Which is the best web hosting provider? Which hosting is best for blogging? How to choose the Best WordPress Hosting for my blog or website?
These are a few questions that come to mind while you decide to buy hosting for your business. It is quite confusing to select one from the hundreds of providers out there?
I know that you are looking for one that suits your need and requirements and, of course, budget.
Let me help you to decide and select the one that you are looking for.
Let’s understand the types of services offered by the hosting providers and then choose the best that fits your needs.
Types of Hosting To Choose From?
Web hosting services are generally classified into one of these three categories broadly:
# Shared Hosting
Shared hosting is the most popular type of WordPress hosting used by beginners. Shared hosting means more than one website is stored on a single server or a single piece of hardware. Thus the most common option for small businesses with minimal levels of traffic and bandwidth. Shared services are often the least expensive option, making them appealing to startups and other small online businesses.
In this hosting, you share a large server with a lot of sites. By having multiple sites on the same server, hosting providers can offer the service at a more affordable rate.
Hence, it is the best solution for small businesses and starting bloggers.
# Dedicated Hosting
When a single server hosts a single website, it is called a dedicated server. This allows you to have full control over the server, including the choice of an operating system, hardware, etc. The dedicated server is usually more expensive than a shared server. Still, that extra cost can be worth it to businesses where website performance and bandwidth are the most important criteria for the business’s success.
If you are not a technical person or do not employ a system administrator, we recommend getting a Managed Dedicated hosting.
Dedicated hosting is best for extremely high traffic blogs and is not recommended for beginners.
# Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
VPS Hosting, sometimes also known as “Private Cloud”, is based on servers crafted using virtualization technology. In VPS Hosting, one physical server is divided into certain small virtual servers. These servers can then be assigned to dedicated websites.
Even though you share the server with a handful of others, this gives you almost as much control as a dedicated server. It also has the privacy of a separate physical computer and can be configured to run specific server software.
If you are not good with technical know-how, you need to make sure that you purchase a Managed VPS. This means that the WordPress hosting provider manages all system upgrades, and they are available to assist you.
VPS hosting is best for medium-sized businesses, high-traffic blogs, and aspiring designers/developers.
Sometimes, VPS and Cloud Hosting are considered the same and tend to misread the basic difference between them.
Cloud hosting essentially means hosting the website on a cluster or group of servers across the region, instead of just one physical or virtual server. Cloud hosting can use a group of physical servers or virtual servers, or a combination of both. It gives advantages of load balancing, maximum uptime, and high performance. However, this is costly as compared to the above three hosting types.
What is Managed WordPress Hosting?
With the increasing demand for WordPress and WooCommerce, several web hosting providers have chosen to offer Managed WordPress hosting.
The idea behind managed WordPress hosting is to offer a completely hassle-free experience, so you can focus on running your business and doing what you are good at.
The benefit of Managed WordPress hosting is that you need not worry about anything, literally. The hosting provider will optimize your site for performance, and make sure that your site is secure, and also take care of backups and updates.
Managed WordPress hosting is premium support with extra cost. You will get WordPress experts with lots of experience rather than someone who is reading a support manual and guiding you.
The bottom line is, Managed WordPress hosting is hassle-free, fast WordPress hosting with high-quality support from staff with lots of WordPress experience. Managed WordPress hosting is significantly more expensive when compared to regular shared hosting.
Managed WordPress hosting is recommended for established bloggers.
Points to Consider While Choosing Best WordPress Hosting
These factors you should consider while choosing a web hosting for your blog or the business:
Consider Your Specific Needs
Everyone’s idea of “best” depends on their unique needs. So, what is your requirement, actually defines the best hosting for you.
Find the answer to the below questions before you proceed.
- What type of website would you be creating?
- Do you want to transfer your hosting from an old provider?
- Do you need a single site or multi-hosting?
- What Operating System do you need? (Prefer Linux over Windows)
- How much monthly traffic is expected?
- What all extra features, viz. email, FTP, SSL, etc., would you need?
- What is your monthly/yearly budget?
Consider Reliability, Uptime, and Speed
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a web host is the host’s reliability and uptime scores. When comparing the performance capabilities of various web hosting services, note what hardware the provider will use. You will also need to consider what type of server you want to use for your website (Shared, Dedicated, or VPS)
Once you establish your website, you’d like it to be up and accessible 100% of the time, but no web hosting service can ensure this, so most providers commit to 99.9% uptime. If you are willing to spend a little more for extra uptime guarantees, you might be able to negotiate 99.99% uptime.
Speed or load time is the most important factor in the success of your website. According to Hosting.com, slow loading websites cost the US e-commerce market more than $500 billion annually. According to Kissmetrics, a one-second delay in page speed reduces customer satisfaction by 16 percent. Furthermore, 40 percent of website visitors leave the site that takes more than three seconds to load. So, the tiny delays can have a huge impact on your success.
Consider Plan and Pricing
Obviously, you want to choose a hosting package that suits your budget. However, when researching prices, it’s important to look beyond the initial monthly price you’re shown.
Beware of the pricing tricks. This is because most web hosting providers offer low prices at the beginning of their contracts but jack up the pricing after the introductory period ends, which can be 24, 36, or even 60 months after signing up. Always look for the total cost on you as a business.
Consider Security Features
This is a less talked topic but the most important aspect to consider while selecting web hosting. This is especially true if you plan to run a website that stores sensitive data, such as customers’ credit card numbers.
A web hosting service should have the means and the resources to offer a secure website infrastructure, complete with the latest updates.
Consider Quality Customer Support
During your research process, consider what sort of support channels are available, such as live chat, email, or phone support.
Also, take a look at the support hours as some providers offer customer support 24×7. In contrast, others are only available during business hours, which can be difficult to get ahold of then when you need the support.
Finally, read reviews for each hosting provider you are looking at to get a feel for the quality of support they offer.
Best WordPress Hosting Providers Compaired
Here is 5 best hosting providers according to uptime, speed and cost.
These are the major players in this field.
You can choose the best web hosting for wordpress from below list.
Recommended For Shared Hosting For Beginners
- Shared hosting starting at $2.95/mo.
- WordPress hosting starting at $2.95/mo.
- VPS hosting starting at $18.99/mo.
- Dedicated hosting starting at $79.99/mo.
PROS
CONS
Recommended For Shared Hosting For New Bloggers
- Starting from $9.95 $2.95 per month
- Pro Plan starts at $5.95/mo
- Premium Plan starts at $11.95/mo
- #1 Eco-Friendly Web Hosting Service.
PROS
CONS
Recommended For Shared Hosting For New Bloggers
- Shared hosting starting at $2.99/mo.
- VPS hosting starting at $4.99/mo.
- Dedicated hosting starting at $99.59/mo.
- Reseller hosting start at $18.99/mo.
PROS
CONS
Recommended For Shared Hosting For Professional Bloggers
- Shared hosting with 5 sites starting at $20.83/mo.
- WordPress hosting with 5 sites starting at $20.83/mo.
- Professional plans with 15 sites starting at $41.58/mo
- Professional plans with 35 sites starting at $85.25/mo
PROS
CONS
Recommended For Growing and Enterprise Level Managed WordPress Hosting
- Shared hosting starting at $30.00/mo.
- WordPress hosting starting at $30.00/mo.
- Enterprise hosting is available with customised resources as per your need.
PROS
CONS
FAQs Related To The Best WordPress Hosting
How much does it cost to build a WordPress site?
The cost to build a WordPress website varies based on your needs. It can be started from $3/mo (Domain + Hosting) and goes up to thousands of dollars a month.
Do I need WordPress hosting to start a website?
If you want to build a WordPress website, then you need web hosting. Your hosting server is where your website files are stored. Every website that you see online uses a web hosting provider.
Does my WordPress hosting datacenter location matter?
Some of the WordPress hosting companies that I recommended here give you an option to choose your data center. The location of your data center makes a difference in your website performance for a specific geographic location. If the majority of your audience is in the United States, then you need to choose a data center in the U.S region. If a large portion of your audience is in Europe, then you should choose a data center in Europe. And if you are targeting the Asian /Indian audience then select the nearest data center.
Which is the best hosting for WordPress in India?
The datacentre, where your hosting servers are located should be closure to your target audience. If you are targeting the Indian audience then you can select Mumbai datacentre or the cities where the datacentre is located for the hosting provider that you selected.
Best hosting again depends on your need. My final verdict is:
Bluehost (Best for WordPress hosting for starters)
SiteGroud (Best low budget Premium WordPress hosting)
WPX Hosting (Best WordPress hosting for Professionals)
Kinsta (Best WordPress hosting for Small Business)
Do I need to have my domain and WordPress hosting from the same provider?
Not necessary, You can purchase your domain from any domain name registrar like Domain.com, GoDaddy, etc, and use one of the WordPress hosting providers listed above.
However, if you don’t have a domain name already, then it’s recommended to use the same provider as they offer a free domain name along with the hosting.
Final Words
I could have included many more hosting, but it will defeat the purpose of finding the best hosting for your WordPress site. I have carefully selected these few based on my experience and reviews from pro bloggers.
You can select the best hosting for your WordPress blog or website as per your requirement and budget.
Now, to make your life easier, here are my final recommendations for the best WordPress hosting:
Getting started- For beginners
These hostings have been around for a long while, and they keep innovating new technology to help newbies manage their website easier.
Growing WordPress website- For pro bloggers
If you are looking to migrate your hosting for your growing WordPress website, these are the idle option.
Enterprise-level WordPress hosting: For Small Business
These are the Top hosting providers for WordPress blogs and sites.
I hope it helps you to pick the right one for your blog or business.
Cheers 🙂