Choose the Best Hosting for WordPress UK
The use of WordPress requires a software download to your own web server and takes approximately 5 minutes, however in order to use the software for your website it will need to be hosted.
Hosting is a service provided by a web hosting provider – a company which allows you to lease space on their servers and supplies your site to any user who visits it. They house your website on a server located in ‘data centres’ with very fast internet connections. Services offered by these companies can differ significantly depending on whether you require single page hosting or more complex site hosting. Businesses and blogs should choose the latter though, to ensure their site has enough space to offer a flawless experience to the user.
| Best WordPress Hosting UK for 2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostings | Price p/m | Bonus | Domains | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Visit Site |
| FastComet | $2.95 | cPanel | 1 | 15GB SSD | Unlimited | Get Discount |
| Hosting.co.uk | £1.70 | – | 2 | 10GB | 100GB | Get Discount |
| 040 | €1.50 | Free Domain* | 1 | 500MB | 3GB | Get Discount |
| Siteground | £2.75 | Free SSL | 1 | 10GB SSD | Unlimited | Get Discount |
*Free new domain (choose between .be .nl .eu)
Different Types of Self-Hosting Options
Hosting companies will often specialise in a particular service or software, for example blogs or e-commerce sites, so it is important to do your research on the company to choose the one most suitable for your requirements.
Shared Hosting: This is generally the most frequently chosen option for new sites which will share resources with other sites, therefore making it the most cost-effective choice.
Managed Hosting: This is for you if you want more features and flexibility, but either don’t want to be involved with the administration of the site or don’t have the knowledge to do so nor the time to learn. Companies offering this type of hosting will provide automatic services such as backups, updates and site recovery in the unlucky event your site gets hacked.
Dedicated Servers: As the name suggests, your site will have its own server, not sharing services with any other site. This is the type of hosting you would choose for a large website with a hefty amount of traffic, or if you have more specialist requirements that are not typically available within the more common shared hosting environment. It is also the more expensive option due to the expert needs addressed.
VPS Hosting: If you have more specific needs in the form of specialised packages to be installed for your site to run, then you will choose this form of hosting, mostly because your requirements cannot be met with the shared hosting option. You will share however, just with fewer sites.
Reseller Hosting: This is for you if you are a webmaster or if your site is a business that resells a web hosting service to other sites. You can also choose this option if you have and need to manage several sites due to the control panel functionality which simplifies the management of numerous websites, allowing centralised control.
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The Pros of Using Hosting
With the downloaded version of WordPress, you need to host yourself and this allows more flexibility for your site, while at the same time offering you more control. Just one of the first things you will be able to do is use your own domain name rather than having your domain name plus wordpress.com, which can appear slightly unprofessional.
Another positive is the ability to choose and install more advanced and aesthetically appealing themes (currently about 2,000) and plugins (currently about 30,000!). In a nutshell, you will have complete authority over the way your site looks. This is due to the fact that you can also edit the code behind your website (if you have this technical knowledge), which will mean your site can have a truly unique look and have improved functionality.
There are many providers of hosting who offer a ‘one-click’ installation so when choosing your best hosting for WordPress UK provider, do ensure that they offer this because it will make the set up just that little bit easier. If you want to have the option of making money with advertising, participating in affiliate programs and displaying adverts on your site, you will need to be self-hosted. Let’s face it, the majority of sites are going to want to make money through third party advertising and affiliate programs, whether they are blogs or e-commerce sites and you need to be self-hosted to do this.
The Cons of Using Hosting
Hosting your own site unfortunately will come with increased responsibility. You will need to maintain your site by ensuring backups are carried out, that security is in place and you’ll need some technical know-how at the very least. There are countless tutorials all over the internet which can be found with a simple search, as well as numerous text books, but of course, this takes time and effort to learn. The other option is managed hosting, but this is more pricey because a company is doing all this for you.
Another drawback is that you will need to pay your chosen web host – the amount being dependant on what type of site you will be hosting, since you are essentially contracting with a host company to loan you the space on its servers for a fee. So although it is a more powerful option, it is more expensive to get the exact look and functionality that you want.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a web publishing tool where you write the content and it takes care of the rest, including aesthetics, usability and the all-important behind the scenes mechanics which make your website appear seamless and attractive to the online user. It is not only for use with blogging sites as commonly believed, but for any type of website including e-commerce sites.
When you first look into using WordPress for your website you will notice that there are two options. The difference between these are explained briefly here:
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is self-hosted, therefore it is you that will be hosting your site and will need to download and install the free WordPress software onto your chosen web server provider. Put very simply, this is the computer that your web hosting provider uses to deliver your web pages to users who visit your site.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is fully hosted, so the hosting is handled for you and you will not need to download any software, manage the web server, or pay for any hosting.
(WordPress itself is the software which powers all WordPress sites, so it does not matter where you decide to host your site – whether .org or .com, you will still use the same software).
This article is covering the .org version and therefore self-hosting.