Best WordPress Hosting
Choosing a host can be an overwhelming experience due to the large number of options available in the market like Shared hosting, Cloud hosting, VPS, Dedicated hosting, Managed WordPress hosting, etc. Once you select the type of hosting, the number of providers can run into hundreds, if not more. So, how do you select the best hosting plan? In this article, we will offer some tips and tricks to help you choose the best WordPress hosting plan for your WP site.
Assess your Requirements:
Unless you know what you need from the host, it will be difficult to find a provider that can offer a plan best suited to your website. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I want a Managed WordPress hosting plan or a plan like Cloud/VPS/Shared etc.?
- What type of content do I publish or plan to publish more? Text? High-res images? Videos?
- Do I receive or expect to receive visitors from around the globe?
- Is uptime critical for the products/services offered on my website?
- Do I need 24x7x365 customer support?
The answers to such questions can help you understand what you need from the host. For example, if you need 99.99% uptime, then you can strike out those who don’t offer the uptime guarantee. Here is a tool to calculate uptime.
Ratify the Ratings and Reviews (RRR)
How many times have you read reviews which slam the host for the services provided? Not many, right? The hosting companies would obviously highlight the reviews and rating given by satisfied customers. Here is a question for you: If a user has only tried one host, then does his review hold value? In our opinion, as long as the services are not compared, the review is meaningless. Hence, look for reviewers who compare other providers based on their own experience.
Further, if a company has posted a positive review about a host, then try to reach out to the company and ask them about their experience. What if the review was written in the first few months of buying the service and over the years, they have a different opinion?
In a nutshell, don’t take ratings and reviews into consideration unless they can be ratified. You can also follow up with users who post testimonials on websites.
Some General Tips:
- If you are looking at WordPress-specific hosting, then choose a host who offers a comprehensive Managed WordPress Hosting plan.
- Does the host offer easy scalability options?
- Does the host use cPanel for software installations?
- Check for the available storage and bandwidth
- Does the host offer multiple domains hosted on one account?
- If you are moving from a current host, then analyze the reasons behind the move and try to avoid hosts that can have similar issues.
- Check if the host offers automatic WordPress updates
- Analyze the speed and security aspects of the host
- Check the cost-efficiency of the plan
Conclusion:
An effective hosting relationship is a lifelong commitment. As we said at the start of the article, choosing the best web hosting for WordPress can be a complex process. However, following the tips mentioned above can help you find one that best suits your website. Spend some time and research well before you make the important decision of selecting the host for your website.
