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In Part 2: Choosing the perfect domain name for an online store, we’ve talked about finding a perfect domain name for your online store. Today, we’re looking into the process of finding the best WordPress hosting for an online store.
After you register your perfect domain name, you’ll have pick the best web hosting for your online store. Some domain name registrars offer web hosting while others don’t. For example, DreamHost and Siteground provide web hosting services as well, and so does Namecheap.
Picking a seasoned and reputable web hosting company makes it easy for you to set up your store, implement important security features, and manage your site. Here are just a few of the companies we tested, and they’re all worth checking. Personally, I prefer Namecheap, but this will greatly differ based on your needs, expectations and budget.
There are basically three main types of hosting that you will find companies offering. Each has its pros and cons, and you’ll have to decide based on your needs. Based on those, each of them has a potential to become your best WordPress hosting for an online store you’re building.
Shared hosting is the basic form, it is the cheapest and unfortunately also the least efficient. It is called shared because this is what it is. On the physical server, there are numerous virtual (software) machines installed, and one of them gets assigned to you. While it sounds great and efficient, it’s not, because there are lots of users on a single physical machine. This brings performance down, because you’re sharing the server resources, and even brings security threaths.
If one of the users do something really bad that causes the server to malfunction, all the rest will also get “punished” for it. In general, while being cheap, it’s not really the best WordPress hosting for an online store you can imagine.
Still, it’s probably your best bet, just make sure you choose the package that will suit your needs.
Managed WordPress Hosting is a special service many ISPs offer. It simply means you’ll be assigned a server, as with the shared hosting, but this time, the ISP will do all the heavy lifting for you. This means really everything, and all you’ll have to do is take care of your website. It’s usually much higher priced, but well worthed if you’re not technical enough or simply don’t want to learn these things. Many people like it and consider it the best WordPress hosting for an online store.
VPS hosting (Virtual Private Server) is the highest for of public hosting that you’ll be able to buy. And while it’s similar to a shared hosting regarding the functionality, the main difference is that this time you will buy a completely separate virtual machine. It will be used by you and you alone, you will get your own IP address (one and only on Earth), and you will be the sole master of the field. These are usually the most powerful hosting environments that guarantee the best possible performance.
Because of that, it’s definitely the best WordPress hosting for an online store, but comes with relatively high demands.
Because, you’ll also have to take care of everything – the operating system, installation of the apps needed, settings and perks…. It can be a nightmare if you’re not really technical or don’t have the budget for someone to do it for you. So, while it’s perfect for companies that have teams to take care of that, it’s completely useless for people like me and most of you. Not to mention the pricing.
You will find the basic services with just about every hosting company in the world. And they can really be cheap, sometimes as low as a dollar a month.
Please bear in mind, as a general rule: the cheaper the hosting, the less you’ll get in terms of services and speed. While choosing the best WordPress hosting for an online store you should really look beyond just pricing.
In other words, it’s probably OK to start with the cheapest hosting you can find, as long as you’re a complete newbie. I’m saying this because if you’re a complete newbie, you’ll likely not need any advanced features of the hosting provider. Most likely you don’t even know such services exist, much less what you could use them for. So yes, if you just need a WordPress hosting for pennies, go get it.
However, in such a case, forget about a cPanel dashboard, forget the DNS editing, forget hosting parameters editing, and so on. Most importantly, forget about using a powerful premium theme. This is mainly because powerful premium themes like Divi will need more resources, and really cheap hosting will simply not provide enough. The result will be slow speed of your online store, which will very likely effect your website in such a way that teh search engines will not rank your website anywhere close to their first page.
And this means drastically less traffic that you really want and need.
Additionally, a combination of poor hosting and a heavy premium theme will likely cause issues such as memory outages and even breaking of your scripts.
In short, don’t do it.
Whenever you need more power, you can always order a better package from the provider, or even change the provider alltogether. It’s not really a big deal, other than possibly having your website offline for a short time. There are plugins available that will take care of that for you, and your site will migrate perfectly. However it will likely take a few hours of your time. At least. So, it’s better to start a bit higher and still not break the bank. So if you’re not completely happy after some time, it’s relatively easy to move to your next best WordPress hosting for an online store you’re running.
Here are a few of the hosting companies that I’ve worked with and found adequate for even more demanding websites. They all offer all three types of hosting mentioned above.
DreamHost comes with a free trial and a 100 percent money-back guarantee. It has no hidden fees and offers different packages for various needs. Meaning, if you are running a tight budget and only starting it might be the best option to go with.
DreamHost has a custom cPanel or control panel that gives you more control over your site and allows you to manage your store whichever way you want.
They have a reliable customer support service that’s available to you 24/7 in case you run into problems or encounter difficulties while using their platform.
Their pricing plan starts from $3.95 per month.
Visit the DreamHost website at dreamhost.com to purchase web hosting and learn more about their different hosting plans.
If you want faster page loading times and the best online security, use Namecheap. They offer standard shared hosting, as well as Managed WordPress hosting and even VPS hosting (Virtual Private Server) for the most demanding customers.
Namecheap constantly checks your site for vulnerabilities, blocks cyber-attacks, runs auto-updates and offers the best online security for your site. Their pricing plan starts from $2.49 per month plus you can pay for the whole year if you prefer, which brings some additional discounts.
Their Managed WordPress Hosting packages are very good, and though they are not cheap, they will bring you peace of mind. Namecheap will take care of just about everything for you, and you can really focus on your website and your online store. Personally, I believe they’re offering one of the best WordPress hosting for an online store. Be aware though that my needs might be different than yours.
I suggest you check their Special Deals page for current promos.
Bluehost is a beginner-friendly platform that offers one-click WordPress installations making it easy to build your site. They have built-in analytics and SEO tools to help you improve your marketing strategy and online rankings.
Bluehost has customer support that is available 24/7. Use live chat or contact them by phone if you run into problems while using their platform.
They have different plans for different needs. You can start with their standard shared hosting plan. Upgrade to other plans if you want more control over your site, need access to additional features, or if you want dedicated hosting.
Their pricing plan starts from $2,75 and most of their packages come with a free domain name and an SSL Certificate. Visit their website at bluehost.com to learn more. Once you choose and purchase your hosting plan you will receive your cPanel login details. Use them to build your website or install WordPress and start your online store.
There simply is no perfect answer to this question.
The planned size of your store, as well as expected number of visitors and store’s complexity will mostly define which hosting you will need. While any standard shared hosting can host an e-store, it will become increasingly slower as you add functionality and should generally speaking be avoided for stores and even larger websites. VPS hosting, on the other side of the spectrum, is very powerful (you define the tech), but can also become quite expensive and is therefore an option when you want your store to really shine out of the crowd.
Usually it’s a sort of mix-and-match, and most providers have options to easily upgrade your plans should it turn out to be not-adequate. Deciding on the best WordPress hosting for an online store you’re planning to build will surely be a little bit of a challenge.
Take a look also at my next post, which will be all about using the best ecommerce plugins for your online store.
You can download the full report about how to start an online store by clicking the image below. It will let you download a full PDF doc that you can read at your own pace and on any device.
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