Hosting Requirements for WordPress Websites

Hosting is required for all websites so is for WordPress sites. Today, WordPress is widely used by many websites because of its free and customizable features. However, it is quite confusing for many whether to have wordpress specific hosting or go with traditional hosting service. Though regular web hosting providers can support WordPress sites, only few of them are capable of dealing with issues that are specific to WordPress. The servers of the hosting platform should meet the minimum hardware and software requirements and should provide easy to implement scripts to install, run and maintain WordPress. Otherwise, there will be uptime or performance issues which can make the site inaccessible to the users.

If you already have a WordPress site hosted with a provider and not sure whether they are supportive of your website, then you can depend on website monitoring service for analyzing the hosting requirements. With the help of website monitor service, you can determine whether or not the hosting service is effective in supporting the needs of your website. If you discover the service is just a regular provider not the best fit for your WordPress website, then you can move your site to a better WordPress web hosting service. There are some specific features that you should anticipate from your provider no matter which type of Wordpress hosting that you decide to choose.

Better Uptime Rate

It is one of the most important aspects that one cannot negotiate with other features. Not many providers offer 100% uptime, but the more downtime is minimized the better it would be for your WordPress website. If you are on economical shared hosting plan, there will not be any uptime guarantee because the server resources will be partitioned for use by several websites. Since the site will be dealing with lot of plugins, themes, database and other complex things, the server performance has to be better to maintain the website speed and overall experience of the users. Hence it is wise to choose VPS or dedicated hosting plans that are worth relying on, so that the site will encounter less typical downtime issues.

Software Support

Look for providers who keep their servers updated with latest software for offering complete WordPress support. They need to have specific technologies to scale and secure WordPress sites. That means the servers have to support different versions of PHP, MYSQL / MariaDB, Apache or NGINX Web servers including the latest one. The hosting provider need to have specific technology optimized for wordpress to scale and secure the sites. Since wordpress is all about themes and plugins, even the most popular plugins will have some vulnerabilities and may threaten the website security. A good hosting service should have a system to identify and block such plugins that are insecure and hinder the site performance. Many service providers claim themselves as WordPress optimized environment but when issues happen they will not know how to handle the situation and extend support to the website.

Host Level Caching

Many times, WordPress sites depend on caching plugins for website performance. Though caching plugins are helpful in improving the site speed, they are not effective solutions when compared to host level caching. Having your hosting provider handle the caching issues will reduce the burden off your shoulder and will let you focus more on other essential aspects of your website.

WordPress Specific Features

A WordPress web hosting service should offer specific features like pre-installed & configured WordPress that supports easy installation of software, automatic software updates, various themes and plugin support for site specific features, tools for enhanced security, built-in caching for accelerated speed etc. It is also wise to look for additional features such as free account migration from another host, easy to use cPanel, automatic site backup etc. These features are important for ensuring site continuity and performance.

DDoS Protection

Choose the hosting service that offers increased security and more individualized attention to the users. Small hosting providers may not provide enough security against hackers or DDos (Denial of service) attacks because they may not afford good network appliances. The WordPress hosting service should have effective security measures to automatically drop the malicious traffic and protect the site from such activities.

Check for SSL Support

Some WordPress hosting providers include SSL in their hosting plan while others provide it as an add-on feature. If it is an e-commerce website having SSL is very much essential to protect visitors information. The data has to be encrypted when exchange of information happens between the web server and the user's browser. Make sure the service that you choose offer needed support for SSL certification.