WordPress is an excellent Content Management System (CMS) for running any kind of website, from a personal blog to a large eCommerce store.
However, WordPress alone is not enough to launch your site. You will also need a reliable WordPress hosting service to store all your web pages and load them quickly on the users’ browsers.
With so many WordPress hosting providers available, selecting the best one might be challenging. In this article, we’ll look at the seven most important factors to consider when choosing the best WordPress hosting services for your needs.
1. Hosting Provider’s Reputation
Research a hosting company's reputation before any of its offers.
Reading all the online reviews can provide great insights into the quality and reliability of the hosting provider’s services. You can either find the reviews on the hosting company’s official website or on popular review sites for more objective opinions.
Some of the more insightful reviews will focus on a host's strengths and weaknesses as well as how well they deliver on their promises. In the end, the best WordPress hosting company should have thousands of reviews and hold a decent market value like hostinger.co.uk.
2. Hosting Type
Essentially, web hosting makes your WordPress site accessible to the public. For this reason, it is critical to go with a WordPress hosting solution that can handle all of your website's requirements.
Managed WordPress hosting plans can be excellent for beginners. This hosting solution takes care of all the backend responsibilities associated with running a WordPress website, such as its performance, security, or uptime.
Typically, the hosting provider will offer features such as auto-updates for the core software and plugins, an extensive database of related tutorials, or one-click WordPress installation in their managed WordPress hosting package.
On the other hand, unmanaged WordPress hosting can be an excellent solution for advanced users.
Furthermore, you can host a WordPress site with other types of hosting, including:
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Shared hosting – hosts multiple sites on a single server, with users sharing resources such as CPU and bandwidth. As a result, shared hosting can help you save money. We recommend it for bloggers or small businesses.
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Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting – offers multiple users a private virtual server to run their websites while still sharing the same physical server.
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Cloud hosting – uses several virtual servers to host one website. The primary benefit of cloud hosting is its reliability. If one server goes offline, the others will still keep the WordPress website accessible.
3. Speed and Uptime
Avoid the costly effects of your website going offline by selecting a WordPress hosting service that guarantees the highest possible uptime. Make sure that the provider offers at least a 99.99% of uptime guarantee.
Moreover, run a website speed test to find out what you can improve to make your site faster. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and WebPageTest can provide suggestions for strengthening any of your website’s weak areas.
In addition, it is good to check whether your hosting provider uses a Content Delivery Network (CDN). A CDN improves your WordPress website’s speed by caching static content on your site and sending it to the network of servers. Thus, when users access your website, they will get the content from the closest server, decreasing the load time.
4. Server Performance
Server performance refers to how quickly a server can respond to a request. That's why a reliable and fast server speed is essential for maintaining performance and traffic management.
A solid web hosting provider with a robust server quality will improve the overall user experience and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance.
Moreover, a higher level of customer satisfaction is likely to encourage customer loyalty, which means possible repeat purchases. It is important to make sure that your web page will not take more than two seconds to load. The slower the page load, the higher the bounce rate – the percentage of visitors who abandon your site.
In addition, the server location can also impact how well your site functions with users. It is best to go with a web host that offers a global network of servers or a CDN service to ensure that users from across the world can access your web pages smoothly. Use an online tool like Bitcatcha to check your website's server responsiveness.
5. Value for Money
Before going for the lowest cost on the market, it is necessary to analyze hosting services' features and quality. Make sure to choose the best service for your website’s needs.
Check all the hosting provider's benefits, like free SSL certificate, free domain name, and free site migration. In addition, make sure to check the renewal charges for your preferred hosting package to avoid any surprise bills.
Furthermore, it is also important to check whether your chosen WordPress hosting company offers a hassle-free process for upgrades. This can help if your site grows and requires more resources to handle the traffic.
6. Security
The best WordPress hosting provider should have all the security features to protect your website from any cyber attacks.
The following are some of the must-have security features to look for in a web hosting provider:
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SSL availability. A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate encrypts all the information that travels from a user’s browser to your website. It is especially important to protect any confidential information such as credit card details or home addresses. Once the certificate is installed, visitors will see a padlock icon next to your domain name on the search bar. Furthermore, your site will start with HTTPS instead of HTTP.
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Firewalls. Make sure that your hosting provider offers robust firewall protection. A firewall serves as a barrier between your internal and external networks, permitting or blocking traffic. Additionally, it safeguards your WordPress website against malicious software and other potentially damaging attacks.
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DDoS protection. Hackers will flood a website’s servers with malicious traffic through this cyber threat, making it unavailable to site visitors. Thus, it is important to go with a web host with the proper technology to mitigate Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
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Anti-spam filters. Spam protection detects and isolates emails that may contain harmful content, such as malicious links or hidden malware.
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Anti-virus software. When your files are infected by harmful malware, the anti-virus software can help diagnose the threat and remove it. To keep your website safe from emerging threats, ensure that your hosting provider offers the latest anti-virus protection.
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Website backups. As your system or data files could be lost or ruined by viruses, hackers, user error, or natural disasters, backup can come in handy to restore your site with very minimal downtime to avoid any significant losses.
7. Customer Support
To ensure that your website is constantly running at its best, choose the web hosting company that makes customer support a priority.
Check if your chosen provider offers around-the-clock availability so that they can provide swift responses to your inquiries and concerns.
In addition, check how customer support can be contacted – whether via emails, phone calls, ticket support, or live chat. Furthermore, if you don't feel comfortable speaking English, check whether they offer support in your native language.
In addition, a knowledge base and helpful tutorials will help you find solutions more quickly.
Conclusion
Selecting the right WordPress hosting provider is an essential step in establishing your professional online presence. To recap, here are seven factors to keep in mind while selecting a WordPress hosting company in 2022:
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Hosting provider’s reputation. Check out their online reviews to help you make a well-informed decision before trying out a plan.
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Hosting type. Choose one that suits your needs and budget.
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Speed and uptime. Reliable web hosting companies will offer at least a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
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Server performance. Your hosting provider should provide a fast and reliable online user experience.
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Value for money. Evaluate all the web hosting services and benefits.
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Security. Review security features like daily backups, DDoS and malware attack protection, or an SSL certificate to protect your WordPress site.
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Customer support. Ideally, a good hosting provider should offer 24/7 customer support to resolve any issues you have quickly.
We hope that all the seven factors discussed above can help narrow down your choices in finding the right WordPress hosting provider. Remember that you focus on your website's needs and how the hosting service can accommodate them. Good luck!
