How to choose the right WordPress Hosting package

One of the most important considerations when creating any website is which company should you use to host the site and which package is best suited to you requirements?

What is web hosting?

Web hosting is a service provided by a specialist company that allows individuals, businesses or organisations to make their website content accessible on the World Wide Web.

Put simply, you must have hosting before you can publish your WordPress website.

What type of hosting do I need?

There are several types of web hosting available and it’s essential to purchase the right service to meet your needs.

So do you opt for shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS or Virtual Private Server Hosting, dedicated hosting or managed hosting?

Sounds confusing!

If you are launching your first website, shared hosting is likely to be your best option.

Shared hosting means that one server is hosting multiple websites and even if your site contains lots of video, audio files and images, it’s unlikely you will need anything beyond a shared hosting package. The majority of websites you visit will use shared hosting.

When you purchase shared hosting you are sharing disk space, bandwidth, and other resources with other customers. This is the lowest cost solution, with reputable hosting companies providing packages from as little as £3 per month (4.50 USD).

Shared hosting is very easy to manage, even for those with no experience, and most packages include extra features, such as webmail, forums, shopping carts and visitor statistics at no additional cost.

Recommendations

There are many hosting companies offering this service, and having had over 50 websites hosted with several companies over the last 10 years, it’s fair to say I have experienced the good, the not so good and the absolutely terrible.

When it comes to my poor experiences I won’t do any naming and shaming. However, on the positive side, I can definitely make a few recommendations.

Bluehost: Bluehost have been around since 1996 (a long time for the hosting industry) and offer an extensive list of services, including the easy WordPress installation facility, at very affordable prices – less than £4 per month. I have used Bluehost to host my last two sites and I can certainly recommend them. Incidentally, Bluehost is officially endorsed by WordPress! You can take a look at what they have to offer here.

Heart Internet: Heart Internet are another favourite of mine. They are based in the UK and, like Bluehost, offer easy WordPress installation. All it takes is a few clicks. Although Heart Internet’s hosting packages tend to be a little more expensive (from just under £9 per month), which is one of the reasons I’m gradually switching over to Bluehost, their customer service is outstanding and the majority of my websites are hosted with them. There is more information about Heart Internet and their packages here.

Hostgator: Hostgator host over 5 million websites and have an excellent reputation. They too offer easy WordPress installation, with packages starting at less than £2.50 per month! I used Hostgator to host a single site in the past and they did an excellent job. The only reason I moved that site was to make life easier for me by hosting all of my sites with the same company (at the time). For more information about Hostgator and what they have to offer take a look here.

HostPapa: I have no first-hand experience of using HostPapa, though I know they have won many awards from online and offline publications and are rated by many as ‘the best’. Once again, easy WordPress installation is a standard feature and at the time of writing this post their hosting packages start at less than £2 per month, though this is a limited offer. There is more information about HostPapa here.