There are many advantages of having a self-hosted WordPress website. You are in control; you own the content, you can add plugins and sophisticated functionality. You can create anything from a membership website to an online store. Plus it is so much better for Search Engine Optimisation. You need WordPress website hosting when you move from the WordPress.com area (the .com is WordPress's hosted platform, see the difference here.)
A successful website is essential in today's hyper-competitive online space. Choosing the right hosting for your WordPress self-hosted website can seem like a daunting task. There are thousands of hosting companies across the world, and many of them have a simple solution to install and host a WordPress website.
To help you slim down your options when researching WordPress hosting, here is my insight from helping clients to decide on hosting WordPress websites.
From over 15 years experience in designing, developing and working with hosting companies I have no 'perfect' company to suggest to you. It is a difficult market to find differentiation. Most hosting companies are okay. None seem to be outstanding
How much should you pay for your hosting?
Your investment in website hosting depends on a few factors; your estimated traffic, your business goals, the type of functionality on the site. Additional important factors can include; bandwidth, speed, storage space. A small brochure website is going to need different hosting to an online store or a membership website. As with most thing in life you get what you pay for, so really cheap hosting isn't going to be as good as mid-priced or high-end hosting.
If your website is business critical, as most are these days, then good hosting is a worthwhile investment. I typically advise on paying for robust hosting and not going for the cheapest.
Types of website hosting
There are different types of website hosting, here is a short breakdown, in simple terms, to give you some insight.
Starting out - Shared hosting
Shared hosting is one of the most popular types of website hosting. It is the affordable and sometimes a good starting point for new or small sized websites. Shared hosting is where you share a large server with a lot of sites. The hosting companies can offer this type of hosting at a lower cost because they pack hundreds if not thousands of websites on the same server. The biggest disadvantage is that performance can be hampered with so many sites vying for bandwidth and if one site suddenly gets a peak in traffic all the other websites can suffer performance issues.
Mid range - VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting
Virtual Private Server (VPS) refers to a virtual setup. It's not quite a dedicated server but offers you some exclusivity. You will probably be sharing the server with a handful other customers. To set up and maintain a VPS you need some technical knowledge unless you go for a managed VPS.
Advanced - Dedicated server
For full control over your hosting go for a dedicated server. A dedicated server is a physical server that you lease from your hosting provider. It's all yours to do with as you need. You can customise the set up to your particular specifications and business needs.
Dedicated servers are useful if you have a significant amount of traffic with specific functionality or technical requirements for your website. You will need technical knowledge or access to an IT service to set up and maintain a dedicated server.
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SSL certificates
What is an SSL certificate?
This security certificate is used to encrypt information; without encryption, the information transmitted between a browser and server displayed in plain text, which is much easier for hackers to access. Google has indicated it could rank higher websites that have this security layer. Plus it provides your visitors with a sense of increased trust and safety.
Having an SSL certificate on your hosting is becoming more important. However, it does add a cost to your annual website hosting. SSL certificates need technical set up, depending on your server and hosting provider and be aware when moving from non-SSL to SSL that there may be SEO considerations.
Managed WordPress hosting companies
Due to the wide popularity of the WordPress platform, there are now businesses that provide dedicated and managed WordPress hosting. They typically only support WordPress based websites. They include specific services such as performance enhancements, security and backups. And will sometimes advise you if a particular plugin is having a negative impact. They usually provide high-quality support which is second to none, so with all of this comes a higher monthly cost. They do provide peace-of-mind that your website is performing to it's best and well looked after.
Note: some links are affiliate links.
WP Engine >> WP Engine [recommended]
Flywheel >>Get Flywheel [recommended]
Kinsta Hosting >> Kinsta
Liquid Web >> Liquid Web
SiteGround >> Site Ground
North East based hosting companies
There are many advantages to using a local business for your hosting needs. Ideal for face-to-face conversations and personal support. They are certain to be in your time zone, with an office you can visit, we work with Centurion Computer who offer a wide range of IT support.
Centurion Computers Ltd http://www.centurioncomputers.co.uk/ [recommended]
General hosting companies
You can choose from hundreds of hosting companies both in the UK and across the world. From many years of experience, I have found these companies to provide robust hosting. There are no affiliation links here.
Bluehost link: https://www.bluehost.com/
TSO Host link https://www.tsohost.com/
The Takeaway
If you're serious about choosing the best hosting for your business website, hosting that fits your current needs or flexible enough to grow as you do, then we can guide you through the process. We can help you with your hosting technical set up, installing your WordPress website or helping you to migrate your website from one company to another or from a local server to a live area.
Find out more about our comprehensive monthly WordPress Website Care Plans
We look after everything so you can do what you do best, run your business.