How to Select the Best WordPress Host

If you want to build a successful website, make sure that you choose the right WordPress hosting company. This will save you time, money and efforts in the long run. Read on  about the steps for selecting the best host for your WordPress site.

1. Features

It is important for you to choose a company that offers reasonable resources instead of making claims that turn out not to be true. Essential features include good amount of disk space, bandwidth, number of hosted sites, email accounts, mailing lists, mySQL databases and applications. Preferably, choose hosting plans that provide cPanel for easy installation and administration of WordPress tools.

Some necessary features are:

• mySQL Databases
• phpMyAdmin
• 1-Click Installers – Fantastico, Softaculous, and custom types.
• File Manager (quick and easy editing without ftp)
• Email account access
• FTP access
• Domain manager (DNS editing)

2. Support

For newbies it is essential to choose a hosting company that provides reliable support. If you are self sufficient and expert at handling hosting operations, this factor may not be considered a priority. However, email support, live chat, support forums and ticketing system are also important. Good support is a sign that the hosting company wants to keep their customers happy.

Many of the larger companies will offer support at no additional cost. But some will charge a premium. You can always search forums and knowledgebases to find answers. Some of the best tech support can be found at Site5 and HostGator.

3. Size of Host

A large company can allow you to enjoy the benefits of economy of scale, experience and reliable services. On the other hand, small companies are good for simple solutions. In between, medium sized companies provide excellent resources and support for WordPress Hosting sites.

We have found that the companies like GoDaddy, do a mediocre job of keeping customers happy. They will charge extra for features that other companies like HostGator will offer for free.

With the rise of WordPress has also come niche companies that specialize in only hosting sites with WordPress. Notably, WPEngine and Pagely. These sites focus highly on WordPress and optimizing the user experience within that platform. They have special plugins and features that only come with hosting WordPress with them.

4. Servers

Inquire about the physical location of the server that houses your website to ensure safety and uninterrupted operations. While big companies can be a pain to deal with, small companies may not have the speed or security to keep your site up consistently. Also some companies will have data stored all over the world which keeps it much safer.

Like previously mentioned, Pagely and WPEngine both build their servers specifically to host WordPress. So, for WordPress users it is worth checking them out. In fact, this site is hosted with WPEngine.

5. Budget

Think about the amount of money that can be spent on hosting every month. Once you have determined this, you can eliminate options that are beyond your affordability and streamline your search.

• Free to $5 per month: Known as budget hosting, this includes limited features, support and uptime. It is only suitable for people with no money who want to activate a site.
• Up to $10 per month: Most websites go for this hosting plan (usually shared server hosting).
• $10-$30 per month: If you have a business website, reliable servers and good support are a must. This kind of WordPress hosting also includes stronger backups and dedicated IP addresses (known as business hosting).
• $30-$250 per month: VPS WordPress hosting falls under this category and offers greater control and reliability at higher cost (Virtual Private Server Hosting).
• $100-$500 per month: The best hosting plans, dedicated server hosting is more expensive but also more reliable than other options. You get the entire server for your sites and high quality service.