December 11th, 2020 | Updated on July 3rd, 2023
If you’re starting a new WordPress site, you’ll want to find the best hosting company for your needs. A WordPress hosting company can influence your site’s ability to succeed, which is why it’s crucial to find the right one. In this article, we’ll examine what you need to know to select the best WordPress hosting service.
WordPress Hosting — What Is It?
To make a website visible on the internet, you need to host it on a server. A web host makes this possible. Essentially, when you purchase web hosting, you’re renting space on a server. Several web hosts, such as Bluehost, Hostgator, and Greengeeks, offer WordPress site hosting, which is optimized for the WordPress CMS.
This means that it’s uniquely adjusted to allow your site to load quickly, and includes tools and features that help make managing your site quick and easy.
The Four Hosting Options
There are four different types of hosting, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Managed.
Managed WordPress hosting is designed to reduce the inconvenience of managing the technical aspects of your WordPress installation. Essentially, the host takes care of all the technical details. This includes taking care of things like speed, security, WordPress updates, daily monitoring, website uptime, and automatic backups. It also offers highly-optimized server configurations. This includes things like built-in caching and infinite scalability.
Shared WordPress hosting is the most popular and affordable option. With shared hosting, the resources of a single server are shared among multiple users. As a result, the costs are kept low. However, because resources are shared, this option isn’t sufficient for high-traffic or high-volume sites. Additionally, you’ll have access to fewer resources and have limited control over said resources.
VPS or Virtual Private Server hosting gives you your own allotment on a server. As a result, you’ll have a reserved and protected amount of memory and computational power, and your site’s performance won’t be affected by demands on the server from other users. Furthermore, you’ll be given complete root access and the ability to change certain performance-related features.
Dedicated hosting provides you with a physical server that’s dedicated just to you and your needs. All of the server’s memory and computational power will be available to you. This will ensure your site’s consistent, high performance. However, dedicated hosting is expensive and usually requires a fair amount of technical knowledge to set up.
How To Choose A Hosting Provider
Once you’ve decided what kind of hosting you want, you will need to choose a hosting provider. The best way to select a provider is to look at four essential components: speed, uptime, customer service, and your needs.
- Speed refers to the time it takes for a page to load on your site. Ideally, you want a page load time that’s under 400 ms.
- Uptime is defined as the percentage of time that a site is operational. An excellent hosting service will have an uptime of at least 99%.
- Ideally, you want customer support that is available 24/7. If you’re going to run a business, it’s essential to have your questions answered anytime day or night.
- The ideal hosting provider will give you the right amount of speed, security, and space for your business size and type.
5 Of The Best WordPress Hosting Providers
1. GreenGeeks
- Speed = 375 ms
- Uptime = 99.99%
- 24/7 live chat
Features: unlimited bandwidth and storage, free SSL, and automatic updates
Pros: Green hosting provider, free site transfer, and excellent uptime.
Cons: High renewal fees.
2. Bluehost
- Speed = 390 ms
- Uptime = 99.99%
- 24/7 live chat
Features: free domain for one year, free SSL, one-click install for WordPress
Pros: Great uptime and fast load time, free domain name, free site transfer.
Cons: No monthly payment option.
3. HostGator
- Speed = 369 ms
- Uptime = 99.99%
- 24/7 live chat
Features: WordPress optimized servers, free site transfer, and backups.
Pros: Reliable, one-click install for WordPress, one free site transfer, good load time.
Cons: High renewal fees.
4. Hostinger
- Speed = 339 ms
- Uptime = 99.93%
- 24/7 live chat
Features: Free SSL and free email account.
Pros: Affordable pricing, fast speed, one-click WordPress install.
Cons: Not great uptime.
5. A2 Hosting
- Speed = 295 ms
- Uptime = 99.93%
- 24/7 live chat
Features: Free SSL, fast servers, and free CDN.
Pros: Offers WordPress-optimized servers and has the fastest WordPress hosting.
Cons: Low average uptime.
