WordPress Web Hosting Information
If you want to start a website or blog and you have decided that you want to run your site using WordPress to build it with then there are a few different WordPress web hosting options that you have. First off you have to decide what type of control you want over your WordPress site.
If you want more complete control over what you can do then you will want to get your own web hosting service and host your WordPress website or blog on your hosts servers. If you don’t mind following the guidelines that WordPress sets for it’s users then you can have a free hosted WordPress site on WordPress.com.
Now having a free WordPress website or blog on wordpress.com has the plus that you don’t have to pay for web hosting for your site but there is also a downside to having your website or blog hosted on wordpress.com. First off, if you want to go the completely free route then your website or blog will have a sub-domain like “your site.wordpress.com”.
They do have an option to buy your own domain name through them so that you would not have the sub-domain but instead you would have whatever domain name you choose to register.
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However even if you pay for your own domain name and keep using their free WordPress site hosting you still have to follow their guidelines or they can shut down your website or blog. You also have less options as far as available themes and plugins that are available for you to use. There are also advertising limits and restraints that you will have to deal with if you choose to go the free hosting route at wordpress.com.
If you want to have control over your own website or blog then you will want to get your own web hosting pan and install WordPress on their servers. This way you don’t have the guidelines of wordpress.com that you have to abide by. Most people that are serious about their WordPress website or blog go the self hosted route instead of the free host route on wordpress.com.
If you decide to go the route of buying your own web hosting and setting up your WordPress website or blog on your own hosting then there are also many other good reasons you would want to go that route. Two of the most important reasons are the advertising and other methods of monetizing that you will have control over.
Next, your search engine results page rankings will potentially be better than on a free wordpress.com site. So as you can see, it is better to host your own WordPress website or blog on your own paid hosting service so that you get to decide how you want your site to be and what you will put on that site.
Once you have decided that you want to get a paid web hosting service to host your WordPress website or blog on you will need to decide which type of hosting you will need. This depends on how large your website or blog is and the amount of traffic your site will get and what you plan on getting for the projected future.
There is dedicated server web hosting (You get your very own server to host your website or blog on) which can be expensive but you only need this type of web hosting if you have a very large site that gets a very large amount of traffic.
The next thing below dedicated hosting is Virtual Private Server (or VPS for short) web hosting which is usually around a quarter of the cost that dedicated server hosting costs. This type of web hosting is where there are several websites hosted on the same servers, but they operate individually as if they are on their own dedicated web servers.
You would need this type of hosting if you get a moderate amount of site traffic. This is usually a type of hosting you won’t need until your website or blog gets established and has a good amount of regular traffic and you need more server resources.
The most common type of hosting used is shared web hosting, this is where the hosting service has many customers websites operating on the same server. This is the most common type of web hosting and you will find more websites and blogs hosted on shared web hosting then any other type of hosting. Shared web hosting is also the most affordable and least expensive type of paid web hosting.
Most hosting services offering shared web hosting will usually offer many unlimited resources such as unlimited space on the server for your site or sites, an unlimited amount of bandwidth (the data transmitted when your site is accessed by visitors) and many other features that will vary between the different hosting companies. This type of hosting is the best type for most websites and blogs until you start getting a large amount of site traffic to your website or blog.
One last type of web hosting for your WordPress website or blog that is available and that is called managed WordPress web hosting. This is the newest major type of available web hosting out on the market. This web hosting usually costs more than shared web hosting but is cheaper than virtual private server (VPS) web hosting. Managed WordPress hosting is hosting only for WordPress websites or blogs and this type of web hosting is said to be optimized to make your WordPress site run faster and more efficiently. (HERE is more information on Managed WordPress Hosting)
Another thing about this type of hosting is that all the back end tasks like keeping your WordPress files and plugins updated is done for you so you don’t have to hassle with keeping those up to date. This type of hosting is also said to be optimized for additional security for your WordPress site and better up-time as well.
There are also a few other features that vary form web host to web host. This type of web hosting is also usually for a single WordPress website for the lower priced hosting packages so if you have many WordPress website shared web hosting is a much better deal as far as costs are concerned.
(We recommend Pressable for Managed WordPress Hosting)
There are a few other types of web hosting out there that are available but for the most part these are the four main types of web hosting that most people running a WordPress website or blog use. If you’re new to having your own WordPress website or blog then the free hosting and domains will work, but if you are serious about your website or blog then getting your own paid web hosting and your own domain name are better.
The costs for web hosting service can be as little as $25-$40 per year but the hosting companies do have specials from time to time bringing the cost down below this amount. Also, many web hosting providers even give you a free domain name that you can choose with your hosting service and that saves you the cost of registering your domain name.
Your web hosting needs all come down to what you want to achieve with your WordPress website or blog. Getting paid web hosting and your own unique domain name are important if you want to achieve greater success with your WordPress website or blog.
You can start out with a free website and hosting on wordpress.com and then when your website or blog grows you can then migrate (transfer) your WordPress site to your own paid web hosting service. Some web hosting service providers will even do this task for you.
As you can tell by the information posted above, there are many different options as far as web hosting for your WordPress website or blog. Choosing the one that is best for you will depend on your particular needs and those of your site.
If you are having trouble deciding then you can always talk to the many different web hosting service providers that are out there and they should be able to help give you a little extra needed guidance.
Good luck and may your website or blog reach the Apex in its Niche!
If you would like to find out why good web hosting is important, read THIS!
If you would like to find out more about WordPress check our WordPress category for a listing of WordPress related articles and information, HERE!