WordPress is definitely the most popular content management system (CMS) on the web. It has more than 60% market share among CMS's and powers more than 34% of the websites in the world. And this includes all types of websites - blogging, eCommerce, membership etc.
So if you decide to set up a WordPress website, you are obviously doing the right thing. But, to start a WordPress website, you first need to host it somewhere. You can choose to host your WordPress blog on a $2 budget web hosting company, but don't expect any quality support or optimized performance from such hosts.
The right thing to do when managing WordPress websites is to host them on quality managed hosting providers that offer rock-solid support, uptime guarantees, comprehensive security, and the highest quality of support. In this blog, I will share tips on choosing the best WordPress hosting.
How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting
Find out the features offered
When you're looking for WordPress hosting, you should look carefully at the features offered by the hosting company. Compare their hosting plans carefully. How many WordPress installs do they allow, what are the storage and bandwidth offered, does it have any limit on monthly visits etc.
The best managed WordPress hosts like WPX Hosting are very liberal when it comes to bandwidth, and WordPress installs. Plus, they don't have any monthly visitor limits, which is quite rare among managed WordPress hosts.
What is the uptime guarantee offered?
Don't settle for less than 99.95% uptime guarantee since for every minute your website is offline, you end up losing vital business or potential subscribers. The best managed WordPress hosting providers regularly deliver 99.99% uptime for their clients even if they don't explicitly state it.
Find out the security features provided
The security of your WordPress website is paramount. You don't want unneeded intruders having a field day with your blog. There are, no doubt, third party services like Sucuri to protect your WordPress blog but why pay an arm and leg for services that you can get in-house from your managed WordPress host?
Security features like free SSL, DDoS protection, firewall, malware scanning and removal should be provided by your WordPress hosting provider. If it doesn't, strike it off your list.
Is the hosting support unparalleled?
The reason why I am saying this is because you will need to contact web support often and it will be WordPress related. So your managed WordPress hosting provider should offer outstanding support that can tackle any query that is WordPress-based.
Also, the support response times should be quick since you don't want to left hanging off the cliff while the support executive takes his sweet time to come to your rescue.
What You Should Never Do
Opt for cheap budget hosting
Given the popularity of WordPress, every hosting provider sells WordPress hosting under the garb of managed WordPress hosting. Some of these hosting plans sell for as low as $2 a month. The brutal fact is managed WordPress hosting doesn't come cheap and certainly not at $2 a month.
You should be prepared to buy quality hosting plans starting at $10 a month but, trust me, it is well worth it. You will have complete peace of mind as far as support and features are concerned. A good WordPress host will not penny-pinch you if your monthly bandwidth or visits exceed the plan limit.
You will also be hosting your website on WordPress tuned servers and even a custom caching solution to speed up your WordPress websites.
Buy hosting without the features you need
Do you need a webmail for managing your correspondences? Most of us do. But many web hosts do not provide free domain email and charge a premium for it. While some WordPress hosts provide webmail for free.
Similarly, you should check the security features offered, particularly, malware scanning and removal. If a web host doesn't offer these security features, there's little point in buying hosting from it.
Getting locked in a multi-year contract
Always choose a WordPress host that offers pay-as-you-go monthly packages. Many hosting companies offer low-cost WordPress hosting but only if you select multiple-year hosting plans. The problem with these plans is that you get locked in with the hosting service for years and there's no exit route if you're dissatisfied with the hosting service.
I hope these tips helped you select the best WordPress hosting provider suited for your peculiar needs. Please share your experience with WordPress hosting and what did you look for when you started your first WordPress blog.