Choosing the right server for your WordPress site could be a time and energy consuming process. You may have checked out several plans in the market that offer consistent service at reasonable prices along with SSL certificates. With so many options to choose from, one tends to overlook the pointers absolutely necessary to select the most appropriate WordPress hosting plan.
Reading this piece will help you prepare a detailed list of all the things you should know before selecting a WordPress plan.
Know what your website actually needs
Here are some of the primary pointers that could get you started:
- Budget allocation for WordPress hosting service.
- A rough idea about monthly traffic flow on your website today and what you expect it to be three months later.
- Do you need a WordPress hosting plan that will help you scale up operations later?
- Is 24/7 support necessary for your site?
Understanding your requirements is half the job done. Noting them down will give you a holistic view of the situation at hand. Once you have a clear idea about your needs, dwell deeper into issues like performance, security, up-time and other factors that matter.
Four things to know about your provider:
- Server up-time: A server up-time of 99% is considered good. High server up-time indicates that your website is healthy. An up-time above 99% qualifies as outstanding. On the lower side it could be around 95%. Therefore, a healthy server should be your top most priority while choosing a WordPress hosting plan.
- Backup-recovery– Check out if the hosting plan includes a good backup service. A reliable data recovery option is important for safeguarding critical business information against any unforeseen circumstances like hacking. Backup provides better control over data and restore operations, which means the user gets customized services.
- Speed and support– The performance of your website depends on the speed. Efficient technical support helps you fix minor errors quickly and also assist migration from one server type to the other. Speed and support compliment each other.
- Geographic location of the data center- Latency and download speed are impacted if your data center is located in a far away geography. Know the server locations of your provider.
What is the right WordPress plan for me?
Now that you clearly know the requirements, it is time to zero in on the best WordPress web hosting plan. Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Managed and Dedicated hosting are the four options available in the market.
- Shared hosting: It is the most reasonable web hosting service of all the plans available in the market. It can be bought for anything between $2 and $4 for a month. Shared hosting is sufficient if your blog is not data heavy. However, you will be constrained for resources. Since you share space with other websites on the same server, you are at risk if some other website gets hacked.
- VPS hosting: This is the best and arguably the most efficient hosting plan available. It could start with $4. You get more space and resources to expand your operations. Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting allows you to scale up capabilities with growing business needs. Users choose VPS hosting for a WordPress website because it gives root access.
You may be knowing that an administrator (Windows) can edit any file and perform any task on the server. In Linux, the word “administrator” is replaced by “root”. The Root user can perform tasks that standard users can’t. Root access gives total control over the system.
- Managed hosting: Managed hosting saves time, reduces expenses and ensures that your virtual private server is functioning up to the mark. Here, a service provider leases out dedicated servers and hardware to a single user. The service provider manages the equipment, operating systems and system software. The host provides technical support, patch management, system maintenance, monitoring and updates. This WordPress hosting plan offers services most suited for a WordPress platform.
- Dedicated hosting: It provides resources customized for meeting your needs. Your website/blog does not share space with anyone else, so there are no apparent security threats to be bothered about. But the exclusivity comes at a premium price. It is suitable if you get visitors in excess of 100,000.
Take a close and detailed look at the above pointers before you choose a WordPress web hosting plan. A primary understanding of your needs in terms of features equips you to choose the right option available in the market.