1. Squarespace
If you want a free, simple, and lightweight blogging platform, you can try out Squarespace. This platform is completely free, and all you need to create a blog is a free account. Once you’ve created your blog, you can then begin installing plugins that will enhance your blog’s functionality.
The great thing about Squarespace is its intuitive interface. Even if you’ve never used a blog platform before, you’ll have no trouble creating one with Squarespace. You can simply select a layout for your blog, and then begin adding content to it.
One of Squarespace’s unique features is its ability to work with any domain name you want. As a result, you don’t have to worry about suffering from domain name registration issues. Once you’ve created your site with Squarespace, you can then move to the next step.
2. Wix
Wix is one of the world’s most popular website building platforms, providing users with everything they need to create a professional-looking blog or business website. This content management system is extremely easy to use and requires no previous coding experience.
Wix offers two different plans, Basic and Professional, which provide users with the minimum set of features needed to create a functional site, as well as additional features that allow for more complex customization.
The great thing about Wix is its interface. Even if you’ve never used a blogging platform or website builder before, you’ll find the experience extremely intuitive. You can simply click and drag to add content to your site, or click the big blue button to create a blog post.
One of Wix’s unique selling points is its template library. This feature makes it easy for anyone to create a professional-looking site using the platform. If you need inspiration, you can browse through the template library and choose a design that you like.
3. Shopify
Shopify is a fast, simple, and affordable way to create and grow a business website. This content management system allows for complete customization and comes with a free basic plan that allows for up to three websites, a store front, and a blog. However, if you want more sites, you can subscribe to one of Shopify’s paid plans, which start at $5 per month.