When it comes to running a website, there are a few things you’ll need. One of them being a good WordPress hosting provider.
In this article we’ll cover many popular questions such as “What is WordPress hosting” to the more advanced topics such as speed and data protection.
What is Website Hosting?
For many internet users, the term web hosting has come up a couple of times while browsing the internet and believe that, like many other technology-related terms been used these days ubiquitously, sounds fancy but doesn’t mean anything important to them.
However, web hosting is so vital that you won’t be reading this article on this website right now without it. Web hosting is a service that enables websites to reside on the internet or the World Wide Web (WWW).
To understand the concept of web hosting, we need to know how the internet works. The internet is a worldwide network of computers that can share the information stored in a cloud called the www. To make your content available on the internet, it must be put on a website, and the site must reside on a special computer called a server, which can be accessible by other computers across the world. All websites in the world are stored in servers.
Once your website is hosted, your content can be accessed from anywhere in the world as long as the site is online. When users want to view content on your website, they search on their browser for a Universal Resource Locator (URL), a code that indicates the specific location of the content on the site and the location of the website on the internet. The URL will connect their computer to your server and deliver your webpage related to their search to them.
What is WordPress Hosting?
WordPress hosting is one of the component features of web hosting. The others are email accounts, which enable you to create your own domain email addresses, e.g., anything@yourdomain.com, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which lets you upload files from your computer to the World Wide Web by hosting them with the web hosting company.
WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that serves as a component of the web hosting features. There are other content management systems today, but WordPress is the most widely used, with up to 25 percent of website content created and managed by WordPress.
WordPress enables website designers to build functional, beautiful, and dynamic websites without doing some coding. Before the advent of WordPress and other content management systems, web designers had to develop websites from the ground, using programming languages to define the structure and appearance of their websites. A WordPress hosting service comes with a pre-installed WordPress with templates that web designers can customize to their satisfaction. The platform is dynamic and offers web designers the opportunity to adjust according to their needs.
With WordPress, you can create web pages, tools, and forms to make your website content-rich, diversified, and dynamic. Some web hosting companies are specialized in WordPress hosting, giving access to a platform that ensures your web pages are accessible and usable.
Besides its use as a content management system, WordPress is also a blogging tool, the most popular one at the moment. When you have a hosted WordPress website platform with a domain name, you can create a blog page on the website to publish regular content that is accessible to the public.
The WordPress CMS platform has a front end and a back end. The backend is the place where content is fed into the website, and content writer can access it through a unique administrator URL and a password. Through the back end, you can publish a variety of content, including text, photos, infographics, surveys, and videos. The front end is the part of the website that internet users will see when they visit your URL.
WordPress hosting is, therefore, a form of web hosting that has been augmented to meet WordPress’s operational and security standards. One of the benefits of WordPress hosting is its value-added services, including regular upgrades and fast page loading rates.
There are two types of web hosting: Shared WordPress Hosting and Managed WordPress hosting. Shared hosting is the most common type and the easiest to set up. It involves sharing a server with other websites and is the cheaper of the two options. With Shared hosting, you will still have access to the various WordPress benefits except that you will have to do other things by yourself. The web hosting platform will not give you access to its personalized services.
What is Managed Website Hosting?
Managed Website Hosting is one of the two major types of web hosting. It arises out of the need for web hosting to do more than host the website. Besides ensuring the continuous accessibility of the site, a web hosting platform can also offer customer support, technical assistance, domain name registration, and security services, among others.
Managed web hosting usually includes a lot of personalized features, including staging sites, server-side caching, and better security. It is this array of added customized services that makes a web-hosting service, managed. Instead of having to do these things for yourself, the web hosting platform can do them for you, and, of course, with added cost.
Usually, organizations specialized in specific businesses are advised to go for managed services because it is more efficient to outsource these aspects of their operations so they can focus on their core business. Imagine if an entertainment company has to employ extra staff whose job will be to maintain the website and troubleshoot whenever there is a problem and pay them monthly. That will be additional personnel costs on a recurrent basis. Instead, the web hosting company agrees to do all of that for an agreed fee that is not even close to what will be paid to a dedicated staff.
Managed hosting allows you to be fully in charge of your website, since you can ask for services as the need arises, even without technical expertise. You will be able to update or carry out maintenance on your website regularly without having to look for money or seek another vendor that can do it. You also have a faster loading website since routine maintenance is being carried out. Managed web hosting is like renting a fully furnished serviced apartment, as opposed to having to buy everything you need in the house. A fully furnished apartment is definitely more expensive, but there is a lot that you won’t have to do. The comparison between managed and shared is really between comfort and cost-effectiveness.
The added services a client enjoys under managed services vary according to the client, and according to the host. However, some of the common ones include automated backup to ensure data doesn’t get lost doesn’t disappear forever in the event of a website crash, performance monitoring, which ensures your host notifies you anytime something goes wrong, automatic software updates, which ensure you have the latest version of essential software such as PHP, and Apache, security, and the automatic scanning and removal of malware. Others include a simplified control panel that enables ease of use and on-demand services.
Managed hosting is recommended for website owners with little or no IT skills, and with little or no time to experiment. It is for organizations that want to focus on core businesses rather than trying out new frontiers. However, for those who want to know a great deal about web development, shared hosting is ideal as there is an opportunity to tweak the features to your taste.
Top 5 WordPress hosting providers
The 5 hostng providers I have listed below have been tested with the latest WordPress and PremiumPress themes versions to ensure they run at optimal power and performance.
GreenGeeks
If you are looking for an environmentally friendly hosting website then here you are. I think this is a great idea, by using wind energy they are putting back into the environment 3 times what they are actually using.
With over 35,000 customers and 300,000 websites hosted you can see why people choose Green Geeks, not only saving the planet but also providing great hosting packages and 24/7 online assistance. With unlimited online space and bandwidth GreenGeeks can really be an ideal host for your website.
Visit Green GeeksHostUpon.
HostUpon provide reliable and affordable hosting packages, they provide different packages to suit everybody’s needs. HostUpon just like PremiumPress also have a 24/7 customer support team so if you do have any questions or quires they can be answered straight away, they can also offer you a free domain name if you haven’t already got one.
With packages starting from just $3.95 a month and a 30 day money back guarantee HostUpon is the idea hosting website for saving a bit of money before the festive period.
Visit HostUponInmotion Hosting.
With even the simplest of packages chose at Inmotion hosting you get great security and hosting options available. Also offering a free domain name and also many more features. This is a great hosting website worth taking a look at.
As for some websites I have researched Inmotion Hosting doesn’t have any hidden costs, what they say is what you pay and that’s what I like about this hosting website. With many good reviews and with its 90 day back money guarantee, this is another hosting website for keeping your pennies in the jar.
JustHost
Perfect for small business and bloggers, this really affordable hosting website is offering an introductory offer of just $2.50 a month, with its feature filled starter pack this really is another great hosting option to get your new website up and running.
The 24/7 chat line was quite fast too, I had a quick chat with a technician from JustHost and he seemed pleasant and fast to respond and gave me great answers to the questions asked.
So JustHost would also be a recommendation of mine if you’re wanting to run a smaller website or blog then I think this is a great option.
1&1 Hosting
Here is the final hosting website to choose from, 1&1 hosting offers packages starting from just $0.99 a month for the first year. With the great features offered this really is a bargain.
Quick and easy to install this hosting website could be the perfect host for your website, it offers a free domain name and even the basic plan gives you plenty of features to access and use. With is great click and build application, see if you can save some money and take a look at 1&1 hosting today.