There are lots of options when it comes to hosting your website. You’ll see by doing a quick search on Google or Bing, just how many companies there are that offer web hosting services. They usually offer a wide range of hosting from shared and cloud hosting to VPS and dedicated servers.
Not everyone is going to need the same type of hosting, and requirements will obviously vary from person to person. Some people may need a simple hosting account in order to upload their small hobby related website, while others will need the performance and power of a dedicated server to run their huge ecommerce website and store.
The WordPress CMS Platform
If you are planning on building your own website, then one of the best options is to use the WordPress CMS (content management system). It is the platform that powers over 30% of the websites you’ll find online today, and has evolved from a simple blogging platform to one that can work for huge websites, eshops, online learning and much more.
It is the website builder of choice for millions of people around the world. If you are looking to develop your own website, either for your business or simply as a hobby website, then WordPress will be the best option for you.
It is extremely easy to use and very powerful. There are thousands of different themes available and you can have a great looking and fully functioning website set up in just a few days. Add to that the huge choice of plugins that you can add to your website to give it enhanced features and functionality, WordPress really is the most powerful CMS available for everyone.
WordPress and Hosting
Due to its popularity with users all over the world, most web hosts offer a variety of hosting packages that can host your WordPress websites. Most will also have software on their servers which make it extremely easy to install the WordPress platform so that you can start building your website.
There are lots of places online where you can read up about different web hosting and see who offers the best performance and value for money. If you head over to the popular Fortune Lords website, you’ll find a wealth of information about various web hosts that offer WordPress hosting all over the world.
One of the most popular is the Softaculous software, which most web hosts include with the cPanel management system. In addition to WordPress, this also allows easy installation of a number of other popular CMS such as Joomla, Drupal and many others.
The installation of WordPress, or any of CMS for that matter, will only take a minute or so. It really is simply a case of entering a couple of details, such as your sites URL, your administration email, and a couple of clicks. The software does the rest, and your WordPress installation will be ready for you in no time at all. Hence it’s vital to hire a wordpress development company who can not only help you but also guide you about website hosting.
What are the Server Requirements for hosting WordPress
As mentioned previously, most web hosts are fine to host websites made with WordPress, but there are a couple of things that you should take note of.
WordPress runs on the PHP language, and to run the latest and more secure version of WordPress, you will need to be using version 7 or greater of PHP. Most web hosts will always run the latest versions of WordPress, but there might still be some hosts who are running older versions, such as PHP 5. Though you could probably run a WordPress site on an older version of PHP, you are risking the security and integrity of your website by doing so.
You’ll also want to be running a version 5.6 or greater of MySQL, which are the databases that WordPress will be using for the running of your website. Again, most web hosts will always be using the latest versions, but it’s a good idea just to double check.
What type of hosting will you need?
There are different types of hosting that are offered by web hosts. These include shared hosting, VPS (virtual private server) hosting, and a dedicated server. All of these are sufficient to run WordPress websites, and the most popular option is of course shared hosting, simply because it is a lot cheaper than the other options, and includes everything you’ll need for hosting the WordPress site.
In the event that your website grows and you need more server resources, then you should be able to easily upgrade to a different type of hosting, though it’s a good idea to check this with your host first. If you are offering any type of online courses, then it is advisable to discuss your requirements with the web host, as they will be able to suggest which will be the most suitable package for you to start with.
If you are starting out and are building your first WordPress website, then the shared hosting option will be more than ideal for you. Usually the most basic package for shared hosting will be suitable, but if you are planning on operating multiple websites, then you’ll most likely need to go for a more advanced package that allows you to add a larger number (or unlimited) domains to your hosting account.
WordPress Hosting
There are also a number of web hosts who offer hosting specifically for WordPress websites. These are very useful options, especially if you are running a large number of websites, and need to keep everything under control and managed. The benefits of WordPress hosting is that all of the technical aspects of the hosting are managed by the host, who will configure their servers to offer you the best WordPress hosting experience.
They can also let you know if any themes or plugins that you might have installed are having a negative impact on the server. If you are not too tech-savvy, then a hosting account specially for WordPress websites is probably your best option, as the hosts will have vast experience with the WordPress platform. They will be able to suggest alternative plugins that you can use in case some are causing issues, as well as suggesting which speed plugins, such as for caching, are best suited to their specific servers.
The price for WordPress hosting will be a little more than for shared hosting, but with it you are getting experienced support and peace of mind, knowing that your WordPress websites couldn’t be in better hands.
