A guide to selecting the most appropriate hosting for your WordPress site
A guide to selecting the most appropriate hosting for your WP site
Choosing the best hosting for your WordPress site can be a little daunting as there are plenty of hosting options available, such as zero cost, Shared platform, Virtual Private Servers, Dedicated and also a completely Managed service. Whilst WordPress is usually compatible with hosting from the main providers, occasionally they do not offer it as a service, or may charge an additional fee. WordPress typically requires V5.2.4 or above of PHP and version V5.0 or above of SQL.
As it is now so popular, the top hosting companies tend to offer WordPress as an east to install option within their control panel.
The most important elements to consider when selecting a hosting provider are speed, security, reliability and how easy it is to get support when you need it most. That said your needs will differ from those of other companies and individuals. Consider the following and make your choice based on the most appropriate of:
Zero Cost (Free) Hosting
I’ve always found free hosting to be a little unreliable or to contain a catch! It isn’t necessarily going to be a small start-up or individual offering the platform, as there are some big companies offering free hosting, but unless your budget is really restricted I wouldn’t suggest going fro a free WordPress package. Most of the time you are going to be sharing with a lot of other sites and that will impact both speed and reliability. If you’re a business and are trying to generate revenue from your blog or site then don’t even consider free hosting. If you have no choice then I have used Freehostia before and they have a good reputation.
Hosting on a shared platform
Sharing your hosting is typically a great way of establishing a presence on the web. Shared hosting is a popular WordPress hosting for both beginners and smaller established websites or blogs. It is usually relatively quick, very affordable, reliable and if you choose the right provider, sell supported. As per the free hosting, you will be sharing the server with a lot of other websites, which you have no control over. Shared WordPress hosting can be a very good option for smaller blogs and small business websites. It’s good value and some of the main providers will give you a good level of support. Although they are a big company, 123-reg offer great UK based telephone support and will often guide you more than they are contracted to do. I often recommend 123-reg for new or less experienced users and they will charge around £70 per year.
Dedicated Server Hosting for WP
A Dedicated server used for WordPress is a server that you rent from a hosting company and this method gives full control over the dedicated server. This means you are able to install software, operating systems etc and have free reign as the server is yours to do as you please. This certainly isn’t something you need to consider if you are a start-up as it is much more resource hungry, it also needs a lot of technical knowledge, something that may be for the more advanced or tech savvy users.
VPS Hosting fro WordPress
A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is an area of a server that acts as a virtual machine. It allows the hosting company to section off virtual parts of a physical server into many other servers. Although the hosting is shared with a few others, typically this won’t be as many as with shared hosting and certainly not as many as free hosting. This method is more secure than both shared and Free hosting as your VPS isn’t accessible to others. A VPS server does however need some technical knowledge, including the need to understand control panels and interfaces such as Plesk. You can however purchase a managed VPS, but obviously the cost increases when compared to an un-managed VPS. There are some very good VPS providers out there including Webfusion and 1&1. A standard VPS starts from £10 per month and works upwards. This platform is suited to mid-sized companies, popular blogs and web design companies.
Managed WordPress Hosting
This isn’t a popular service, mainly due to cost and a small target market. It’s suited to large companies and very high traffic blogs. It’s on this list because it needs to be mentioned, but you would already know if you needed this platform!
Summary
In summary if you are a start-up, then go for shared hosting and upgrade when the time comes. If you are an established web company then consider a VPS. Cutting costs on hosting really is false economy, go for the best you can afford.