One of the most difficult tasks faced by anyone who wants to start a blog is choosing a web hosting service for their website.
We have clearly advised you to stay away from free hosting as they have big limitations and issues and you will end up facing a lot of technical hassles.
If you are a new blogger who is just starting to choose a web hosting service, I strongly recommend you to go for shared hosting which is reliable, reputable and cheap. I have highlighted its advantages, pros and cons and shared a list of the best shared hosting for WordPress.
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With several web hosting packages available such as shared hosting, managed WordPress hosting , cloud hosting, VPS , and dedicated hosting, it’s always confusing for new bloggers to determine which is the best option.
In this guide, you’ll learn everything there is to know about shared hosting and ultimately be able to choose the best shared hosting.
Why should you use shared hosting for your new WordPress blog?
Technically speaking, web hosting can be divided into the following categories: shared hosting, VPS, dedicated hosting, reseller hosting, managed WordPress hosting, and cloud hosting. You can further categorize it as Windows or Linux hosting.
When I started SidelinePlay (a WordPress-based business) in 2008, I was overwhelmed by the options and tried many types of hosting. When we first published our first article, we had zero traffic.
Today, SidelinePlay gets nearly 1.1 million visits per month, and we are currently hosted by a WordPress hosting company called Kinsta . However, for the first 6 years, SidelinePlay used shared hosting, and our hosting costs were less than $120 per year.
Today, our hosting costs are around $5,000 per year. This is definitely more than what we were paying, but since our WordPress-based platform is not new and requires higher resources, it makes sense. At the same time, if I were to start a new WordPress site, a shared hosting company would be my best choice.
So why use shared hosting?
When you are first starting out, shared hosting is the best option. Opting for shared hosting, you will save money and have unlimited hosting resources to meet all your basic requirements. Also, VPS and dedicated hosting are expensive and these represent overkill for any beginner.
It is highly recommended that you choose shared hosting when starting your Internet career. If you need more server resources than shared hosting provides, you can upgrade directly to managed or cloud hosting.
My blogging journey started with Dreamhost, later I moved to Bluehost , then WPEngine , and now SidelinePlay is hosted on Kinsta.
How to Choose the Best Shared Hosting for WordPress
1. Web Storage and Bandwidth
Your website needs a certain amount of storage space. If you decide to go for shared website hosting, you should know that you only get a certain amount of storage space.
Only a few shared hosts offer unlimited hosting resources, such as Bluehost or A2Hosting .
You should carefully evaluate your needs to see if the space provided by the hosting plan you choose is enough for your website to run smoothly. If you are unsure, make sure your hosting allows you to upgrade your plan at any time so that your website is not crippled by bandwidth or storage restrictions.
Another important aspect of web hosting is bandwidth. If you choose shared web hosting, you should know how much bandwidth you are allocated and how much bandwidth your website will need. You should focus on getting as much bandwidth as possible.
2. Reliability and security
Security is a very important aspect of any website. Especially when 37% of the world’s websites are powered by WordPress, you can’t take security as a joke.
Choosing a reliable shared host with a good reputation for security to host your website is the best option for you. In the shared hosting space, I have found that SiteGround does an excellent job of enhancing security.
One thing you should know is that shared hosting for WordPress has limited security options. They are good, but the security is not top-notch.
You should read the SidelinePlay WordPress Security Guide to improve the security of your WordPress site.
3. Support
Support is another thing you should look for when searching for a shared web hosting company.
You should expect high-quality, fast support that fully resolves any issues you have. Additionally, you should look for a company that offers multiple ways to contact the support team.
Today, SiteGround and Bluehost are considered to have the best customer support as they also offer phone support. A2hosting is another hosting company that is really great when it comes to customer support .
For bloggers who just want to start a blog, I recommend choosing shared hosting for the following reasons:
- Initially, your website traffic will be low.
- Shared hosting costs less than dedicated hosting.
- Most startup websites can be easily handled by shared hosting.
- Many shared hosts also offer a free domain name, which reduces the initial cost.
Most people who are just starting a blog are short on cash and have little income in the beginning. Therefore, it is usually better to go with a hosting service that charges $5-15 per month instead of spending $20-200 on managed WordPress hosting.
Additionally, companies like Bluehost and SiteGround are bridging the gap between managed WordPress hosting and shared hosting.
For example, Bluehost offers an automatically installed WordPress blog with SSL + PHP 7.4 included in their shared hosting plans. They also provide a dedicated interface to manage your WordPress blog from their hosting dashboard.
I personally think that this kind of functionality is what high-end WordPress hosting offers. The point here is: don’t make the mistake of spending a fortune on blog hosting from day one.
You can start with hosting like Bluehost and A2Hosting which cost less than $7 per month and offer high-end infrastructure. When your hosting needs increase, you can upgrade to high-end hosting like Kinsta hosting or WPEngine as needed .
Many people believe that shared hosting affects search engine rankings, but in a recent video, Google webspam engineer Matt Cutts confirmed that the hosting environment does not affect rankings. However, you do need to make sure you choose a reliable hosting service to give your site the best uptime possible.
Which shared hosting is best for a WordPress blog?
Honestly, most web hosts these days offer amazing resources for a low price, but I always judge a web host based on its performance and customer support.
When you are dealing with hosting, you need to have basic knowledge about FTP, SSH (in some cases), and other changes that you will make from cPanel. Unfortunately, DDOS attacks and website hacking are very common, and you must ensure that the quality of your server can handle any normal hacking attempts.
If you are looking for a reliable WordPress shared hosting, I recommend you to choose Bluehost which is officially recommended by the WordPress community.
Once your traffic surges, you can easily upgrade to any good managed host like Kinsta or WPEngine. Remember, a good shared hosting company can easily handle 15,000 visits in an optimized environment.
Which service do you think provides the best hosting environment for new WordPress bloggers? If you found the information in this article useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Here are some carefully selected articles for you to read:
- Best WordPress Hosting for Serious Bloggers
- How Much Does It Cost to Start a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog?
- BlueHost Review: Is It a Reliable Hosting Service for WordPress?
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you click through to visit us, at no extra cost to you. See how SidelinePlay is funded, why it’s important, and how you can support us.
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