One of the most versatile publishing tools on earth is WordPress. However, like every web application, it needs a home in cyberspace. Choosing the best wordpress host for you can be complicated. Here are some things to consider:
1. Have Clear Goals
Is this website for you? Or will it be the virtual face of your business. Almost every personal blog will work great with the cheapest easiest hosting package you can find. However, if you want the extra speed, robust support, and reliability, for your business, you should go with something a little nicer.
2. Don’t Be Fooled By Numbers
A lot of hosts like to say they offer “UNLIMITED!” in their marketing. The reality is that most blogs occupy very little space and most hosting companies are happy to sell you more if you run out. The important question starts to become, if you have multiple sites, can you host them on this account as well. While most places will offer unlimited space, they may not offer unlimited databases or unlimited bandwidth. This is where problems can start if you have a rapidly growing web portfoliio.
3. Does your host understand WordPress?
Wordpress.org has set forth two very minimal dependencies for WordPress. It needs PHP 4.3 or better and MySQL 4 or better. These programs traditonally run on *nix platforms. Though you can host on Windows, WordPress is often happiest on a Linux or Unix server for simplicity’s sake.
While actually running WordPress does not require a lot skill, there are many security considerations to consider and a good host is going to know and maintain good security to keep your site secure and free from hacks and bugs.
4. Does your host offer extras?
Extra themes, great support, and earth conciousness are some of the extras you may want to consider when looking for hosting. Depending on who you go with you may end up paying a couple dollars more per month that your friends do, but you will get many more lavish features that when the rubber meets the road: they’lll wish they had your hosting plan.
5. Do they gaurantee their service?
Any business that really believes in what they do will be happy to offer you a 30 day money back gaurantee. If they don’t provide the service you thought you were paying for, they’ll have no problem making sure you leave satisfied. All the hosts on this page are great about letting you try out their services, and if you’re unhappy, have no problem refunding your money.
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Great list. I like ‘Don’t be fooled by numbers’. So true. Most people don’t have thousands of daily visitors to their site. Our site is setup to handle people’s potential increased traffic and if it continually increases than we move them to enterprise.
The only thing I would add is ‘You get what you pay for’. If the hosting is too cheap, the person will pay for it in security, support, slowness, and structure. If they’re expensive, make sure the value equals the dollars spent.
Again, Great list. =)
Thanks Sally. It’s so rare I get to say, “Don’t look at the numbers” that I had to seize the opportunity.