Table of Contents
WordPress is simple to set up and allows you to start posting immediately. Richly laid-out material including videos and graphics may be posted easily. How to Select the Top WordPress Hosting in 2023.
With themes and settings menus, you can easily modify the appearance of your website without knowing any code. With the help of plugins, you may increase the functionality of your website to meet practically any particular demand, from affiliate marketing and community management to eCommerce and eLearning facilitation.
Why not use WordPress? is nearly always a valid question if your project entails creating a website.
“If you run out of arguments against WordPress, your next concern will be where to host your WordPress website.
How to Select the Top WordPress Hosting in 2023
Hosting for WordPress sites is one of the ways that Automattic generates money. Their options range from a free plan with severe restrictions and advertising assistance to a pricey VIP package with in-house professional customization for extremely high-volume sites.
The “popular” WordPress Premium plan is $8 per month, and it includes the following:
However, in order to install any plugins, you must have at least the $25/month Business plan.
Due to the open-source nature of WordPress, a web host may install this top-notch software and make it available to its customers at no additional cost. There are a lot of alternative WP hosting packages available since it is quite appealing to internet service providers.
The cheapest are ad-supported free plans. The companies offering them hope to make additional money by upselling their customers “extras” such as FTP access, or expensive storage increases for when the paltry allotment that came with the plan runs out.
There are many reasons to tread carefully here. First of all, the plans usually offer very small amounts of disk space and limit the size of file uploads. Also, providers of free plans rarely invest in robust network hardware or adequate security measures.
Your site will be at the mercy of ‘bad actors’ taking advantage of the weak security on these congested shared servers. The risks include not only theft of data or passwords but also blacklisting by email servers and search engines, which you might never be able to recover from.
What is Managed & Shared WordPress Hosting
Shared hosting allows you to install WordPress on a server that you rent part of. Usually, this is done through an easy, one-click web interface where you can install lots of other software too. It is the cheapest way to start publishing but it can be slow.
Managed WordPress hosting gives you access to the platform on a containerized server dedicated only to WordPress. Everything in the environment has been optimized to make WP fast and secure.
A third option is installing WordPress on your own virtual private server. This is for those who want maximum freedom or want to learn.
All have their place. It just depends on who you are and what you are planning to do.
Different users need different solutions:
- for beginners
- for nonprofits
- for small businesses
- for eCommerce
- for bloggers
Beginners: Managed WordPress Takes the Sting out of Hosting
In state-of-the-art Managed WP hosting, the host runs fortified versions of WordPress in virtual machines, one for each user–providing a few layers of insulation right there. The host will apply necessary security patches to your OS, your WordPress, and your plugins.
You can still have your own distinguished domain name pointing to your managed WP site. NameCheap makes this very easy from your account profile settings.
Even after many years, most people don’t outgrow their Managed WordPress Hosting. Best-in-class services such as EasyWP offer blazing performance with all the most useful extra customization features available through an easy web interface. NameCheap’s Managed WordPress plans to top off at 500,000 monthly visitors. By then, you’re surely not a beginner anymore.
Nonprofits: Managed Hosting Lightens the Load
Nonprofits might be tempted by the rock-bottom deals in shared hosting. For $2.55/month and a bit of time and self-education (or help from tech-savvier allies), you can have WordPress up and running on Namecheap shared hosting with room to spare for a team communication server.
The arrangement comes with drawbacks like the possibility of unruly neighbors or bandwidth bottlenecks, but you can deal with those. You don’t have a lot of sensitive information anyway. You just have to remember to keep all the software patched. If you need help, there’s always Google and Reddit.
However, even nonprofits can benefit from the peace of mind provided by managed WP hosting. For a little more money each month, you would have more time and energy to spend on your actual mission.
Small Businesses: When to Go Beyond Managed Hosting
If you are an offline business that just wants to create an independent online presence, then managed WordPress with your own domain name is a safe choice. Choose a tier that allows ample customization so you can play with themes to reflect your corporate identity without any fuss.
You probably won’t need a huge amount of storage space to keep your site fresh with relevant articles and updates about your featured products and promotions. This will help improve your ranking on related search terms. For advanced Search-Engine Optimization options, make sure your host allows installing plugins like Yoast, the most used WordPress SEO plugin.
For agencies that offer digital services to other businesses, a virtual private server might be the best choice for a WordPress-based home on the web. The experience you accumulate in setting up and maintaining your own WordPress server will enhance your credibility.
As a site designer, you will be able to use advanced site-versioning plugins to securely show clients new iterations of their designs. As a team, you might adopt other server-based tools to assist in your production cycle, and you can easily run them alongside your WordPress installation on the same server.
E-commerce: Some Managed Plans Are More Open for Business Than Others
If online sales are your plan, the WordPress ecosystem is rich in options to help you layout a webshop, manage sales, accept payments, and do your bookkeeping. The undisputed leader of the eCommerce plugins is WooCommerce from Automattic, which covers all these and even helps with shipping.
Just like WP itself, WooCommerce is open-source and free to install. It even has its own plugin architecture. The top 10 most useful extensions for WooCommerce include Google analytics, Facebook integration, automating requests for reviews, and live chat.
All this freedom can be yours if you run WordPress on your own server. However, many hosting companies make the WooCommerce plugin part of a more expensive eCommerce tier of their managed WP hosting–but not Namecheap.
Bloggers: It Depends on Your Focus
Most bloggers will be perfectly happy with a WordPress blog on a managed WP plan from a reputable provider. You will want to weigh the storage options carefully to accommodate your future image-storage needs.
However, if you are a tech blogger, or somebody commenting on software development, web design, and digital life in general, then to maintain your credibility, you should invest the time and effort to configure and run your own server.
It will allow you to experiment with things and make your writing better informed. You can attract a lot of readers with stories about the times you screwed up your server and how you fixed it.
Security Measures That a Hosting Provider Should Offer
In today’s digital age, security is a top priority for websites and their hosting providers. As a website owner, you want to ensure that your site is safe and secure and that your customer’s information is protected. In this article, we’ll provide a comprehensive guide to the types of security measures that a hosting provider should offer to ensure the safety and security of your website.
Types of Security Measures
- Firewall Protection
A firewall is a security system that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and blocks unauthorized access to your website. This is one of the most important security measures that a hosting provider should offer. A firewall protects your website from a range of threats, including hacking attempts, malware, and other cyberattacks.
- SSL Certificates
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates are a must-have for any website that collects sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, addresses, and other personal data. An SSL certificate encrypts data in transit, ensuring that sensitive information is protected from theft or tampering. A hosting provider should offer SSL certificates as a standard security measure.
- Daily Backups
Daily backups are an essential security measure that provides peace of mind in case of a disaster. Regular backups ensure that you can recover your website in the event of a data loss, hacking attempt, or another issue. A hosting provider should offer daily backups as a standard security measure.
- DDoS Protection
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a type of cyberattack that overloads a website with traffic, causing it to crash. DDoS protection is an important security measure that can help protect your website from these types of attacks. A hosting provider should offer DDoS protection as a standard security measure.
- Regular Security Updates
Regular security updates are an important security measure that helps protect your website from the latest threats and vulnerabilities. A hosting provider should regularly update their security measures and software to ensure that your website is protected.
Importance of Security Measures
Website security is important for a variety of reasons. A secure website provides peace of mind for you and your customers. It also helps protect your website from cyberattacks, which can result in lost revenue, damaged reputation, and more.
In addition, a secure website can improve your search engine rankings. Google and other search engines favor websites that have strong security measures in place. As a result, having a secure website can help improve your search engine visibility and drive more traffic to your site.
The WordPress community acts as a potent check on the likes of Google and Facebook, a remedy for the concentration of the world’s data in a few corporate hands. Like Namecheap, Automattic is a staunch supporter of open internet for everyone.
You maintain control over your data, user stats, and which third parties have access to it while using WordPress hosting. You don’t even have to give up variety or convenience of use in order to achieve all of this. WordPress is a distributed project that can evolve with evolving technology and rewards people’s long-term efforts.
FAQs
- What is a firewall? A firewall is a security system that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and blocks unauthorized access to your website.
- Why is SSL important for my website? SSL certificates are important for websites that collect sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, addresses, and other personal data. An SSL certificate encrypts data in transit, ensuring that sensitive information is protected from theft or tampering.
- What is the purpose of daily backups? Daily backups provide peace of mind in case of a disaster. Regular backups ensure that you can recover your website in the event of a data loss, hacking attempt, or another issue.
- What is a DDoS attack? A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is a type of cyberattack that overloads a website with traffic, causing it to crash. This type of attack can cause significant harm to a website and its reputation.
- Why are regular security updates important? Regular security updates are important because they help protect your website from the latest threats and vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, and it’s important to keep your website protected with the latest updates and security measures.