Choosing the right WordPress hosting site can boost your SEO and even your sales. There are a variety of options. We’ll walk you through WordPress hosting, and do our best to equip you to make an informed choice.

WordPress Hosting

According to WordPress, the requirements for WP hosting are:

• PHP version 7 or greater
• MySQL version 5.6 or greater

The best hosting companies make it easy, with installation often possible in one click.

When deciding which WP hosting site to use, you may want to consider:

• Security
• Reliability
• Speed
• What you need (or don’t) from a hosting site

Different Types of WP Hosting Sites

Free

Free hosting is often offered in small online forums or groups. They’re usually managed by an individual. The manager is reselling server space to generate revenue.

Free sounds good, right? It definitely can be.

But as with most free things, there is likely a catch. In the case of WP hosting sites, you may have to put their banner ads on your WP site. You may be required to put a text link in the footer of your site. The sell of those ads or links will offset the costs they incur when offering you free hosting But just like the cost, the reliability of using free hosting can be low. Why? At any point, the manager could stop hosting your site. So you likely want to avoid this type of hosting.

Shared

For beginners in business, blogging, nonprofit work, and so on, shared hosting is by far the most popular type of WP hosting. It’s the most affordable option, without the unreliability of “free” options. It works like this: your WP site shares a large server with many other sites. This allows providers to offer the service at a much affordable rate (by splitting the cost among all the sites).

But be wary: no matter what the provider may claim to offer, there’s no such thing as unlimited resources. You will have usage restrictions, and will likely be forced to upgrade to your site (and its server load) continues to grow. But it’s much more stable than free hosting, and an overall great option for entrepreneurs who are still cutting their teeth online.

VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is when your WP site is hosted by a virtual machine. It partitions a physical server computer into many smaller servers according to the individual customer’s need. You’re sharing the server with several others, but you have nearly as much control as a dedicated server. It offers more privacy and is fairly versatile.

If you’re not a techie, we recommend purchasing a managed VPS. That way, the WordPress hosting provider can manage all system upgrades, and they can help you if you get stuck. We’ve seen this type of hosting work well for high-traffic blogs, designers, developers, and medium-sized businesses.

Dedicated Server Hosting

This type of WP hosting uses a physical server you can lease from the hosting provider. You get full control over the server (OS, hardware, etc.). You don’t need a dedicated server if you’re just starting out. It’s really best for high-trafficked, fairly elaborate WP sites. Again, if you don’t have someone with the expertise to be the admin of your dedicated server, you can get a managed version.

Managed Hosting

This version of WP hosting—as you can imagine—means that it’s managed for you. The hosting company doing the managing helps you optimize your site for performance, as well as keeping it backed-up and secure. They can also let you know if various features of your site are working against you.

But keep in mind, for all its wonderful attributes, managed WordPress hosting can be a significant investment.

Hopefully, this has demystified WP hosting a bit for you. There are many options, but you can narrow them down according to your budget, where you are in your business development, and how demanding your site would be to host on a server. In short, make sure you have everything you need. But if you don’t need the bells and whistles, don’t end up paying for them. Still have questions? Ask us! There’s no reason to stay stuck!