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dollar2host · 1 year ago

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What is Plesk? A Beginners Guide for 2024

It is necessary to have a control panel in order to efficiently handle the numerous components of your server when you host your website or application on the internet. Your hosting provider, as well as other considerations like cost and user-friendliness, play a significant role in determining which control panel you should choose. You need to make use of a control panel that is not just inexpensive but also simple to operate.

One of the most widely used platforms for administering your internet server is called Plesk. However, what exactly is Plesk, and how does it function? In the event that you are curious about what Plesk is and what it is capable of doing, this article will offer you all the information you require, including its features, pricing, and other relevant details. Let's not waste any more time and get straight down to business!

How does Plesk work?

Providing users with an interface for controlling their website, application, and server, Plesk is a control panel that delivers this functionality. The first development of this platform took place in Russia in the year 2001, and it was sold to Parallel. 2015 marked the year when Plesk became an independent entity. British Oakley Capital Limited completed the acquisition of Plesk in 2017, and the company has since become a part of WebPros.

Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and dedicated servers are managed with this control panel, which is among the most popular and leading control panels in the industry. One of the reasons that Plesk is so popular is because of its user interface (UI), which is both friendly and intuitive. This makes it simple to use even if you do not have a lot of experience managing servers with other software.

What is the Function of Plesk?

When it comes to managing the many features of their server, website, or web application, Plesk gives consumers a user-friendly interface that they can use to handle these aspects. Prior to making use of Plesk, you are required to register with a hosting provider that offers Plesk as one of the control panels that you can use in order to manage your server. Some of the most well-known providers that offer support for Plesk are MyResellerHome, and Dollar2host.

You are able to carry out a variety of operations on your servers by utilizing Plesk. The following is a list of some of the fundamental activities that users are able to perform with the Plesk interface:

Email Accounts: When you sign up for a hosting package, the majority of providers will provide you the choice to register different domain names for your electronic mail accounts. Within Plesk, users have the ability to generate, manage, and organize emails for their own domain names.

Plesk allows you to manage your files by allowing you to create folders, rename your files, transfer them across folders, and delete them totally from your server if you so desire.

Backups: Plesk is also capable of backing up the data on your server or website. When users create backups, Plesk gives them the option to export the backup file to a cloud storage provider during the process.

Plesk gives users the ability to administer databases, including MySQL and PostgreSQL, among other database management systems.

Managing numerous domains from a single location is another feature that consumers may take use of.

Describe what a Plesk Server is.

It is a reference to a system that is either virtual or bare metal and is configured to use Plesk as its control panel. Through the usage of the Plesk server, customers are able to host a website or web application that can be accessed and utilized by other people on the internet. There are a number of major operating systems that Plesk Server is compatible with, including Windows and Linux.

Users have the ability to determine the types of computing resources they require when building a Plesk Server, taking into consideration the type of application they wish to host as well as their financial constraints. Plesk servers are priced differently depending on a number of other aspects in addition to the computational power that they provide. These elements include the number of domains that are to be hosted, the priority of customer support, and access to a number of other tools that one might require in order to run their website or web application.

Features of the WordPress Toolkit offered by Plesk

Through the use of the WordPress Toolkit, customers are able to effortlessly install, manage, and remove WordPress websites from their computer servers. A further feature of the toolkit is that it gives users the ability to develop plugins and theme packs, as well as configure updates. Users are also able to monitor the performance of their websites as well as the security of such websites.

Management of the Server

Through the use of Plesk, administrators are able to monitor the resources and performance of their servers, as well as control the access levels of the various users. Using Plesk's user interface, which is basic and easy to understand, all of this is accomplished. Learn how to add users and assign roles in Plesk by reading this guide, which is intended for those who are new to the Plesk platform.

A vault for applications

You can install programs on your server with only a few clicks using this marketplace, which is a marketplace of applications. A number of popular applications can be found in the Plesk app catalog. These applications include Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, e-commerce platforms like Magento, OpenCart, and PrestaShop, and customer relationship management (CRM) software like SugarCRM and vTiger.

In addition, Plesk gives users the ability to block applications that they might not want their clients to utilize. Customers will, therefore, only have access to applications that are pertinent to the service for which they have paid. In the event that a client pays for managed WordPress hosting, for instance, it is possible that you will be required to stop any other applications that are not pertinent to the service.

Migration of people

The ability to move websites or web applications from other web hosting control panels is one of the features offered by Plesk. The migration of websites from one Plesk installation on a virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated server to another is another option for users. Take a look at our detailed guide that will teach you how to migrate from Plesk to Plesk.

Various Safety Measures

Plesk is equipped with a number of security features, such as SSL Certificates, an integrated firewall, virus scanning, data backup, brute force protection, a password policy, and two-factor authentication. In order to ensure the safety of your servers and all of the apps that are installed on them, these characteristics are very necessary.

Functionality of eCommerce

Plesk comes equipped with a number of built-in eCommerce functions, such as the integration of payment gateways, product management, shopping cart setup, and customer order management. Users are able to easily manage and expand their eCommerce websites with the help of these functionality capabilities.

Management of the Customers

Additionally, Plesk provides its users with a customer interface that enables them to get assistance, manage their accounts, and purchase extra services that they might potentially require. The workload of the administrators is reduced as a result of this because clients are able to complete the majority of the chores on their own.

Toolkits for Self-Repair

In recent times, Plesk has introduced a number of new features, and this is one of them. Users are able to use command-line and graphical user interface-based tools to correct faults or any other problems that are affecting their servers.

The Plesk Advisor

Users are able to monitor and optimize the performance of their servers with the assistance of this program. In order to optimize their server for the best speed, stability, and security, users are guided through a variety of activities that can be taken by the Plesk Advisor. Additionally, customers are able to check their ratings for a variety of parameters, which enables them to find areas in which they may improve.

Extensions Plesk offers more than 150 extensions that customers can install on their websites or web applications in order to improve the capabilities and functioning of those websites or applications. There are a variety of helpful apps available in the Plesk extensions shop, such as antivirus software, an SEO toolkit, a backup manager, a server health monitor, a resource consumption meter, interaction with CloudFare, and more. Putting all of these in place requires only a few clicks of the mouse.

Analytical Reports and Reports

Users have the ability to monitor the real-time performance of their website or web application by utilizing Plesk Reports and Analytics, which enables them to make decisions based on accurate information. Within the Reports and Analytics dashboard, customers have the ability to view metrics such as performance, traffic, and resource utilization metrics. Additionally, Plesk displays these indicators in a visual way that is not overly complicated to understand whatsoever.

Administration of Applications

Users are able to successfully install and administer programs on their server with the assistance of this functionality. For instance, users can save time by installing applications like blogs, forums, and e-commerce websites with just a few clicks when they use the internet.

If you are concerned about the performance of your website and the quality of the user experience, it should be a no-brainer for you to choose to Supercharge Your Hosting with Plesk because of all the features and capabilities that it possesses.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, Plesk is an all-encompassing server control panel that comes equipped with a variety of features and effective tools for the management of your web applications, websites, and servers. The plain and user-friendly interface of this software makes it simple to carry out duties related to website and server management. These tasks include the creation and management of email accounts, the installation of SSL certificates, performance monitoring, and the creation of backups, among other things.

Users are able to secure their websites and applications from a variety of cyber dangers by utilizing Plesk's fundamental security tools, which include an integrated firewall, malware scanning, and a password policy. In addition, we discovered that Plesk provides users with a number of extensions that they may utilize to further increase the capabilities and functionality of their Plesk control panel.

Plesk is an all-in-one solution that website owners, managers, and developers may use to successfully manage their servers and websites. In general, Plesk is a solution that can improve website management. It is also reasonably priced in comparison to other systems that offer capabilities that are comparable.

Plesk is available on Virtual Private Servers (VPS) Hosting, Cloud Dedicated Servers, and Dedicated Servers from Dollar2host. In addition, there are alternatives available for Linux and Windows. To determine which option is best for you, please get in touch with our sales staff.

Mary Thomas

Dollar2host

[email protected]

Dollar2host.com

We provide expert Webhosting services for your desired needs

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blogginghere1 · 4 years ago

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Linux Reseller Hosting: All You Need to Know

Web hosting has changed a lot over the last couple of years, which truly applies to reseller hosting.

Reseller hosting allows the host to rent resources from a parent hosting company and then rent out these resources to other users.

These resources are primarily in the form of bandwidth, space, RAM, and CPU.

A reseller hosting business is highly profitable in the current market. It involves low investment costs and high-income opportunities. Plus, you need not have in-depth technical knowledge to start this business.

Thus indeed, it's super lucrative.

If you choose to get into the reseller hosting business, you will face two popular choices, Linux Reseller Hosting and Windows Reseller Hosting.

Though both of these hosting platforms have a lot of similarities, each has its distinct advantages.

So before you make any decision, you need to choose between Windows and Linux.

In this piece, we will focus on the latter.

Understanding the Basics

Linux OS features optimal speed and performance. Plus, this OS is compatible with PHP and MYSQL.

If you have done your research, you know that both the hardware and software of Linux are incredibly reliable.

Besides all these "unputdownable" features, Linux hosting services come hand-tied with multiple benefits:

State of the art data security

While conducting an online business over an extensive network, you need security layers to protect your business against security breaches. This is fundamental for all upgraded technology.

Linux meets security requirements very well with its advanced data security and includes SSL certificates. Plus, it features Denial of service attack protection and added in-built firewall.

2 Compatibility

This is one of the essential features you must look into while deciding on the best hosting plan. While choosing any hosting, ensure that it is compatible with multiple other software and applications. Linux offers noteworthy compatibility. The Linux environment is consistent with varied applications. Thus you can enjoy hosting it.

3 Control and customization

If you want to customize your site or enjoy admin access, Linux should be your number one choice. Though Windows too offers customization options, Linux provides more features. It's perfect for admins or developers who require more control. One of its mention-worthy features is its cPanel. With this, you can better control your website, all thanks to Linux.

Besides control, it helps with site maintenance, management of disk space, and regular backup without any help from any trained administrator.

Overall the Linux Reseller Hosting is an extremely cost-effective solution.

Linux has an icon-based control panel that makes it super easy to set up a website. With this, you can easily install the applications you want with just a few clicks. Plus, you get to manage more than one domain, create databases for your site, and email accounts for business reasons.

4 Stability

Linux Reseller Hosting services have gained popularity for the stability they offer to the users. Since it's an open-source OS, it adapts quickly to any environment and can thus be developed and updated frequently.

Linux Reseller Services offers these benefits and many more. However, make sure to check out reliable sites like MyResellerHome for you to take your call.

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williamlwolf89 · 5 years ago

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WordPress Hosting: A Brutally Honest Guide (to Save You $)

This is painful to say, but…

Most of what’s published out there about WordPress hosting is total crap.

Not just incomplete information. Not just half-truths.

I’m talking outright lies and boldfaced scams.

You can’t even get straightforward answers to basic questions like…

Should you go to the trouble of setting up a WordPress site or just start a blog for free on Medium?

Which company is good? Who can you trust?

Are there any decent free WordPress hosting services?

What’s the difference between all the different options?

It’s infuriating, but listen…

I make money blogging because I have built and run some of the most popular blogs in the world, scaling them from nothing to millions of visitors per month. During that process, I learned a lot of valuable lessons — often the hard way — about what makes a good WordPress host.

And today, I’m publishing the guide I wish somebody had given me.

It’s brutally honest. It’s full of technical details (that I do my best to explain). It’ll also save you tons of time and money.

The Different Levels of WordPress Hosting Plans

To start, here’s an infographic explaining the typical path most bloggers take:

They start with a shared hosting plan, and then they grow to a Virtual Private Server, and then they grow to a Dedicated Server.

Wondering how that applies to you?

Here’s the short answer:

TLDR: The Best WordPress Hosting Right Now (In My Opinion)

If you’re under 100,000 visitors per month, don’t torture yourself by getting a VPS or dedicated server. Just grab a cheap, no-frills shared hosting account and install WordPress. Most hosting providers these days offer one-click WordPress installation, which makes the whole process a breeze.

Is it the best WordPress hosting in the world?

No, but it’s way better value than the alternatives. Here’s a pricing comparison:

The more expensive things get, the more complicated and frustrating it gets too. You’ve never experienced misery until you try to optimize a dedicated server for the first time.

My advice?

Keep it simple and cheap. Use a shared host.

Now, that begs the question…

What’s the Most Cost-Effective Hosting for WordPress?

Personally, I use SiteGround (affiliate link) for all my new WordPress websites. Here’s why:

It’s the best balance I’ve found of quality and price. You can find cheaper hosts, but you can’t find anyone cheap that’s as good as them.

They are optimized for WordPress. The load times for your site will be faster there than on many hosts

I use them personally to host most of our sites, and both their servers and support have always been excellent.

That being said, I’ll be straight with you…

SiteGround isn’t the only great host in the world. They’re just the one I personally use and recommend to our 3+ million readers. I wouldn’t endorse them publicly without having a lot of confidence in them.

But there other good companies with a different approach.

Who Is the Best WordPress Host, Regardless of Price?

WP Engine (affiliate) has an impeccable reputation for flawless hosting, high performance, great uptime, and a dynamite support team. In my opinion, there’s no question they are better than SiteGround, but they are also 10X more expensive.

Is it worth it?

If you want a managed WordPress host that can take unlimited traffic, offer perks like site migration and WordPress staging, and has WordPress experts standing by to help you with pretty much anything you need (plus you’re hosting an e-commerce website with a significant budget), maybe it’s worth the extra cost.

Quite a few big blogs host with them, and they believe it’s worth every penny.

I’ve also been to their offices in downtown Austin and met with the executive team. It’s a solid company that’ll be around for years to come.

The bottom line:

If you want to skip the rest of this post and just choose a host, go with SiteGround (affiliate link) if you have a small budget and WP Engine (affiliate) if you have a large one. You won’t regret going with other company.

Before you choose any WordPress host though, here’s an important point you should understand:

Most Reviews Are Bought and Paid for

Pretty much every blogger making a hosting recommendation is getting compensated by the host. And yes, that includes me.

The difference?

I’m not hiding anything. I’m proud of the partnerships I have with SiteGround (affiliate link) and WP Engine (affiliate), because I have personal experience with both companies, many of my students are customers, and they treat everyone extremely well. I would happily recommend them even if they weren’t paying me a penny.

And that’s NOT true for other bloggers.

Most don’t even use the host they are recommending. In my opinion, that’s just unethical.

Especially when it comes to one particular company…

Many Hosts are Owned by the Same Terrible Company

Do any of these sound familiar?

2slick.com AccountSupport A Small Orange ApolloHosting AptHost Arvixe Berry Information Systems BigRock BizLand BlueDomino BlueFur Bluehost BuyDomains Cirtex Hosting Cloud by IX Constant Contact Directi Dollar2Host Domain.com DomainHost Dot5Hosting Dotster easyCGI eHost EntryHost Escalate Internet FastDomain FatCow FreeYellow Glob@t Homestead HostCentric HostClear Host Excellence HostGator HostMonster HostNine HostYourSite.com HostV HyperMart IdeaHost IMOutdoors Impress.ly Intuit Websites iPage IPOWER/iPowerWeb IX Web Hosting JustCloud JustHost LogicBoxes MojoMarketplace MyDomain MyResellerHome NetFirms Networks Web Hosting Nexx PowWeb PureHost ReadyHosting ResellerClub SEOGears SEO Hosting Site5 SiteBuilder.com Sitelio Sitey Southeast Web Spry StartLogic SuperGreen Hosting TypePad USANetHosting vDeck Verio VirtualAvenue VPSLink WebHost4Life WebHosting.info WebsiteBuilder.com Webstrike Solutions Webzai World Wide Web Hosting Xeran YourWebHosting

Ever heard of Bluehost?

Or maybe Hostgator?

Both hosts are owned by a conglomerate called Endurance International Group (EIG). In fact, EIG runs most of the big hosting companies, and it continues to buy new ones all the time.

So what makes them so awful?

After they purchase a host, they lay off support staff, stop investing in new technology, and funnel the money into increased advertising and payouts to shareholders. Sure, they usually try to entice customers by offering perks such as free domain names or unlimited websites, but these relatively small perk aren’t worth it. In every case, the reputation of the host plummets.

Of course, you might be wondering how you find out if they own your host. Or for that matter, how do you know if your host is a good one if nearly every review is bought and paid for?

The answer:

The Best Way to Get Unbiased Reviews

Web Hosting Talk is the biggest forum on the web about hosting platforms, and it has literally millions of hosting reviews. They don’t allow affiliate links either, so you can count on the reviews to be unbiased.

Granted, every host — be it SiteGround or WPEngine, DreamHost or A2 Hosting, GoDaddy or InMotion hosting, or one of the less-than-ideal hosts mentioned above — gets a bad review now and again, but you can comb through dozens of reports to get a much better feel for the reputation of the host, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

Also, here’s a little hack to save you some time…

Instead of using the search tool built into their forum, which can be a little clunky, grab the URL of the forum you want to search, and then put the following in Google:

site:URL “host name”

For example, if you wanted to verify the reputation of SiteGround (affiliate link), you can go to their list of forums, right click on the one that seems most appropriate, and copy the link:

From there, use the search parameter above in Google. In this case, it would be:

site:http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1 “SiteGround”

And voilà, you have a listing of reviews you can easily look through for reliable information.

In particular, here’s the biggest factor that should influence your decision:

How to Evaluate Customer Support

Customer support. When you’re a beginner or small business, it’s more important than anything.

No surprise there, right?

But here’s the big lesson…

It’s not just about wait times or the intelligence of the technicians. It’s also about the method of support, what the host supports, and the helpdesk schedule.

For instance:

Do you have to submit tickets through their helpdesk and wait for a response, or can you do a live chat or phone call with a technician and actually have a conversation?

Do they offer WordPress support, including the most popular WordPress themes and plug-ins? It’s shocking, but unless they specifically mention it, many don’t.

Do they offer support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or is it only during normal business hours?

Do they do daily backups?

Personally, I want a host with technicians I can interact with in real time (either through phone or chat), have a thorough knowledge of WordPress.org, and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And that’s actually relatively difficult to find at an affordable price.

That’s why I think SiteGround (affiliate link) is the best host for most beginners. They give you all those things for an entire year for less than the cost of a dinner at a nice restaurant.

And here’s what’s even cooler…

Their servers are also configured especially for WordPress. Let’s talk about that next.

The Configuration Matters More Than Tech

Chances are, you’ve seen a hosting package that looks something like this:

Almost like a foreign language, right? Disk space, RAM, page views, MySQL, cPanel (control panel), data centers, unlimited email accounts, SFTP, WooCommerce, downtime, CMS, WP-CLI, Git integration, add-ons, SSDs — what’s it all mean? And for that matter, how are you supposed to know which hosting plan is right for you?

Actually… you don’t have to. If you’re running a relatively simple WordPress site, none of those technical details matter much. You can ignore them.

Here’s proof:

In 2012, a fellow named Ewen Leith managed to get a $15 server to run a WordPress site receiving 10 million hits a day.

Granted, it was an extremely simple site using a set up that would be tough for a novice to manage, but it’s still proof the configuration of your web host matters much more than having high-end hardware or a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) like Cloudflare.

That’s another reason why I recommend SiteGround (affiliate link) – their servers are configured specifically for WordPress. Your site will be able to handle far more traffic with far fewer resources. Over the long term, it translates into significant savings, because you have to upgrade less often.

Granted, SiteGround isn’t the only host who does this. If you decide to search for someone else, here’s what to look for:

Litespeed or Apache NGINX

Database caching through Memcached

Support for PHP version 7 and HTTP/2

RAM, SSD storage, bandwidth — for a normal WordPress site, none of those specs really matter much. Ignore them and focus on the three above details.

But, also remember:

Installing Too Many Plugins Can Mess up Any WordPress Host

So, you found a host that’s perfectly optimized for WordPress. Your site should be nice and zippy, right?

Actually… not necessarily.

If you install too many WordPress plugins (or even just one really bad one), you can slow down your site or even cause your host to cancel your account. It’s the most common source of problems. (Plus, an out-of-date plugin can make your site vulnerable to malware and other attacks, so the more you have, the greater your risk.)

So, how do you know which plugins to install and which ones to avoid?

The short answer: install as few as possible, and if you ever have problems with your site, the first thing you should always do is try deactivating plugins. For a detailed answer, take a look at our post on essential WordPress plug-ins.

Make Sure You Get a Free SSL Certificate

Ever since Google announced that having an SSL certificate is now a ranking factor, it’s become essential for you to have one if you’re serious about your content being seen in search engines.

What’s an SSL certificate?

It’s an extra layer of security and reporting around the safety of your WordPress website. Any site using SSL will have the prefix “https” in the URL.

In the past, you had to pay a yearly fee to register your SSL certificate, but most of the top web hosting services are now offering one for free via services like Let’s Encrypt. You should take advantage of that savings and have your site on https from day one.

The 7 Things That Really Matter When Choosing the Best WordPress Host

By this point, I wouldn’t blame you if your head is spinning.

We’ve covered a lot of technical details in this post, so I thought I would conclude with a quick checklist to help you choose the best WordPress host for you. Here are the seven most important things to remember:

Unless your site is massive, you don’t need a VPS or dedicated server. Stick with shared WordPress hosting.

For the love of God, avoid any hosting company owned by EIG.

When evaluating customer support, look for 24/7 live chat and/or phone support.

The configuration of your web host matters more than the technical specs

Go easy on the WordPress plugins. They can slow down your site.

You should expect to get a free SSL certificate. Use it.

If you’re tired of thinking about all this stuff, go with a managed WordPress hosting solution like SiteGround (cheap but good) or WP Engine (premium). SiteGround offers a hassle-free, 30-day money-back guarantee, and WP Engine offers 60 days for new customers.

Follow those recommendations, and you’ll save yourself tons of time, money, and headaches. I speak from experience.

Ultimately though, the decision is yours. Choose wisely, my friend.

The post WordPress Hosting: A Brutally Honest Guide (to Save You $) appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/wordpress-hosting/

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laurylyonus · 7 years ago

Text

WordPress Hosting: A Brutally Honest Guide That’ll Save You Money

This is painful to say, but…

Most of what’s published out there about WordPress hosting is total BS.

Not just incomplete information. Not just half-truths.

I’m talking outright lies and boldfaced scams.

You can’t even get straightforward answers to basic questions like…

Should you go to the trouble of setting up a WordPress site or just start a blog for free on Medium?

Which company is good? Who can you trust?

What’s the difference between all the different options?

It’s infuriating, but listen…

I’ve helped build and run some of the most popular blogs in the world, scaling them from nothing to millions of visitors per month. During that process, I learned a lot of valuable lessons — often the hard way — about what makes a good WordPress host.

And today, I’m publishing the guide I wish somebody had given me.

It’s brutally honest. It’s full of technical details (that I do my best to explain). It’ll also save you tons of time and money.

The Different Levels of WordPress Hosting

To start, here’s an infographic explaining the typical path most bloggers take:

They start with a shared host, and then they grow to a Virtual Private Server, and then they grow to a Dedicated Server.

Wondering how that applies to you?

Here’s the short answer:

TLDR: The Best WordPress Hosting Right Now (In My Opinion)

If you’re under 100,000 visitors per month, don’t torture yourself by getting a VPS or dedicated server. Just grab a cheap, no-frills shared hosting account.

Is it the best hosting in the world?

No, but it’s way better value than the alternatives. Here’s a pricing comparison:

The more expensive things get, the more complicated and frustrating it gets too. You’ve never experienced misery until you try to optimize a dedicated server for the first time.

My advice?

Keep it simple and cheap. Use a shared host.

Now, that begs the question…

What’s the Most Cost-Effective Hosting for WordPress?

Personally, I use SiteGround (affiliate link) for all my new sites. Here’s why:

It’s the best balance I’ve found of quality and price. You can find cheaper hosts, but you can’t find anyone cheap that’s as good as them.

They are optimized for WordPress. Your site will run faster there than on many hosts.

I use them personally to host most of our sites, and both their servers and support have always been excellent.

That being said, I’ll be straight with you…

SiteGround isn’t the only great host in the world. They’re just the one I personally use and recommend to our 2.6 million readers. I wouldn’t endorse them publicly without having a lot of confidence in them.

But there other good companies with a different approach.

Who Is the Best WordPress Host, Regardless of Price?

WP Engine (affiliate) has an impeccable reputation for flawless hosting and support. In my opinion, there’s no question they are better than SiteGround, but they are also 10X more expensive.

Is it worth it?

If you want a host that can take unlimited traffic and has WordPress experts standing by to help you with pretty much anything you need, plus you’re hosting a business website with a significant budget, maybe it’s worth the extra cost. Quite a few big blogs host with them, and they believe it’s worth every penny.

I’ve also been to their offices in downtown Austin and met with the executive team. It’s a solid company that’ll be around for years to come.

The bottom line:

Before you choose any WordPress host though, here’s an important point you should understand:

Most Reviews Are Bought and Paid for

Pretty much every blogger making a hosting recommendation is getting compensated by the host. And yes, that includes me.

The difference?

And that’s NOT true for other bloggers.

Most don’t even use the host they are recommending. In my opinion, that’s just unethical.

Especially when it comes to one particular company…

Many Hosts are Owned by the Same Terrible Company

2slick.com FreeYellow PowWeb AccountSupport Glob@t PureHost A Small Orange Homestead ReadyHosting ApolloHosting HostCentric ResellerClub AptHost HostClear SEOGears Arvixe Host Excellence SEO Hosting Berry Information Systems HostGator Site5 BigRock HostMonster SiteBuilder.com BizLand HostNine Sitelio BlueDomino HostYourSite.com Sitey BlueFur HostV Southeast Web BlueHost HyperMart Spry BuyDomains IdeaHost StartLogic Cirtex Hosting IMOutdoors SuperGreen Hosting Cloud by IX Impress.ly TypePad Constant Contact Intuit Websites USANetHosting Directi iPage vDeck Dollar2Host IPOWER/iPowerWeb Verio Domain.com IX Web Hosting VirtualAvenue DomainHost JustCloud VPSLink Dot5Hosting JustHost WebHost4Life Dotster LogicBoxes WebHosting.info easyCGI MojoMarketplace WebsiteBuilder.com eHost MyDomain Webstrike Solutions EntryHost MyResellerHome Webzai Escalate Internet NetFirms World Wide Web Hosting FastDomain Networks Web Hosting Xeran FatCow Nexx YourWebHosting

Ever heard of Bluehost?

Or maybe Hostgator?

Both hosts are owned by a conglomerate called Endurance International Group (EIG). In fact, EIG runs most of the big hosting companies, and it continues to buy new ones all the time.

So what makes them so awful?

After they purchase a host, they lay off support staff, stop investing in new technology, and funnel the money into increased advertising and payouts to shareholders. In every case, the reputation of the host plummets.

Of course, you might be wondering how you find out if they own your host. Or for that matter, how do you know if your host is a good one if nearly every review is bought and paid for?

The answer:

The Best Way to Get Unbiased Reviews

Web Hosting Talk is the biggest forum on the web about hosting, and it has literally millions of reviews. They don’t allow affiliate links either, so you can count on the reviews to be unbiased.

Granted, every host gets a bad review now and again, but you can comb through dozens of reports to get a much better feel for the reputation of the host, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

Also, here’s a little hack to save you some time…

Instead of using the search tool built into their forum, which can be a little clunky, grab the URL of the forum you want to search, and then put the following in Google:

site:URL “host name”

For example, if you wanted to verify the reputation of SiteGround (affiliate link), you can go to their list of forums, right click on the one that seems most appropriate, and copy the link:

From there, use the search parameter above in Google. In this case, it would be:

site:http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1 “SiteGround”

And voilà, you have a listing of reviews you can easily look through for reliable information.

In particular, here’s the biggest factor that should influence your decision:

How to Evaluate Customer Support

Customer support. When you’re a beginner, it’s more important than anything.

No surprise there, right?

But here’s the big lesson…

It’s not just about wait times or the intelligence of the technicians. It’s also about the method of support, what the host supports, and the helpdesk schedule.

For instance:

Do you have to submit tickets through their helpdesk and wait for a response, or can you do a live chat or phone call with a technician and actually have a conversation?

Do they offer support for WordPress and the most popular themes and plug-ins? It’s shocking, but unless they specifically mention it, many don’t.

Do they offer support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or is it only during normal business hours?

Personally, I want a host with technicians I can interact with in real time (either through phone or chat), have a thorough knowledge of WordPress, and are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And that’s actually relatively difficult to find at an affordable price.

That’s why I think SiteGround (affiliate link) is the best host for most beginners. They give you all those things for an entire year for less than the cost of a dinner at a nice restaurant.

And here’s what’s even cooler…

Their servers are also configured especially for WordPress. Let’s talk about that next.

The Configuration Matters More Than Tech

Chances are, you’ve seen a page on a hosting website that looks something like this:

Almost like a foreign language, right? Disk space, RAM, page views, uniques, SSDs — what’s it all mean? And for that matter, how are you supposed to know which plan is right for you?

Actually… you don’t have to. If you’re running a relatively simple WordPress site, none of those technical details matter much. You can ignore them.

Here’s proof:

In 2012, a fellow named Ewen Leith managed to get a $15 server to run a WordPress site receiving 10 million hits a day. Granted, it was an extremely simple site using a set up that would be tough for a novice to manage, but it’s still proof the configuration of your web host matters much more than having high-end hardware.

Granted, SiteGround isn’t the only host who does this. If you decide to search for someone else, here’s what to look for:

Litespeed or Apache NGINX

Database caching through Memcached

Support for PHP 7 and HTTP/2

RAM, SSD space, bandwidth — for a normal WordPress site, none of those specs really matter much. Ignore them and focus on the three above details.

Installing Too Many Plugins Can Mess up Any WordPress Host

So, you found a host that’s perfectly optimized for WordPress. Your site should be nice and zippy, right?

Actually… not necessarily.

If you install too many WordPress plugins (or even just one really bad one), you can slow down your site or even cause your host to cancel your account. It’s the most common source of problems.

So,how do you know which plugins to install and which ones to avoid?

Make Sure You Get a Free SSL Certificate

Ever since Google announced that having an SSL certificate is now a ranking factor, it’s become essential for you to have one.

What’s an SSL certificate?

It’s an extra layer of security and reporting around the safety of your website. Any site using SSL will have the prefix “https” in the URL.

In the past, you had to pay a yearly fee to register your SSL certificate, but most of the top web posts are now offering one for free. You should take advantage of that savings and have your site on https from day one.

The 7 Things That Really Matter When Choosing the Best WordPress Host

By this point, I wouldn’t blame you if your head is spinning.

Unless your site is massive, you don’t need a VPS or dedicated server. Stick with a shared host.

For the love of God, avoid any hosting company owned by EIG.

When evaluating customer support, look for 24/7 live chat and/or phone support.

The configuration of your web host matters more than the technical specs

Go easy on the WordPress plugins. They can slow down your site.

You should expect to get a free SSL certificate. Use it.

If you’re tired of thinking about all this stuff, go with either SiteGround (affiliate link) (cheap but good) or WP Engine (affiliate) (premium).

Follow those recommendations, and you’ll save yourself tons of time, money, and headaches. I speak from experience.

Ultimately though, the decision is yours. Choose wisely, my friend.

About the Author: Jon Morrow has asked repeatedly to be called “His Royal Awesomeness” but no one listens to him. So, he settles for CEO of Smart Blogger. Poor man. 🙂

The post WordPress Hosting: A Brutally Honest Guide That’ll Save You Money appeared first on Smart Blogger.

from SEO and SM Tips https://smartblogger.com/wordpress-hosting/

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stevenshartus · 7 years ago