How To Find A Good Web Host For Your WordPress Blog?
Finding a good reliable web host for your WordPress blogging could be a herculean task as there are zillions of web hosting companies and all of them claim to be excellent and desperately seek your patronage. Especially if you are new to web hosting then you can simply get lost in the maze of the web hosting world (given the gigantic magnitude of the web hosting industry). It is imperative that you do the requisite homework before signing up with a web-hosting company. This post is a brief tutorial on finding a good WordPress web host. It has all the basics of finding a good web hosting company for your WordPress blog hosting needs and enumerates the research that you must undertake before signing up with any web hosting service.
Ensure That The Basic WP hosting Needs Are Met
This is step # 1 needless to say. Before you even begin your research on the good and bad aspects of a web-hosting company you must ensure that the company under consideration meets the basic minimum requirements for WP hosting needs. In other words, it should have latest PHP (version 4.3 or greater for now), MySQL (version 4.1.2 or greater for now) and the The mod_rewrite Apache module. You cannot host your WordPress blog if these ingredients are missing from your web hosting service. Apart from these, it will be an advantage if the web hosting company is also offering the one click Fantastico install for WordPress and WordPress-related issues support. In fact WordPress experts will strongly suggest you not to choose a web hosting company that does not offer automated installs or one which has little or no experience with WordPress troubleshooting. A web hosting may be hosting a lot of websites of various configurations but you need specialists to handle your WordPress blog.
So carefully read the web hosting features offered by the company and/or seek explanation from your would-be web host and proceed only if the basic WordPress hosting needs are met. Most web-hosting companies are equipped with running the open-source WordPress but it is still a good idea to clear any doubts before signing up. Do not marry in haste and repent at leisure!
Determine Your Hosting Needs
Be very clear about your blog web-hosting needs. You will have to decide a suitable hosting plan for your WordPress blog(s) depending upon your hosting requirements and your budget. In other words, you should be able to answer the following questions, among other things: How much web hosting space you need? How many domains/subdomains you are going to host? How much traffic your blog(s) will attract? What are the CPU constraints and uptime guarantees in the hosting terms of service (TOS)? Does the web-hosting company willing to host your WordPress blog(s) offer the popular Cpanel? Does the company have core update compatibility for WordPress 2.7? What are the WordPress hosting constraints (if any, such as the use of a particular WP plugin etc.)? Is the hosting WordPress optimized? Is the staff suitably equipped to handle WordPress-related issues? Are the fees affordable or exorbitant? What are the money back guarantees?
Depending upon the answers to these questions you should zero in on a web host that offers a suitable service for your WordPress blog(s). You may want to consider a web host that offers multiple domain/subdomain hosting, fewer constraints on web space/data transfer, unlimited MySQL and FTP accounts, web-based email access and the like. The less the constraints the better but think twice before going to a web-hosting service that promises everything unlimited. They may promise you the moon and you will always be crying for the moon! Remember there is no such thing as a free lunch in web hosting.
Read And Research On Web Hosting
Knowledge is power. The more you know the more empowered you are and less likely to be cheated. You may surf the internet and learn about web hosting, WordPress related issues in hosting, read various forums on web hosting, read about various web hosts and the like. There are two important things to keep in mind here. Firstly, do some research on your would-be web host before you sign up. Secondly, the internet is full of spam blogs/websites, hosting affiliates and forums where unethical hosts promote themselves and seek credulous customers. Also there are blogs and websites dedicated to publishing fake bad reviews (‘XYZ hosting sucks’ types) to bring down a rival company!
When there are companies and people out there who are waiting to lure unsuspecting customers, you must separate the wheat from the chaff and read only genuine reviews and recommendations. A bit of scepticism while researching on a web host will help. A short cut may be to join a big web host (or one in the official WordPress recommendation page) but remember big and famous is not necessarily also effective and good. For example, there is a web host who claims to be the ‘daddy’ of all web hosting and yet there is a full-fledged genuine website by frustrated customers warning people against their service and exposing them! 😉
Write To, Read About And Chat With Your Would-be Web Host
It is always good and advisable to write to your would-be WordPress web host while making up your mind. Many web hosting companies today provide the live chat option. You should send one/more email(s)/support ticket(s) and/or chat with their chat representative. You can talk to the sales team or the technical team and seek explanations about your queries and doubts. It is always good and desirable to shed the laziness and walk the extra mile to accomplish some interaction before joining the web host. You should also read the company blog, support documentation, forums, Twitter page, Facebook fan page, genuine testimonials and recommendations of the web hosting company to get more ideas about the quality and standard of the web hosting service. Be frank in asking your web hosting questions so that all doubts are cleared in the beginning itself and you do not have to incur disappointments later.
You can also judge the web hosting company by the quality of their answers and the amount of time they take in responding to your tickets(s). Some questions that you can ask to your would-be web host are: How long have they been in the web-hosting business? Are they here to stay? How many domains are they hosting? Do they have their own servers or are they small-time resellers? Is the support available all the time? How many WordPress blogs are they hosting? Are they offering the fantastic Fantastico install or not? How much WordPress experience they have? Can they handle WP issues with ease? How much downtime have they faced in last six months? Are they offering any discounts?
The company seriously into business 365x24x7 will answer your queries with promptness and all necessary details unlike a fly-by-night company. Good and reliable web hosting companies (including the WPWebHost) also have the money back guarantee policy which you can use for test and trial so that you are fully satisfied before you become a full-fledged customer.
Web hosting can make or mar your WordPress blog. Make sure you are not cheated and you join a web host who will offer you the great hosting service and the peace of mind that you deserve. 🙂
Very nice and informative post, Vikas. There are some points I would like to mention:
1. Cpanel is a good choice but its not compulsary for wordpress hosting. Considering “Fatcow” hosting service, it uses Vdeck but still ranks among the top wordpress host. Although Cpanel might be user friendly, but technical people can make utmost use of custom features provided by webhost not using any service other than Cpanel.
2. The point “join a big web host but remember big and famous is not necessarily also effective and good” should be elaborated. These days hosting companies use “load balancing” which ensures equal bandwidth to all users. But the more famous the company is, the more load it has to handle. Which means the speed and uptime of the website will be compromised. So its definitely not necessary to host on the website everyone else is hosting.
3. Moneyback guarantee does not ensure a host to be good. Every host offers atleast 30 days moneyback guarantee. The hosts know their servers well. They might provide you good service until you are in “moneyback period” but after that period ends, you might see a significant change in their service. So, moneyback guarantee is not an effective measure to judge a webhost.
4. Unlimited hosting is not necessarily bad. It depends on the quantity and quality of the servers a webhost has. Some companies do not have a large budget and hence provide limited space and bandwidth accordind to the capacity of their servers. Whereas, some large budget webhosts might provide unlimited space and traffic as they have a large quntity of good quality of servers. And as I mentioned “load balancing feature”, every webhost providing unlimited space and bandwidth is an experienced practioner in regard to this feature.
@ NSK Punk
Thanks for your comments. Here are my observations on your comments.
1. I have nowhere written that Cpanel is compulsory for WordPress hosting. A lot of companies including Dreamhost have custom panels. However, I have implied that things become easy if you have the cpanel as it has more features and easy to use. I have seen custom panels with small web hosts which can give nightmares to a non-techie. So it is generally good and desirable to join a host with the universal cpanel option (though not mandatory).
2. I did not understand your observations in point no. 2. I myself have suggested that a big/famous web host may not be very effective.
3. Not every host provides money back guarantee though it is rare now. Also the terms and conditions (including the period) attached to the said guarantees vary which also suggests about the hosting service. It may not be a very effective measure to judge a web host but it is still a measure to judge just the same. The 100 days money back guarantee by WPWebHost is a good example.
4. I myself am with a web host that offers unlimited hosting on my account. Please note that here I am warning newbies and people with less experience not to jump with joy every time they find a cheap, fly-by-night web host offering unlimited bandwidth (and whatnot).
@ Vikas Gupta
1. “Does the web-hosting company willing to host your WordPress blog(s) offer the popular Cpanel?”. This is what you wrote in “Determine Your Hosting Needs”. To a novice it might seem as a feature that is compulsary to consider while purchasing hosting with a company which is not true. So it’s necessary to mention that Cpanel is not necessary but a good choice.
2. Your point ” join a big web host but remember big and famous is not necessarily also effective and good” has nothing wrong in it. I just mean you should mention why it is so. Most people prefer to join big webhosts and you are telling them not to do so. So, it’s necessary that you give proper explanatioin so that people would know why you are saying so.
3. The moneyback guarantee is not an effective measure to judge the hosts at all. Hostgator ranks far better than wpwebhost for now but it provides a 45 days money back guarantee whereas wpwebhost provides 100 days money back guarantee. This suggests that wpwebhost is better. But according to current rankings wpwebhost is nowhere near to hostgator.
4. Thats right, people should not jump with joy when they see a host offering unlimited stuff but at the same time they should not think it as a negative too.
No offence brother, but don’t think I’m a critic reviewing your post. Those were just my observations to your post so that when you write another beautiful and informative article, you keep these things in mind. And can you provide me your e-mail so that I would e-mail you my observations and errors in private and not post them here. Because comments are for discussion and not this purpose. By the way, I too live in New Delhi.
NSK Punk,
You are splitting hairs! Feel free to disagree with me.
Your comments are welcome and please stop thinking that I worry about them or worry about being criticized in public! So do not ask my email.
People who do not leave their blog links (despite claiming to be a blogger with huge experince) are the ones who fear things.
Thanks for your comments on the post.
Vikas,
Dear, I don’t fear anybody. Not even God. I haven’t posted any links to my blog because I’m a seasonal blogger. I blog according to the trend. And I’m preparing a blog for the commonwealth games and FIFA world cup. You might be a PhD but you are not God. So don’t judge people, especially bloggers. Still no offence brother. And thanks for your offencive reply. Don’t turn this commenting area into a battlefield.
15 most cheapest web hosting companies for WordPress and other websites
http://www.tips29.com/2009/11/15-most-cheapest-web-hosting-companies.html
NSK Punk,
I am not yet a PhD; that will take a few more years. I believe comment area is for criticism and discussion. It is you who crossed the rubicon by suggesting that I am wary of criticism and that I should give you may mail!
All the best with your upcoming blogging season(s).
NSK, wpwebhost is backed by Exabyets a big no. 1 company in Malaysis 4 ur informaton. And u urself had been recommending wpwebhosting in ur previous article by saying it giving tech support for wordpress too (why didnt u recommend some otehr web host there ???) . You r free to go to hostgator, bluehost and all famous biggies and become there afiliate.
@ Vikas,
Let’s get to work on our blogging rather than criticism. And I didn’t mean you fear criticism, nor do I.
@ Levis
I don’t mean that wpwebhost is a bad company. I meant that (till now) its not in top 10 wordpress webhosts. But, ofcourse, it can soon be. My point was on moneyback guarantee, and not on wpwebhost’s hosting service.
In regards to the cpanel topic, there is 1 top advantage to having cpanel that alot of people don’t think about. Its much easier to change servers if your host uses cpanel, because WHM (or web host manager) has a built in script that lets either the web hosting provider, or you if you do desire, to get your site transferred to the new host. I can’t live without cpanel anymore for this reason. Its a pain to transfer everything manually, especially when your talking about transferring over mysql data, cpanel makes this process so easy its not even funny. I really don’t care what control panel a host uses otherwise, but I will tell you, cpanel is a life saver if you switch servers often. I’m not talking about just switching to a new hosting provider, I’m talking about, if your host decides to switch you to another server, even in those circumstances cpanel is a lifesaver . It transfers all your email settings, account settings, files, mysql databases, the whole site, after all, there’s more to a site then just FTP’ing a few html and php files…
Thank You Tcoburn for the comment. You are very right. I know a friend who recently shifted hosting and he had to shift from vista panel to cpanel and it was so problematic!
Hey Vikas,
Thanks for the post.
I feel a bit relieved now, have been searching for about a week now for a host.
I think, na, i am sure, would go with wpwebhost 😀
Cheers
Kaushal,
Glad to know the article was of help to you and helped you make your choice.
All the best for your self-hosted blog with WPWebHost! 🙂
Vary interesting read :d
This was kewl =) count me in for more =^__^=
Hey mate, I accidently found your blog when I was searching a site which sells tickets online for fifa worldcup.Any of you guys know where to find this kinda sites?
I suppose it depends entirely on your site(s), are they dynamic (PHP/MySQL) or static (HTML)? There is surely a limit because of resource usage, there’s probably some fineprint in the TOS?
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Thank you for sharing with us,I too always learn something new from your post! Great article. I wish I could write so well.
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