What Type Of Hosting Is Needed For A WordPress Website?

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WordPress remains the most used CMS across the web with a giant 54% of the market share, according to the latest W3 Technology survey. It is the most frequently suggested CMS for beginners to start on, as well. That leads to the question of what kind of web hosting is best for a WordPress website.

There are several key types of hosting plans. Some have a variety of tiers with different levels of hardware, software, and support. Shared, VPS, cloud, managed, and dedicated hosting are all the types currently offered.

Shared Hosting
With shared hosting plans, there are typically several tiers to choose from, which vary in their features and caps. Shared plans generally are best suited to static websites with low levels of traffic up to blogs with steady, predictable levels of visitor traffic. Some web hosts may sell specially tailored shared hosting plans to accommodate more active sites such as forums and online stores.

VPS
Virtual private servers are pretty self-descriptive. A VPS uses a slice of space on a server to create a miniature private server-like environment for its user. A virtual server is ideal when

• More backend access is needed,
• More dedicated hardware power is required to support website traffic and ever-changing content, or
• A private server is otherwise preferred, but the full hardware specifications are not needed.

The most notable aspect of a VPS is that it has a server's features for less than the cost of a private server.

Cloud Hosting
Cloud hosting is very similar to VPS, but there are some key differences. Primarily, cloud hosting creates a virtual machine instead of a virtual server. That gives the user the ability to treat a cloud container like a local server. They can install any operating system they would like, connect multiple cloud containers within a virtual private network, and do anything else that an on-site server can logically do. Best of all, cloud hosting costs are comparable to that of shared hosting.

That, of course, makes cloud hosting a better fit for programmers and system administrators than on-site servers in many situations. However, these can also prove to be valuable to public websites that need a cost-effective solution with all the features of a VPS or a private server. Cloud hosting also features load-balancing, which shares the system load across multiple containers as needed to prevent one container from becoming overtaxed.

Managed Hosting
Managed hosting is usually the most ideal for beginners, and anyone that doesn't want to have to bother much with the administration side of their website. Unlike other forms of hosting, managed hosting comes straight out of the box with WordPress pre-installed. It's ideal for creating the most seamless and worry-free WordPress experience. However, many managed plans may not be well suited for websites with high traffic or user activity.

Dedicated Hosting
This type of hosting involves renting or leasing a full-size server for your organization's private use. It provides the same level of control over the machine as a cloud container, but with better security than a VPS. Most importantly, private hosting offers the maximum level of bandwidth, hardware, security, and support that you can find anywhere. 

Now, let's wrap up with some key hosts which offer these types of plans:

GreenGeeks
Greengeeks is popular among online hosting communities for their commitment to leading-edge technologies and top-tier service. Just a glance at their plan page will tell you why this host is so popular. Rather than offering promotions and marketing buzz, they proudly display everything you could want to know about their data centers, operations, services, and plans. This company is most notable though for its efforts to reduce the carbon footprints of their data centers.

WP Engine
The oldest managed WordPress host on the internet has maintained the standard in this market. Unlike other hosts, WP Engine offers a full range of managed WordPress plans that scale up to mission-critical, highly active websites. The only catch to it is such specialized hosting and maintenance are much pricier than other hosting options.

DigitalOcean
This company stands out among cloud hosting providers for its affordability and user-friendliness, which doesn't sacrifice performance or control. Cloud containers are called “droplets” and can have their memory, processor, or hard drive space expanded individually. Also, unlike other cloud hosts, this provider provides a flat monthly rate priced according to the size of the droplet and its features.