There are literally thousands of web hosting companies to choose from, and combing through them can be an overwhelming task if you are new to blogging. If you are new to hosting, the many hosting companies and comparing the many different features, packages, and technical stats can feel intimidating.
If you’re an experienced blogger, and your old web host has just turned into a nightmare, it becomes hard to take the plunge again, knowing you’re likely to be disappointed. Even if you find the best web host you may still have a bad experience: you may have email server problems, a hacker may take down your entire shared server with a spam attack on one of your neighbors. A lot depends upon the person who answers your support call.
This is why we thought it would be helpful to put together a list of web hosting companies that we’ve worked with and recommend for running your WordPress-powered site.
What’s all this Web Hosting Jargon?
Before you begin comparing packages, make a list of your hosting requirements. Here are the few most important things that may actually be important to you:
How much Bandwidth can you use? This is what you burn through when LOADS of folks come to read your words of wisdom. The more traffic your site gets, the more bandwidth you’ll need. Many hosts use unlimited or unmetered bandwidth as an enticement, but the typical blog will probably only use a few gigabytes in a month, at most. Beware, some hosting plans do have ridiculously low bandwidth allotments, so be sure to give yourself room to grow, and keep in mind, the more websites you host under one hosting account, the more traffic you’ll be funneling through the pipes.
How many Domains can you host? Some cheap budget shared-hosting plans limit you to only one domain per account. If you plan on building more than one website, or publishing multiple blogs, make sure you can host all your domains on one plan.
How many Databases do you get? You’ll need to utilize a special MySQL database anytime you want to install WordPress on one of your sites (and you’ll also use them if you add things like forums, ecommere software, and so on). Some hosts offer unlimited domains, but severely limit the number of databases you can setup. Make sure you’ve got plenty of databases to play with if you want to run WordPress and have room to grow in the future.
Hosting Control Panel: You’ll likely spend several hours managing sites from your control panel, so make sure it’s user-friendly. If you’re used to cPanel, which is almost ubiquitous among hosts, you’ll probably find a proprietary backend (like those used by GoDaddy and 1&1, both who we’d recommend you stay far away from) somewhat awkward to use. Check out the control panel demo before you make your final choice.
Is it WordPress-friendly? If you’re planning on running a WordPress-powered blog, make damned sure you find a WordPress-friendly host! Avoid GoDaddy and 1&1, for example, which have awkward backends and aren’t particularly well-suited for Linux hosting (which is what WordPress plays nicely with). Some web hosts offer Fantastico, or some other method of one-click installation for WordPress and several other popular software packages. Make sure your host has the required versions of PHP, MySQL, or any extensions that are required.
How’s the Customer Service? Your host may offer online, email, chat and/or phone support. If you’re new to hosting (and even if you’re not) I’d recommend finding a web host that offers attentive phone support. Trying to explain what you don’t understand in an email or in a chat can be laborious and frustrating. You won’t always get an immediate answer by phone (sometimes a more tech savvy person will have to get back to you, usually by email), but it’s a relief when you do.
Our Recommended WordPress Blog Hosting Partner
BlueHost
BlueHost offers the ideal solution for WordPress blog hosting, running fast Apache servers that are configured precisely how they should be for an optimized blog, and free 24-hour, 365 days a year phone support in case anything ever goes wrong. They have provided the most helpful customer service of any host we’ve ever worked with, with the quickest turnaround. You get an easy, one-click WordPress Auto-Install, unlimited disk storage space, a free domain name for life, 2500 POP / WebMail addresses, unlimited transfer bandwidth, host unlimited domains on 1 account, 50 MySQL databases, a 99% uptime guarantee, no hidden fees, voted best support from 2004-2008.
Other Web Hosting Suggestions
AN Hosting
AN Hosting offers a generous package that includes 500 GB of disk storage, 5 terrabytes of bandwidth, 40 domains on one account, a free domain for life, and unlimited MySQL databases for just $4.95 a month. Though AN Hosting is owned by Midphase, Midphase’s basic plan lets you host only one domain name and one MySQL database, and their Pro-PHASE plan, while it lets you host unlimited domains and offers unmetered bandwidth, gives you only three MySQL databases. AN Hosting is a much better deal.
Page.ly
Page.ly provides a fast and easy new way to set-up a WordPress website. It is built solely for running WordPress blogs, as a matter of fact. It comes with a complete pre-configured WordPress install already, a free domain name, and email service all set up in about 2 minutes. The biggest benefit here is your plan comes with automatic WordPress core software upgrades, and automatic daily backups of your blog database. Also highly recommended if you want an easy, hands-off solution.
DreamHost
DreamHost is one of the most popular hosts among bloggers. It’s the host some people love and other people love to hate. They offer generous plans, including unlimited storage and bandwidth, along with unlimited domains and MySQL databases, for just $8.95 a month.
Hostgator
Host Gator provides Shared, Reseller and Dedicated web hosting solutions. All of their shared hosting plans include a 99.9% uptime guarantee, 24/7 support and a 45-day money back guarantee. They also offer to handle the entire process of moving from another host for you.
