Hosting is a lot more than just making your website accessible on the internet. Right from speed, performance to the overall experience of the visitors, several things rely on the quality of your hosting service.
As the hosting requirements of a website can significantly vary, hosting companies now offer multiple plans to efficiently meet the custom requirements and budgets of the customers.
For instance, top hosting brands now offer exclusive WordPress hosting plans. Some may have very basic packages while others have additional perks such as free premium plugins, web accessibility solutions, one-click WordPress installs, and the like. While various plans make it easier for the customers to select one that best matches their requirements, the decision can be confusing for many.
The points discussed below can help everyone struggling with the selection of WordPress hosting plans.
Consider Your Website Needs
According to the latest CMinds report, more than 35% of the websites on the internet now use WordPress. Any kind of website, be it a business website, e-commerce store, or a personal blog, can be created with WordPress. It is worth noting that the hosting requirements of different types of websites are generally very different.
For example, an eCommerce store would need a lot more storage space than a small personal blog created on WordPress. So, the first step of selecting the right WordPress hosting plan is understanding the needs of the website and then matching them with the features and resources included in various hosting plans.
Understand the Must-Haves and Could-Haves
The features and resources of the WordPress hosting plans improve as the plans get expensive. But not every WordPress website needs top-of-the-line features and extensive resources. For instance, a small business website built on WordPress will not need unlimited storage, which is a feature generally included in more expensive hosting plans.
Website owners should differentiate between the features and resources that are a must for their website and ones that are optional. Decent storage, SSL certificate, daily malware scan, and a few parked and subdomains are generally adequate for small blogs and business websites.
Need for Specialized Hosting
Apart from WordPress hosting, top providers now also offer specialized hosting services. For instance, WooCommerce is the most popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress. There are now hosting plans available that are optimized for this popular plugin.
Store owners who have created their website on WordPress using WooCommerce can consider unmanaged or managed WooCommerce hosting. As compared to a standard WordPress hosting, WooCommerce hosting comes with additional features and resources that can help improve the speed, security, and performance of e-commerce websites.
Add-Ons or No Add-Ons
Most popular hosting providers also offer several add-ons that could be purchased with every WordPress hosting plan. Most add-ons are generally related to security, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and website backups. These add-ons can be an excellent way to enhance the features of any hosting plan.
For instance, someone starting a new website and concerned about its organic ranking on search engines can consider purchasing an SEO add-on with their hosting plan. The website backup add-ons are also great for regularly creating backup copies of the website.
Making the Final Decision
While the price of the hosting plan is a vital consideration, plan selection should not entirely rely on this factor. One should focus on the points discussed above to buy WordPress hosting plans that adequately satisfy all the needs of their website.
Also, it is generally observed that hosting plans purchased for 12 months or more generally come with handsome discounts compared to monthly plans. After carefully selecting a reputed hosting provider and a hosting plan, consider long-term commitment for significant savings.
