Looking for the best WordPress hosting?
I can help.
I've been building websites using WordPress since I started back in 2006.
Since then I've managed sites with hundreds of thousands of pageviews per month and experienced the best – and worst – that WordPress hosting has to offer.
Some more well known bloggers will tell you to use the same hosting they use. But they will be getting 10,000+ visitors per day to their site and their WordPress hosting needs are almost guaranteed to be more substantial than yours.
Do you really want to pay $50-100+ per month for a new, untested site?
It all comes down to what you need from your WordPress site and there are a few hosting packages that might be suitable. Don't just buy the most expensive one because some guru tells you to.
This guide should help you to pick the perfect WordPress hosting in 5-10 minutes. It's unbiased and based on the dozens of WordPress hosts I've used over the years.
To get started, click the link below which best describes your WordPress site:
My WordPress site is brand new (0-1,000 daily visitors)
My WordPress site is fairly popular already (3,000+ daily visitors)
My WordPress site is too hot to handle! (10,000+ daily visitors)
Please note that some, but not all, of these WordPress hosting links are affiliate links which pay Site Beginner a commission if you buy. If you do buy through my link, tweet me and I'll give you a digital high five for supporting the site. :D>
Best WordPress hosting for brand new sites.
I'm gonna be brutally honest here and tell you that if your site is brand spanking new (or getting LESS than 1,000 visitors a day) then you don't need to pay any more than $5 a month.
Chances are, you want to run this site on a budget and don't have $30, $50, $100 a month or more to spend on WordPress hosting.
There is no reason to spend more than the bare minimum if your site is new. Period.
Anybody who is telling you otherwise mostly likely wants you to pay more. 😉
I can tell you that I have sites with over 1,000 visitors a day running happily on $5 a month hosting and they have been operating on WordPress for years with no problems whatsoever.
There are so many reasons why this is the best WordPress hosting choice for a small site:
- It's cheap!
- You can easily scale up (no need to pay more in the beginning).
- Beginner friendly.
- Most are WordPress optimised.
For me, the best WordPress hosting is Bluehostb.
If you want to setup a simple WordPress site and have 24/7 access to support staff who know WordPress well (most use it for their personal sites) then this is the hosting you want.
I use them myself for some of my smaller sites and I actually recorded the process of registering with them and installing WordPress for my How to Create a Website tutorial. You might wanna check that out too. 🙂
Of course, the phrase “best WordPress hosting” is subjective. I've had equally good experience from other affordable web hosts too:
Best WordPress hosting for more popular sites.
Most folks won't get more than 1,000 visitors a day to their site. If you do, well done, you're pretty awesome.
For those that do, you might want WordPress hosting that has a bit more oomph. This is when you might need a virtual server, known as a VPS.
For this, I recommend InMotion Hosting. (The host Site Beginner uses.)
(Yeah, yeah, I know I said something about not listening to people trying to get you to have their expensive hosting.)
But this is only suitable if your site has 1,000+ visitors a day and you actually notice that you need a better web host. I've got sites doing 5,000 visits a day on $5 hosting so you still might not need a VPS.
Here's what a VPS with InMotion gives for more popular WordPress sites:
- Faster site speed using multiple datacenters. Better for visitors, better for you, better for SEO.
- Burstable memory – which basically means your site will better handle spikes in traffic.
- Automated backups every 2-3 days. Invaluable, I tells you.
InMotion are my pick for the best WordPress hosting for popular sites but I have used others with just as much speed, reliability and support:
Best WordPress hosting for sites that are too hot to handle.
If your site is getting more traffic than the population of a small country (approximately 10,000+ visitors per day) then you'll need WordPress hosting that can handle it.
You have a few choices for hosting at this level:
- A top-of-the-range VPS.
- A dedicated server.
- Managed WordPress hosting.
A super-fast VPS or a dedicated server will give you more power, more resources and more speed. Basically, your WordPress site will run quickly, handle traffic spikes with ease, and deliver an excellent experience to your visitors.
Whether you want a VPS or a dedicated server, I would recommend HostGator.
Yes, they have a bit of a bad rep and every hosting affiliate and their mother recommend them because of how much they pay in commission.
But I've used them for the last 6 years and I can honestly say that although there have been the occasional problem – their support staff have always been quick, efficient, and effective at dealing with my needs.
You also have the option of VPS.net, who I also recommend and really enjoy using. You pay for support though, which is a major downer in my book.
But what if you need more from your WordPress hosting?
A VPS or dedicated server will give you what you need, but for sites with huge amounts of daily traffic, I think the best WordPress hosting should give you more.
I'm talking about:
- Specific WordPress configuration by WordPress experts.
- WordPress specific virus, malware and hack prevention.
- Managed WordPress upgrades.
- One-click WordPress backups.
For this, you'd be looking at something like Synthesis Hosting from the folks at Copyblogger/StudioPress or the ever-popular WPEngine hosting.
I haven't used either of these, although I intend to fully try them both out for review. From speaking with friends and fellow web geeks who have, I'm swaying to WPEngine and I really like their Staging Area feature which lets you test out stuff on your site without it going “live” for the world to see.
This type of environment is used in businesses all over the world, so it's cool that you can have it without needing any technical skill whatsoever.
Conclusion: Pick the best WordPress hosting for you!
Choosing a good web host (whether for WordPress or other software) can be a nightmare.
The way I recommend you to look at it is focus on what your site needs now, and in the short term future, and base your decision off that. Find people who's opinion you trust and ask them who they use.
Then pick a WordPress host and test them out. 🙂
Like I said, if you are just starting out and are building your first site (or have a very small site you need to host) then go with Web Hosting Hub.
If you need more, a VPS, dedicated server or WordPress managed hosting are all fantastic options for highly trafficked sites.
Choose the best WordPress hosting for your site and your needs and I'm sure you'll make an excellent, informed decision.
Oh, and if you do use one of my suggestions, don't forget to tell me on Twitter.
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