WordPress Hosting: When You Need It (And when you don’t)
There are lots of different ways that websites are developed. Some are made using powerful software such as Adobe Dreamweaver, others are completely hand coded, while many more are powered by different CMS (content management systems).
Each method of developing a website has a number of advantages, and there is no correct or wrong method in how you build your own website. The WordPress CMS is one of the most popular in the world and is used by millions of people who have built all types of websites with it. In fact, over 35% of all websites online today are made with WordPress.
Why Choose WordPress
There are lots of benefits to using the WordPress platform when it comes to developing your own website. It is very easy to use, without the need of knowing how to code, and is something that you can pick up quickly when compared to some of the other CMS out there.
The great thing about using WordPress is the amount of resources available to you. There are literally thousands upon thousands of different themes that you can use for your website. You’ll easily be able to find a style that suits what you are looking for, regardless of whether you are making a fansite about your favourite music band, or are developing a large e-commerce website. WordPress has everything you will need to create a great looking website in no time at all.
Where can I host the website?
If you have a website, then you’ll know that using a reliable web host is vital to the success of your site. There are thousands of different web hosts around the world offering hosting packages for all types of user. Whether you need to host a small website, or one that has thousands of pages, there will be a variety of hosting options for you.
Most web hosts will have the capabilities for you to host your WordPress website with them. As long as you select the best hosting package that gives you enough disc space and data transfer, then you should be set to go.
Which web host to use is another question, and it’s something you’ll need to spend a little time researching, as there are so many different options out there, so you want to make sure you pick wisely. Pop over to the Fortune Lords site if you want to see detailed comparisons between different hosting companies.
What hosting do I need?
A standard shared hosting account will be more than sufficient for a basic WordPress website. If your website is new or is a personal site, rather than one for your business, then you shouldn’t be expecting too many visitors for the first year or so. Most shared hosting packages are ideal for WordPress websites such as these, and you won’t have too many problems regarding the resources that you are allocated.
If you are expecting a high level of traffic to your WordPress site, or are running a more complex type of site, such as an e-shop, or a membership site, then you might need to consider something a little more powerful that standard shared hosting. You might want to go with a VPS (virtual private server), as this will provide you with better performance.
What about WordPress hosting?
You may have noticed when visiting the websites of different web hosts, that a number of them offer hosting that is specifically for WordPress sites. You may wonder what the difference is between regular shared hosting and WordPress hosting.
Though the two are similar, WordPress hosting will be on servers that have been specifically configured for the WordPress platform. To better run your WordPress websites, you will need slightly different settings on the server for things such as security and greater performance levels.
If you are running a small basic WordPress site, then you should be fine using regular shared hosting, but if you are running your business website made with WordPress, then you’ll be better off going for WordPress specific hosting.
If you are managing a number of WordPress websites, either for yourself or maybe your clients, then you’d probably benefit from using a WordPress hosting solution. You’ll be in a better position to manage all of the websites, and will be able to create brand new WordPress websites with just a click or two.
Another benefit of using hosting that is specific to the WordPress platform is that you will be dealing with a web host that will be highly experienced in the WordPress space. Therefore, they can offer you much better support whenever a problem arises, as well as making sure that their servers are always up to date with the latest versions of PHP, which is the programming language that WordPress uses.
Will the hosting I use affect my rankings?
One very important question about web hosting is if it will have an effect on the rankings of a website in Google, Bing or other search engines. The answer is not a straightforward one, and how your site ranks will depend on a number of factors, some of which will be related to the host.
Your page speed is an important ranking factor, as Google wants the user to have a fast and positive experience when using a website. If your site is taking ages to load, then the user will not be getting a good experience. This could lead to Google dropping your site down in the rankings, while improving the rankings of other similar sites with a much quicker loading time.
If you are running WordPress websites, then you’ll want to have the server performing as well as possible. One advantage of using WordPress hosting over regular shared hosting is that the web host will be able to configure the cache of the server to better serve WordPress websites, thus increasing the loading time and page speed.
Finding a good web host doesn’t need to be difficult. There are lots of websites where you can read up on different web hosts and see comparisons between them. You’ll also find websites that share peoples experiences with different hosts, allowing you to get a good idea of what the service, support and performance are really like.