Yes, you need hosting for WordPress and reliable hosting that makes sure that your domain remains live almost all the time so your visitors can have uninterrupted reception of the content you have created. This is a difficult explanation for the question do you need hosting for WordPress in your mind. Most people explain this simple question in jargons and a common man cannot clear the concept. So let’s dig this topic a little more into detail and clear the mist.
WHAT IS HOSTING
Like in your computer files are stored within some folders in your hard disk or solid storage. For example, if you want to look for a music file, you would locate it in some folder in a drive in your hard disk, click on that and then play the music file.
This is a whole procedure from locating to playing the music file but all of this is done within your local computer. You did not have to look beyond your hard disk to play the song.
So we can conclude that in order to have something useable as many times as you want, one of the ways is to store it on your computer and access it whenever you want.
In the same way, when you create a website you want to store the data of the website in a place where not only you but others can also access your website. You can store your web files locally and make it accessible to anybody in the world. But that is not an easy way, you would have to configure it so this door is not just open to you but for everybody.
So locally hosting a WordPress website means to set up the door, making it secure for users, facilitate the users quick and make it a seamless experience. These analogies are only to help you get your concepts clear. Now you can read the first paragraph again and you will have more understanding of how I summed up everything there.
So if you are to fix everything by yourself it will take ages and you will still face problems of maintenance, security breaches, increased cost and much more. Therefore, you have to upload your WordPress file onto a hosting service provider like Siteground. These services will be your host and take care of your web files as their premium guests.
This is the concept of hosting.
So you will need a host for WordPress, Drupal, Wix or any content management system to host.
What is WordPress
In simplest terms like an analogy, WordPress is like MS Word. It automatically generates coded files to set up your website like you create a word document. It is for those who have no website experience and can still set up a website and launch it within a day. But you need to upload it to a hosting service that will keep those files accessible to all safe visitors.
The benefits of using WordPress are literally uncountable. It is the most common content management system. More than half of all the websites are actually made on WordPress which means that there are solutions to almost all the problems one can ever encounter on a website.
Similarly, there are plugins available that can make you get almost any functionality within minutes. Don’t worry, I will explain the plugins as well.
What Are WordPress Plugins
Plugins are premade coded functionalities that can be installed on your WordPress website easier than software is installed on your computer. All you need to do is from your WordPress dashboard download the plugin after searching it and then install it. As easy as it sounds.
If you were not using WordPress then you would have to hire a developer/coder locally or post a project on websites like Freelancer.com, Fiverr or Upwork. The cost would increase by quite some folds and you may hold your ideas back.
Where Is this WordPress Website Hosted?
Your Best Product is made on WordPress. I am using the services of SiteGround to host my website. Siteground is probably the number 1 hosting company at the moment. I chose them to host my website mainly because of their immense good reputation.
I really liked their live chat support option, the incentive to transport my website from older hosting, the Cloudflare integration that helps to load website quicker and ensures almost 0 downtimes. It has been a great experience and I am glad I am using SiteGround to host my WordPress blog.
Difference Between WordPress.org and WordPress.com
WordPress.org helps you download the software of WordPress and make your website locally and then host it on your own computer or upload it on the host as explained above.
WordPress.com will allow you to make a free blog as a subdomain of WordPress which will look something like this yourdomain.wordpress.com. It is highly not recommended to use sub-domain especially when we are in the 2020s. Search engines simply don’t rank such blogs anymore, it is highly recommended that you buy your own domain, have the rights for it and upload it on reputable hosting servers such as site ground.
What Kind of Server Can Host Your Wp Web
Being the most common content management system, WordPress hosts are the most common to host your WordPress website. Do not get confused by WordPress requirements, all hosts have the capability to run the WordPress CMS. It is lightweight and can be easily run on a Php server. However, it is better to have the latest Php version installed on the server to make sure that the loading speed and other Php functionalities are more cohesive and robust.
What Plan should You buy for Hosting WordPress Web
For a starting brand, if I were in your place I would get the startup plan at SiteGroud because initially, it will take time for your website to draw traffic from search engines.
As your website grows then you can look into getting GrowBig or GoGeek hosting plans. Bigger plans are for those who need higher storage space, bigger bandwidth to serve a large number of people trying to access your website/blog.
What is Shared Hosting For WordPress
Most of the websites are using shared hosting. Shared as the name implies many people are allocated the same space as you. In terms of analogy consider it as many websites are using the same local drive made on your hard disk.
Similarly, many shared hosting providers allocate the same space along with the IP configuration on their server space. It creates a complex management system for the hosting company and results in performance compromises for many customers.
For instance, the previously shared hosting service I was using resulted in lots of delays, it gave me a very slow loading blog and search engines penalized my blog for loading slow. Ever since I changed my hosting, the blog traffic has gone up because it is now more user friendly. user-friendliness is one of the main factors search engines measure to rank websites.
What is Private WordPress Hosting
Now that you have cleared your concept about the shared hosting then comes the concept of private WordPress hosting. It simply means that the hosting company will allocate a storage space solely for you. You will get separate IP configuration and there is no interruption in queries.
It is for those people who want to provide a premium experience to their visitors. Someone with an already established brand should look into getting a private server for hosting their WordPress website.
Should I get Shared or Private WordPress Hosting
If you are looking to provide premium services for the visitors then get a private server known as VPS hosting. Alternatively, shared hosting is a good option for someone just starting out.
What I recommend is get something in between. A WordPress hosting which does not exploit by putting in as much as websites possible into their local storage and maintains the standard. To me, SiteGround WordPress hosting stands exactly at this point. They are both affordable and the quality of service offered is very high.
How Important Is to Get Support?
Support holds imperative importance. Often you can get into small problems that may get lingered in case you have a support that is not responsive. Because you have hosted the website on someone else’s platform you are dependent on them. Therefore, it is extremely important that the hosting service provider immediately responds to your request.
This is one of the reasons why I joined SiteGround instead of hosts like HostGator, Bluehost, Namecheap or GoDaddy. All these hosting providers are known for their terrible customer support. They do loads of advertisements to catch the customer but later their support base is very average.
Sum Up
I hope you have cleared your concept of WordPress hosting by now and have got the idea of what exactly do you need. If you still feel that there is something you are not cleared about please get in touch with me, I will try my best to help resolve your queries.
