Choosing where to host our website is probably one of the most important and difficult decisions that we will have to make. And of course the problem is not in the shortage of suppliers – just look up the term “WordPress Hosting” in Google to see how hundreds of companies struggle to draw our attention to their services.
This great abundance of companies and hosting plans makes the choice more than complicated, especially for beginners.
What should you expect from your WordPress Hosting provider?
1. Speed
and Performance
Most hosting companies proclaim maximum uptime (Uptime) from their servers and close to 100%. The most difficult thing in any case is to ensure the speed of the web at all times.
The speed and performance of a site depend to a large extent on the processing power, the RAM and the storage systems of the hosting.
In the case of websites that receive a lot of traffic, these parameters are of vital importance so that everything goes smoothly.
2. Server administration
There are not too many webmasters who are experts in the maintenance or administration of the server. Especially WordPress users only want to focus on doing their business and not on dealing with technical problems. If you do not want to worry about these issues, you should look for a provider that takes care of it.
3. Security and BackUps
Security is one of the areas where you can not accept more than excellence from your hosting provider .
The modern security of the servers is a task that requires a joint work of hardware and software. At a minimum, the hosting company should have all the servers behind several layers of firewalls and access control systems.
Similarly, the backup systems in charge of backups should be efficient and fast. In case something bad happens, the latest backup allows the web to be quickly online again. That is why it is so important to choose a WordPress hosting with an automatic system of frequent backup copies.
4. Server scalability
Important websites can lose thousands of euros due to server crashes of just a few hours or even minutes. Although your website may not be at that level, you can still lose traffic and credibility if you stop being online for some time. It could even lose web positioning if the problem persists.
A website can collapse for several reasons. One of them is that your traffic and your server requirements exceed the available resources of this. Once the RAM, CPU capacity and bandwidth pass a limit, the web falls and is inaccessible.
For a WordPress site such as an online store, this can mean a considerable loss of sales.
And if you think you do not need more server resources at the moment … you may be wrong. You never know for example when you are going to have an unexpected traffic spike on your website.
The hosting you choose should be flexible and increase the resources available for your website automatically, so that it remains operational despite the increased load.
A good hosting should also facilitate the extension of the contracted plan in a simple way in case the one you have is too small.
5. Customer support
Although WordPress is an easy to use and very intuitive CMS, managing a WordPress website is not so easy in practice. The support service is therefore fundamental for most users.
Apart from looking for a hosting with fast and effective support service related to the web hosting itself, it is good to choose one where your technicians are also familiar with WordPress problem solving.
What type of WordPress hosting should you choose?
Hosting providers usually offer different web hosting solutions depending on the needs of the client and ranging from the most basic shared hosting to cloud options full of features.
These are the most typical types of hosting available today:
1. Shared Hosting
This is without a doubt the most popular hosting option among WordPress users and the most economical one. It means that several websites share the same physical server.
The servers are already pre-configured and you do not have many configuration or administration options. In other words, with this type of account you will not be able to customize the environment or its applications or services.
The good thing is that they do not require just intervention on your part and therefore are ideal for both beginners and webmasters who do not want to complicate their lives with technical aspects.
2. Dedicated Hosting
In this case, a server is dedicated exclusively for a client. The user therefore has access to all the hardware and software of the server without major restrictions. The client can thus configure the server environment, install libraries or schedule tasks.
This type of web hosting is much more expensive than shared hosting and is usually used by companies or websites of some importance that need to customize their environment, special security measures and greater resources.
3. Private Virtual Server (VPS)
It is a hosting halfway between the shared and the dedicated. It consists of creating many independent virtual servers within the same physical server. This is possible thanks to the use of technologies or virtualization software.
Although storage is shared with other users, each virtual server has its own CPU and dedicated memory. The VPS allows more flexibility in terms of administration, configuration and installation than a shared hosting.
4. Hosting in the cloud (Cloud Hosting)
This is the latest in terms of web hosting technology. Cloud Hosting harnesses the power of multiple servers and inter-connected software to ensure that the user has access to resources without worrying about the underlying architecture.
A cloud hosting solution allows flexibility in server sizes and scalability (with the consequent ability to scale server resources in real time).
There are many very cheap cloud hosting options where the user only pays for the resources consumed.
5. Managed Hosting
This type of web hosting is especially interesting for dedicated hostings and VPS, which require certain technical knowledge or experience for proper administration, as this is usually left to the user.
A managed hosting is obviously more expensive, but it allows you to get rid of the most tedious and time-consuming technical tasks and focus on growing your business.
Conclusions
Now you know the pros and cons of each type of web hosting . It is up to you to decide what your needs are.
If you plan to build a large platform where thousands of people converge, you may be interested in searching the net for something more local, like Hosting Mexico or South America. A dedicated or cloud hosting might be a good option due to the high demand for resources you will need.
However, if your project is small or you are starting, it is not necessary to pay so much for something that you will not use. The best thing in these cases, both for simplicity and economy, is to hire a shared hosting or at most a VPS, as do most users.
About the author:
Mr. Arslan Riaz is an entrepreneur, marketer and writer. He can provide you best and quality services for SEO, and articles writing. Moreover he is customer manager of Eyet.org where you can find him providing best services for SEO, article writing, logo designing and some other services related to information technology world.