Have an interesting topic you want to write about on your website, but don’t know where to start? You need to consider a few things before you start. First of all, you must find the right hosting for your blog. Check what to look for when choosing a virtual garage for your online diary.
What is this hosting anyway?
Each website consists of various types of files. These are documents, photos, and scripts. To display these files to Internet users, you must place them on a particular computer called a server (host). Know that the necessity to have hosting applies to absolutely every website you visit – no matter if we are talking about an online store, blog, or business card. All websites have to have hosting.
The server is a computer that works around the clock. If it stops, the sites it hosts would automatically be unreachable to visitors. Sharing server storage space with website owners is known as the Hosting Service. It is worth knowing about various types of hosting available on the market, distinguished by specific technical parameters.
- Shared hosting: In this case, one server stores all files for several separate sites simultaneously. This solution has some drawbacks, but such a server for a blog is more than enough.
- VPS Hosting: This is hosting on private virtual servers. The physical server is divided into several independent parts. As in the sharing hosting – several clients use the same physical computer, but every customer has a separate segment of server resources, available only to him. It is a good choice for eCommerce and big blogs and websites.
- Dedicated hosting: a server is used entirely by one customer. In the case of a blog, this choice is completely pointless.
How does hosting affect blog performance?
You must know that the server is not equal to the server. When deciding on hosting for your blog, you need to consider several criteria for evaluating vendor offers. Below, I list those that, in my opinion, should be a priority.
Performance
You probably guess that since the server is a computer, like all computers, it has specific parameters that affect its performance. And you are right. Server performance is one of the most important criteria when you choose your blog hosting.
The slower the website works, the worse it is rated by Google crawlers. If your website is slow, your blog will have less chance of ranking high in Google search results right from the start. And yet good results in Google are one of the decisive elements of creating internet content.
Security
The most apparent feature of hosting may be performance, but the truth must be told: security is the critical one. If I would have to choose one of the two hosting services: one with the best performance in the world, but with the worst safety and the second with the best safety, but the worst performance, I would choose the second. Even the fastest website won’t be worth anything if anyone can hack it.
The websites immune to attacks don’t exist. But each subsequent level of security increases the safety of your website. It can be successful even if it has deficiencies in performance – you will make up for content and idea. However, if it has security gaps, its success will attract the best hackers to hijack your and your clients’ data.
Therefore, in my opinion, security is the most important feature of web hosting. Especially when, apart from running a blog, you would like to start an online store over time.
Be sure to choose a hosting provider who can quickly restore your website in case of an unforeseen accident. As well as find out how the technical support department works in the company, especially when you are unfamiliar with technicalities.
The physical location of the server
The localization of your server is essential. There is a significant difference between a server in New York and Riga. And I don’t mean that this from New York will be better. If you want to offer your services to Latin America, the first will be better, if you direct your services to Germans and French, the second.
Although the transmission of information via the Internet is lightning fast, the great distance between the visitor and the server significantly affects the loading speed of your blog. If the visitors to your website are mainly French, German, and Polish internet users, I suggest using the services of one of the European server localization. If the visitors are from the Americas, choose the server in this part of the world.
Uptime (uninterrupted service availability)
This concept covers the time of uninterrupted running of the server and the availability of services that are made available through it.
If you are serious about SEO for your blog, the uptime value should be as low as possible, preferably around 99.9%. Uptime of 99,9% means that your service will be offline for 8 hours a year. 99% of Uptime means that your service will be offline for 88 hours a year.
Automatic blog installation software
If you don’t have the technical skills, you probably won’t be able to install your blog on the server manually. Fortunately, with many hosting providers, bloggers can easily install their blogs using an auto-installer.
Auto installers are applications available in the server panel, thanks to which you can easily install your WordPress in a few minutes. The best hosting providers will provide you with automatic installation of other popular CMS like PrestaShop and Magento as well.
Opinions
Unfortunately, companies often salvage a tarnished image with harmful word-of-mouth marketing that covers up negative user reviews. However, if the provider is hopeless, you will undoubtedly find genuine reviews that will tell you the truth about the quality of services offered by a particular company.
If you can reach any website or blog owners, you should talk to them about hosting. Check the best hosting opinion providers, like HostAdvice, Sourceforge, SiteChecker, or Web Hosting Secrets Revealed.
Price
Finally, you can consider the price. If you want to run a blog without extra services (like an online store, for example), a reasonable hosting cost will be between $30-65 per year. If you want to add extra services (your social network, video sharing platform, exclusive content for registered users), the hosting cost depends on your ideas. But still, even the most sophisticated and popular blogs should run on VPS servers (up to $500 per year).
Free Hosting For A Blog: Does It Make Sense?
Let me put it straight – there is no such thing as free hosting for a blog. There are simple platforms that give you free disk space for your blog, but I suggest you not think about these types of ideas. True, you’ll host a blog for free on their hosting, but it won’t be your blog. The address of your website will be something like: myblog.blogspot.com. You certainly don’t want the ending “blogspot” in your blog address.
Conclusion
I hope I brought you closer to deciding on the server for your blog. If you would like to find your hosting provider on your own, good luck! But if you don’t want to waste your time comparing different offers, I will help to save you time. The best hosting provider for a WordPress blog is UltaHost.
Its main advantages, distinguishing it from other hosting providers, are:
- Top-notch security. UltaHost uses all possible security systems available on the market. The security axis is the reliable BitNinja system.
- The best customer service. You can ask for help at any time, UltaHost provides a 24/7 technical service to help you solve any problem related to your website. Apart from security, customer service is the most important area for UltaHost.
- The most modern equipment with SSD NVMe disks. The fastest and most efficient equipment on the market. Your website will load anywhere in the world in a fraction of a second, and all systems will run smoothly without any delays.
UltaHost has prepared a special hosting offer tailored to websites based on WordPress. Automatic installation of CMS, plugins, and themes. You will find premium themes in the hosting package. Automatic backup. In simple words: a hosting service that is fully customized and optimized for a WordPress-based website.
