A website is to a house as a web host is to a plot of land. No matter how much time and energy you pour into the details of your home or website, where you build it matters tremendously.
Why? For starters, where you host your website can affect your overall site speed and security.
Do we have your attention now? Let’s back up a few steps first…
What is WordPress hosting?
Web hosting, in general, is a service that allows a website or web page to be seen on the Internet.
Web hosting providers have servers that the code for your website is stored on. This code is then tapped into when someone types your URL into their browser. The browser connects them to the server and then your webpages are displayed through their browser.
Are there different types of servers?
Every website is unique and similarly, there are different kinds of hosting options to choose from.
Shared Servers: Shared servers can be thought of as neighborhoods with no fences. If you have a bad neighbor and someone decides to have parties every night in their backyard – you’re going to feel the effects of it. The same thing goes for a shared server. If a website is hosted on a shared server and it crashes or has faulty code, your website could be affected as well.
With that being said, this means that shared servers are generally cheaper. This also means you get what you pay for.
VPS (Virtual Private Server): VPS’s are neighborhoods with fences. Although you are sharing the area, the server is partitioned and has dedicated space for each customer. The benefit of a VPS is that your neighbors use of their space won’t affect you.
Dedicated: Ever dream of owning your own island? Dedicated servers are for you. An entire server dedicated to one customer. Beautiful on most days, but when a hurricane comes…we hope you know what you’re doing!
Cloud-based: Cloud hosting is flexible, stable, secure and affordable and that’s what we choose to use at BuildThis.
Where Should I Host My WordPress Website?
As you can tell, there are a variety of options available. It’s important for you to understand your needs. Do you care about how fast your website loads? Are you just starting out and more budget conscious? Or do you care more about how safe and secure your customer data is? It’s important to hammer out these details before deciding where to host your website.
BuildThis chooses to work with a company called WPEngine.
Why Quality WordPress Hosting Matters
By now, you know that quality WordPress hosting matters but here are a few ways that your site will benefit:
Faster Site Speed: Although a shared server is more cost-effective, you might end up running into speed issues. If your audience is waiting for your site to load for more than a few seconds, you will notice higher drop off rates.
Increased Security: Quality hosting also provides quality security. That means for you and your users. Never compromise on security.
Improved Rankings: Quality hosting will also help you rank higher when people search for your business on Google. There are a number of factors that go into this but with increased site speed, less downtime (periods of time where your site may be down due to the server), and increased security (an SSL certificate) you are bound to increase your rankings with a good host.
Better Tech Support: Let’s be honest, you know it would be nice to have a tech team on your side when things go awry. Make sure that you look into what kind of support (both customer and tech) is offered when making a decision on hosting.
Improved User Experience: A couple of user experience factors include site speed and up to date content. By having a quality web host, you can make sure that your site speed is optimal and update content regularly and easily.
Customer Support: If customer support is important to you then make sure you inquire about what kind of support options are included in maintenance packages.
Backups & Peace of Mind: Things go wrong and you can’t put a price tag on peace of mind. Most good web hosting packages include daily back ups.
Want to learn about our maintenance packages at BuildThis?
Click here to see everything we include at an affordable monthly rate.