CrazyLeaf Editorial Most people will admit that when it comes to WordPress hosting vs web hosting that a WordPress hosting service is far superior to a regular web hosting service if you wish to run a WordPress website. The problem most people experience has nothing to do with web hosting vs WordPress hosting but has everything to do with which WordPress hosting service they should use.
The fact is that WordPress hosting vs regular hosting is a rather moot argument because WordPress runs fine with regular hosting. However, one could argue that WordPress runs better with services that are customized for it. Problems only arise when people are trying to pick a WordPress-customized service.
WordPress Hosting vs Web Hosting
Let’s say you have a web host service. They have a Linux-based hosting account that supports SQL and PHP, so their service is fine for running a WordPress website (as most regular web hosting services have been since 2001). So, the host decides to start offering a WordPress hosting service.
The host can go two ways. The host can do a title change and offer exactly what it offers everybody else, but simply “call” it a WordPress hosting service. Or, the host can create a customized WordPress-specific plan that is worth every penny that is charged.
That scenario is your problem. Is the web host actually offering you anything extra when it offers WordPress-specific plans?
It is a little like a computer manufacturer who creates regular computers. One day, it decides to start selling to gamers, so it renames its regular computer as a gaming computer. In this way, the computer offers nothing more than a regular computer.
On the other hand, the computer manufacturer could create a computer with more CPU cores, more RAM, and so forth, and then call it a gaming computer.
How do you know which hosting service is offering something of substance and which is not?
Choosing High-Quality WordPress Web Hosting – Scalable Plans
Pick a company that offers scalable plans. Most WordPress blogs and/or websites are abandoned in fewer than two years because most hosts ask that you renew your domain and/or services in two or three years. There is no point in buying a larger service that offers lots of features and perks if your website will probably be forgotten in two years. Instead, look for a company that offers scalable plans.
Check out the plans to see if it is a loss-leader scam or a baiting scam. A loss leader scam is where the first plan is free or very cheap, but also very useless, and the second plan is woefully expensive.
A baiting scam /upselling scam is where you are told one price, and as you go along, you are told you need plugins, extra server space, templates, and so forth, and by the end, you have paid hundreds. Try to stick to the essential WordPress plugins and leave the rest until you truly cannot live without them.
Check out the other plans to see if they are reasonably priced and to check that all the features and perks scale evenly. For example, the first plan may offer 10GB of server space, the second may offer 50GB, and the third offers 100GB and so forth. Another may offer different WordPress themes and templates and another may offer technical help setting up your WordPress website.
Unlimited Data Transfer
This is the sort of thing you can get with most regular web hosts, but things like unlimited bandwidth and unlimited server space are more common with WordPress specific plans or Managed WordPress plans.
Limits to the amount you can upload per month are no help if you are an active uploader. If you have a lot of traffic, then a limited bandwidth may be a hindrance, but it depends upon your type of content. For example, if you were running a website similar to Wikipedia, which is made up mostly of text, then you would not need as much bandwidth as if you were running a video streaming service via your WordPress website.
Managed WordPress Hosting
The word “managed” means different things to different people, so beware of the fact that you will not receive a consistent service if you haphazardly choose a managed WordPress program.
For example, some will go so far as to set up your WordPress website for you and teach you how to use it, and others will simply set up an online environment that making WordPress installation easier.
If you are a first-time website creator and/or uploader, then buying a service that holds your hand throughout the process may be just what you need. Just make sure that the company isn’t holding your hand simply to sell you more stuff. If it claims you need this plugin for images and this plugin for videos, then maybe consider buying services that are not trying to sell to you all the time.
Other Features of Note
Find out what sort of security the WordPress host offers. You are looking for malware scanning and strong firewalls to help protect your website. Be wary of long-term contracts. If they are offering something such as five years for a great price, then you may want to think again. A contract that you can leave whenever you wish is probably the best.
Establish if the company has international servers and data centers. For example, many UK websites are viewed by people in the USA, but if the web host doesn’t have servers in the USA, then people in North America are going to have a hard time accessing and loading your website.
Try to choose a company “without” a free trial. Getting a WordPress hosting free trial is like getting a free trial for having your kitchen decorated.
Setting up your WordPress website is a lot of work, even if you are only uploading content, which makes WordPress hosting trials a big hassle.
If the company is offering a free trial, then maybe find another company because you have to ask yourself why the company needs to sink to such boneheaded ideas. It wouldn’t be so bad if they said, “Hey, here is our price, and we will give you the first two months for free,” but if they are offering a free trial so you can test out the system, then either they are looking for a way to get your information so that they can market to you for the next twenty years, or they are desperate for sales.
Bluehost vs WordPress
Why does the WordPress vs Bluehost discussion keep coming up online? It is probably due to a misunderstanding regarding keywords and search engines. There is a content management system called WordPress. It is an open-source piece of software that you can “host” on a server, and it enables you to build a website. That is what most people refer to as WordPress (it is a website builder).
However, there is also the website “https://WordPress.com/” and it offers WordPress hosting plans. Bluehost is a rather big name in the hosting world, so people often compare Bluehost’s services with that of WordPress.com.
That is probably where the confusion starts. There is a difference between the hosting services offered by WordPress.com and the WordPress software. When people say Bluehost vs WordPress, they mean Bluehost vs WordPress.com-hosting-services.
Which is better? In many cases, both are pretty poor. The WordPress.com hosting packages allow you to customize your web code, which is great if you are a coder/programmer, but pretty useless if you are not. Bluehost is great in terms of ease-of-use, but their loading times are terrible, their uptime is terrible, and they have outsourced customer support to India.
There is a lot of fuss made about choosing the largest and most expensive hosts because people somehow equate that with quality when in many cases it is the opposite. When you buy a smaller company’s hosting account, they often have far more control over their servers because they have a smaller tech team (because fewer chefs cannot spoil the broth, as the old saying goes). They often work harder to keep their customers because they know how valuable they are.
Conclusion – First Timers Take Note
Should you care about the WordPress hosting vs web hosting argument? If regular web hosting is fine for the WordPress content management system, then why should you care? In truth, you probably shouldn’t, but buying plans that are specifically built for WordPress can help first-time website creators.
Even in today’s environment when there is plenty of online help and tutorials for setting up a WordPress website, it is still a daunting and frustrating task.
Services that offer an already-assembled type of WordPress hosting are handy for people who are not looking to learn all about WordPress hosting. If you want to avoid hours of watching YouTube videos on WordPress hosting, and if you wish to save yourself hours of researching how to get your website online, then a good WordPress-specific hosting plan may be for you. Just remember that some hosting plans offer oodles of help, and others offer nothing more than every other website hosting service.
Whether you are a setting up your first website or looking for enhanced SEO techniques, our website is packed with news, tips, and how-to articles/tutorials. Read our blog for inspiration.
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