How to Choose Best WordPress Hosting Service Provider

Often overlooked, web hosting is one of the key components of every successful website. Choosing the best WordPress hosting for your needs can improve your SEO and increase sales.

There are various different types of WordPress hosting options available such as Free, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting.

What are the WordPress Hosting Requirements?

You will be surprised to hear that WordPress is a very light-weight script, and it is compatible with almost all good web hosting companies. The simple requirements that WordPress put forth are:

• PHP version 7 or greater
• MySQL version 5.6 or greater

Due to the popularity of WordPress, all best web hosting companies come with easy 1-click install options for WordPress. 

All WordPress hosting companies that we have listed in this guide offer full support for running a WordPress site.

Things to Consider when Choosing a WordPress Hosting Provider

Speed, security, and reliability are all important factors that you need to consider when choosing your WordPress hosting.

However, the most important factor that you should consider is “Your Needs”. Evaluating your needs before purchasing your WordPress hosting can save you hundreds of dollars.

Evaluating Your WordPress Hosting Needs

As we have mentioned above, there are different types of web hosting options available such as Free, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and Managed.

Let’s take a look at each of these options to determine which is the best solution for you.

Free WordPress Hosting

There are free web hosting available, but almost all of them have some sort of catch. Usually, you can find free WordPress hosting being offered in online forums or small groups.

In most cases, these are managed by an individual who is reselling a small part of his server space to cover up some revenue.

Often the catch is that you have to put their banner ads on the site. Some may ask you to put a text link in the footer of your site.

These folks will sell that banner ad or text link to cover up the cost of your free space along with pocketing the profits.

The biggest downside of having a free host aside from the ads is that they are unreliable. You never know when this person will stop offering free service. They can leave you hanging at any time.

If you are serious about your website or business, then avoid Free WordPress hosting at all costs.

Shared WordPress Hosting

Shared hosting is by far the most popular type of WordPress hosting used by beginners. It is the most affordable and quite frankly a good starting point for new users.

Shared hosting is where you share a large server with a lot of sites. By having multiple sites on the same server, hosting providers can offer the service at a more affordable rate.

The biggest catch that we see with shared hosting across all providers (including the ones we recommend below) is the unlimited resources.

There is no such thing as unlimited. While it says unlimited, you still have usage restrictions.

If your site starts to take up substantial server load, they will politely force you to upgrade your account.

If they don’t take this action, then it can have a negative effect on the overall performance of other sites hosted on the same server. It gets back to conventional wisdom. As your business grows, so will your overhead cost.

Shared web hosting is the best solution for small businesses and starting bloggers.

WordPress VPS Hosting

Virtual Private Server (VPS) refers to a virtual machine. It is a method of partitioning a physical server computer into multiple servers with respect to the individual customer’s need.

Even though you are sharing the server with a handful of others, this gives you almost as much control as a dedicated server. It also has the privacy of a separate physical computer and can be configured to run specific server software.

Often developers, intermediate users, and medium-sized bloggers utilize VPS to scale their websites.

If you do NOT have any technical knowledge, then you need to make sure that you purchase a managed VPS. This means that the WordPress hosting provider manages all system upgrades, and they are available to assist you if needed.

VPS hosting is best for medium-sized businesses, high traffic blogs, and aspiring designers/ developers.

WordPress Dedicated Server Hosting

A dedicated server is a physical server that you can lease from the hosting provider. This allows you to have full control over the server including the choice of an operating system, hardware, etc.

You DO NOT need a dedicated server if you are just starting out. Once your site is receiving a significant amount of traffic, only then you should consider upgrading to a dedicated server.

We run on a dedicated server by HostGator. If you do not employ a system administrator or have no experience with servers, then we recommend that you get a managed dedicated server.

WordPress hosting providers who offer managed dedicated servers employ full-time system administrators that maintain your servers.

Along with doing software updates, they also do server monitoring, offer phone support, etc. Most top websites use clusters of dedicated servers.

WordPress Dedicated Servers are best for extremely high traffic blogs.

Managed WordPress Hosting

Due to a large number of users using WordPress, several web hosting providers have chosen to offer managed WordPress hosting. An account with one of these providers only allows you to host WordPress based sites and nothing else.

The benefit of managed WordPress hosting is that you do not have to worry about ANYTHING.

They optimize your site for performance, make sure that your site is secure, and keep regular backups. On top of that, they advise you if a specific plugin is having a negative impact.

Bottom line, managed WordPress hosting is hassle free fast WordPress hosting with high-quality support from staff with lots of WordPress experience. While all this sounds amazing, the plans for managed WordPress hosting is usually on the higher end of the scale.

For example, a personal account with a popular managed WordPress hosting provider costs $29/month where you can only host 1 site (getting a maximum of 25,000 visitors per month).

The next level higher where you are allowed multiple domains will cost you $99/month. A person starting out a blog cannot afford this.

Managed WordPress hosting is great for established bloggers who can justify the expense with their revenue. It is for people who do not have the skills/time to deal with the technical side of things. We recommend WP Engine for managed WordPress hosting.

Now that you know all of your WordPress hosting options, it is time for you to make a decision.

Best WordPress Web Hosting Providers

After having helped 200,000+ users and years of experience, We have personally hand-picked some of the most well-reputed WordPress hosting providers for you.

Each of these WordPress hosting companies provides excellent service and support. We give each of them a perfect 5 out of 5 stars rating. Check out the list of best web hosting providers.

1. Bluehost (Best Shared Hosting + Free Domain Name)

Bluehost is my #1 choice for shared hosting. If you’re looking for secure, fast and affordable hosting overall, Bluehost is best for you.

Founded in 2003, they’re hosting more than 2 million websites (and still counting). Bluehost is even officially recommended by WordPress themselves for your WordPress site.

Here’s what I love about Bluehost:

• Well-known as the best hosting provider for creating a new website.
• They offer value for money plans start as low as $2.95/month, with unlimited bandwidth and storage.
• As your website grows, you can always upgrade it anytime. They have shared hosting, cloud hosting, and dedicated servers.
• You’ll get one free domain name. Saving you about $12 for a domain.
• Bluehost has 100% U.S. based customer service.
• In case you need help, you can be assured that you’ll get great technical support 24/7 – via live chat, phone call or email.
• Bluehost provides a cPanel dashboard, making it easy for not so tech-savvy users to set up, manage and control your web hosting.

The only con of Bluehost is that there’s no option for the monthly subscription. They offer account plans for 12 months, 24months, 36 months, and 60 months.

To get the best price and save more money, select 36 months for your hosting plan.

2. HostGator (Perfect for beginner and advanced users)

HostGator is one of the leading web hosting companies in the world, hosting more than 10 million domains since 2003.

We are a long time HostGator customer. I have been using HostGator to start my very first blog 10 years ago.

I started with their basic shared hosting plan and upgraded to cloud hosting last year for better handling increased traffic.

Here’s what I love about HostGator:

• Awesome 24/7 support including live chat, phone, and email ticket support.
• Their phone support waiting times are relatively short. You’ll get a response within a couple of minutes. 
• They also offer free SSL and free website migration service.
• They have a wide selection of plans suitable for any site. Their basic shared hosting plans are budget-friendly for beginners, starting at $2.75 per month.
• If you can’t decide, you can Create A Website For Just One Cent For Your First Month! Use Coupon: 1CENT.
• The cPanel is easy to configure, easy to manage and easy to customize.

Just like all the other web-hosting providers out there, HostGator only offer a promotional price on the first bill. There’s no discount that you can get with renewal.

So go for the longest term (at least two or three years) if you can to save more money. 

3. SiteGround (Excellent Speed and Support)

SiteGround is another great web hosting option for small, medium and large-sized websites.

Founded in 2004, SiteGround hosts over 1,900,000 websites around the world. And it’s officially recommended by WordPress.org.

What makes SiteGround different is that they have developed a special tool called Supercacher that only available for Siteground users.

Supercacher is a powerful caching solution that optimizes your website performance and boosts your site’s loading speed.

Put simply, with Supercacher, your WordPress blog will be able to handle high traffic and loads faster compared to any other shared hosting plan.

Here’s what I love about SiteGround:

• Thanks for the unique in-house technology, they provide top-notch security and speed solutions to make your WordPress site as fast, stable and secure as possible.
• All cloud and shared hosting options come with FREE daily backup. The daily backups are done automatically. You don’t have to worry about losing any data.
• When your website is getting more traffic, you can easily scale your site and upgrade to higher plans. There are many different plans to choose from such as shared hosting, clouding hosting, and dedicated servers.
• SiteGround also offers special price for student hosting. For students and educators who have a .edu email, you can start a professional website for just $1.99 per month.
• SiteGroud takes their support seriously. No doubt they have one of the best WordPress support out there.
• The amazingly fast support is available 24/7 by phone, ticket or live chat. Most technical problems can be solved by ticket support. If not, an expert will be dedicated to handling your issues.
• You can pick from five different server locations, namely Singapore, Amsterdam, London, Iowa and Chicago.
• If you want to migrate your WordPress site from your current host, SiteGrounds can do it for you 100% FREE. They provide a hassle-free way to move all your website contents, files and database to SiteGround.
• Note: Bluehost will charge $149.99 for this same Website Transfer service!

Major cons of SiteGround:

• You have to pay for a domain name. SiteGround no longer offers any free domain for their hosting plans.
• Besides that, the renewal fee is about 3x higher than the introductory rate. As of this writing, their renewal price is also comparatively higher than most hosting providers in the market.
• Siteground offers plans according to the amount of traffic each package will be able to handle. In other words, all shared hosting plans come with space restrictions. From 10GB web space for Startup plan to 20 GB (GrowBig plan-most popular plan) and 30GB for GoGeek.

To enjoy this featured-rich package at the most excellent price, I highly recommend you buy hosting package for 2 or 3 years term.

To get maximum SiteGround discount, use below special link. You will get 60% off, free SSL and HTTPS.

Conclusion

I could have included many more hosting but it beats the purpose of finding the idle hosting for your WordPress site. I have carefully selected these few based on my 10 years of experience of WordPress. 

To be honest, I would rather suggest 1-2 hosting which makes your life easier. However, a lot of users wanted more options as it helps them to compare 2 or more hosting in the same category.

You can be sure that I’ll certainly update this post if I find any reliable WordPress hosting providers in the near future.

Before we part ways, I’d like to say that just don’t get hung up on making the decision. Pick a hosting plan according to your needs, start building and keep improving.