Introduction
Choosing a host for your WordPress site is not something that you should take lightly. As the platform grows in popularity, more companies are opening up their doors to offer hosting services. However, not all of them are created equal and some hosts can be downright dangerous for your site if they don’t have what it takes to run a successful WordPress blog or business website.
In this WordPress guide, we share some useful tips to help you pick the best WordPress hosting as per your needs.
Pick A WordPress Hosting
There are many hosting options available, so you will want to pick one that is right for your site.
You need to know what you need and what you don’t need. You also need to know what you want, like security and speed of site loading time, as well as what you don’t want, such as email spam filtering and a long term contract.
It’s important to know how much money you can afford because some companies offer great deals but have hidden fees or higher-than-average charges for upgrades later down the line in your hosting agreement with them
Know what level of support they offer.
Support is essential to a happy WordPress hosting experience. Here are some things to consider when selecting a host:
- Does the provider offer 24/7 support?
- Does it offer live chat?
- Are there phone numbers on which to call for help?
- Do they have a knowledgebase where you can search for answers and tutorials?
If you need help with installing WordPress or configuring themes and plugins, these resources will be invaluable.
Use a managed WordPress host.
I recommend using a managed WordPress host. A managed WordPress host does all the heavy lifting for you, including installing and updating WordPress for you. They will also do security updates, backups, and monitor your site for issues that need to be solved. Additionally, they offer support from helpful people who know what they’re doing.
If cost is a factor in your decision-making process (and it should be) then I suggest going with SiteGround or Flywheel as they are both reliable hosts with good customer service at reasonable prices ($3 per month or less).
Check the speed of your hosting company.
When you’re choosing your hosting, it’s important to get the best speed possible. Speed is an important factor in how fast your site loads on the internet and can make or break a visitor’s experience with your site. Luckily, most hosting companies these days use powerful servers that are able to handle a large amount of traffic at once.
However, there are still some things to watch out for:
- Check with Pingdom or W3 Total Cache to see how quickly they’re loading sites with heavy traffic (they both have free tools). If they load slowly, try another provider!
- Check with GTmetrix as well – their tool gives more information about where bottlenecks may exist in certain areas of your site such as database queries or page caching times
Look at their security measures.
Another factor you should keep in mind is the security measures they have in place.
Does the web host have a good track record of keeping sites safe?
Are they regularly updated?
Do they have a good security record, and are they committed to your site’s safety?
A company with a solid reputation for keeping things secure is more likely to also be diligent about updating their own systems and software when vulnerabilities arise. The same goes for having an experienced team on hand to deal with any issues that may come up.
Make sure they offer automatic backups and site restoration.
We can’t stress this enough: your hosting provider should offer automatic backups and site restoration. This is essential to ensure that you never lose your content or have to start over from scratch if something goes wrong with your website.
When you create an account, ask the company if they offer automatic backups and/or site restoration, how often they back up data (daily or weekly), whether or not there’s a limit on how many times you can download a backup file, and how long those files will be available for download. You should also make sure there’s a feature that lets you test out their system by restoring some of your own content so that you know it works before getting into a situation where it matters.
Once the account is set up, run periodic tests to make sure everything is working properly: Create a new post or edit an existing one; change some text on one page; upload an image; add an item in WooCommerce; update some information in Gravity Forms (if applicable). If all goes well, then great! If not – contact customer support immediately and ask them what went wrong.
Also Read: SEO for WordPress Beginner’s
Don’t be fooled by the lowest cost per month.
Ensure that you are getting the best deal for your money. It’s tempting to go with a cheap hosting plan, but remember: “you get what you pay for.”
In other words, if you choose the cheapest option, there might be hidden costs that you don’t see at first glance. You may end up needing support and getting stuck without anyone to help or talk with. This can cause serious problems down the line when it comes time to upgrade your site or move it elsewhere.
If a host has great customer service but is charging more than others, then they probably have reason to charge more—and those extra fees may be worth paying because of their quality service!
In addition to looking at price per month alone, make sure that hosts offer sufficient resources so that neither speed nor stability will become problematic after several years’ use of the same account.
Similarly if potential downtime occurs (e g from maintenance work) then ensure adequate compensation through refunded months etcetera – this should always be stated clearly in terms of contracts before signing up so there are no surprises later on which could lead someone else into making bad decisions when choosing between different offers made by competing companies offering similar services (i e between separate brands).
Check they’re running on the latest version of WordPress.
Though you may have heard that WordPress is easy to use, it’s important to note that this is only true if your host keeps it up-to-date.
WordPress updates are important for security and compatibility. They also ensure that your website will run smoothly and look great on all devices, no matter the screen size.
The best hosts will make sure their customers have access to the latest version of WordPress within minutes of its release (usually with just one click). They’ll also make sure that any new functionality released by WordPress is available as soon as possible on their servers (so you don’t have to wait months).
Check they’re running fast PHP version.
You can check this by looking at your home page. If it’s loading slowly, or parts of it aren’t loading at all, then you may be on a slow PHP version. To see the PHP version being used on your site, check in your hosting settings or ask your host what they are using. If the server doesn’t have the latest version of PHP installed (or if they haven’t upgraded since 2013), there’s a good chance that it’s affecting how quickly your site loads and performs overall.*
Make sure they offer staging sites.
If you want to build a site for a new business, or if you’re just starting out and want to make sure that your blog host will work well with your needs, the first thing you should look for is staging sites.
Staging sites are like a mirror image of your live site: they have all of the same content and features as the final product, but they don’t actually go live until you choose to publish them! These tools are useful because they allow you to test new features before they go live on your actual site—you can see how different features affect things like speed, appearance and security before risking any damage by publishing them.
Tips To Pick A WordPress Hosting: Conclusion
The last thing you want to do is end up with a bad host. We hope that these tips have given you some insight into the world of WordPress hosting. Remember that there are many options out there and your choice will ultimately depend on your needs. If you’re still unsure about which one is right for you, contact us and we’ll be happy to help!
