If you’ve chosen not to set up your website on WordPress.com — and there are many reasons to choose WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org — you’ll need to find a web host in order to get started. This screencast walks you through the process of finding the right web host for your WordPress-powered website. In addition to the basic WordPress hosting requirements, you’ll learn about the features and terminology that are common to nearly all web hosting accounts. This video also decodes the sometimes confusing range of hosting accounts that you’ll have to choose from — including shared servers, VPS, cloud, and dedicated servers. By the time you’re done with this lesson, you’ll have the information you need to find a web hosting package that’s right for you.
Use this web host worksheet to evaluate and compare the hosting companies you’re considering.
8 thoughts on “Finding the Best WordPress Hosting”
Kirk, you may be surprised to know that this, the very first video, was actually a huge help to me, even though I’m supposedly an old hand at the finer points of Internet and web technologies. I’m glad I watched it and didn’t skip ahead. Thank you so much for sorting out and explaining the whole range of shared hosting versus VPS versus cloud versus dedicated server. This is awesome.
When I signed up with WP, an option was to have a “website” rather than a blog. At least that’s what I understood. I opted or that. Hence, I assume my site (which has a domain I chose, (without wordpress in the string) is being hosted by themn or a contractor of their choosing.
Q: Since my first blog is a kind of test for my “big deal” blog – which I want to use as my website, as well, I’m wondering if I should do the same thing again, or nstall wordpress on one of your recommended sites.
Thanks,
BF
Hi William,
The “website vs. blog” language on WordPress.com can be a bit misleading. What it really means is domain hosting (you get to use your own domain name instead of wordpress.com). Generally, that’s a really good idea and I encourage anyone using WordPress.com to take advantage of that feature. Among other things it ensures you the freedom to move your site somewhere else when you’re ready to add more features and functionality. You won’t have to worry about your visitors arriving at a dead-end on WordPress.com.
That said, you’re still bound by all of the limitations of WordPress.com. Meaning you’re limited to the themes that are available on wordpress.com, you can’t install plugins, you can’t make certain modifications to your site, you can’t run advertising, etc. For some site-owners those are fairly big limitations.
Before setting up your next website you should think about your long-term goals and whether or not you can work within the limitations of WordPress.com. If you’re planning on building more than a simple blog, chances are you’ll want to find another web host and use the WordPress.org version of WordPress.
kb
Thanks very useful 🙂
11:48 “Cloud” slide reads “* Setup a can be a bit more technical.”
Thanks Luke, That’ll be fixed with the next round of video updates.
Good day
What about another category of hosting service called “Reseller” – please elaborate further.
Cheers
Navigator
Hi Navigator,
“Reseller” describes the relationship between the “host” and another provider – usually a much bigger web hosting company. It doesn’t describe the type of web hosting account (shared, VPS, dedicated, cloud, etc.). Any of those types of hosting environments can be resold.
If you’re buying from a reseller you want to know what type of environment your website will be hosted on. I’d also ask about support and maintenance. Small-time resellers may be challenged to deliver timely support.
kb
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