5 Points to Check Your WordPress Site's Hosting Provider
Don’t worry — this short post should clear up some of the confusion. I’ll show you how to find the answer to that all-important question in just a few easy steps. And then I’ll tell you why knowing this detail matters so much for your cybersecurity.
Here we go!
Find the WordPress Address Line
First, look at your site’s address line. If you used a custom domain name when you signed up for hosting, that might be the only piece of information you need. Here’s an example: https://www.wordpress.org/blog
If you’re using a free domain name like WordPress.com instead of a custom domain name, your address line might just have your blog’s title and the provider’s logo. Here’s an example: https://example.wordpress.com/
If your blog’s address line shows your provider’s name, you know you’re dealing with a WordPress.com site. And if it doesn’t, you’re probably using a self-hosted site (meaning the domain is yours). In that case, keep reading!
Free Domain or Custom Domain?
If your web host gives you a choice between using a free domain name provided by the host or using a custom domain name of your own choosing, I recommend going with the custom domain — and that goes for most people doing business online. Here’s why: The main benefit of a custom domain is that it better reflects who you are and what you do in the outside world. It’s not just a bunch of numbers and symbols like you have to deal with free domain names. You can also easily use it on social media. And because it’s yours and you can change anything you like, it makes the website more personal — giving visitors a better idea of who they’re dealing with. That one-to-one relationship makes your site more reliable. If you host with WordPress, the benefits don’t stop there: WordPress is the top blogging platform in the world and it has built-in protection against hackers and malware (a lot of people think that if they are using WordPress, their blog is safe from hackers).
Related Post: How to Buy a Good Quality Domain and Hosting?
Choosing the right WordPress host is choosing between a wide variety of options. Many companies claim to offer flawless uptime, unlimited bandwidth, and reliability. That’s not entirely true!
Every host will have their own highs and lows, with no one being perfect. The most important thing is to know exactly what your site needs before shopping around for a new host. This article will list the top 14 things to consider when choosing your WordPress host.
Uptime
Uptime is the amount of time your site will be available for use, or “up,” and several factors can affect it. The most common problem with uptime is an overload on your web server which causes it to crash and go offline. This is usually caused by a spike in traffic or other environmental factors, like power outages. I recommend choosing a host that has at least 99% uptime; you’d be surprised how many hosts don’t even have that! For example, HostGator has an uptime of 99.99% and Bluehost has an uptime of 99.9%. If you’re paying for a relatively small amount of bandwidth, it’s even more important to ensure your site is always available. There have been several cases where sites have disappeared completely, leaving the client with no hosting service at all!
Hotels.com 89% uptime MyLodgingPortal.com 87% uptime
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is the amount of data your website will receive. It’s not bad if your site is receiving more data than it needs, but the opposite can also be true. Some websites automatically throttle bandwidth to save server resources. If you’re getting more bandwidth than you need, try asking your hosting provider to enable burst mode; this provides bursts of fast speed that don’t eat up resources. Another way to manage bandwidth is to choose a host with advanced caching options and lots of disk space for storing files.
The more bandwidth you have, the faster your website will load.
Camping world 88% uptime Camping world 88% uptime Camping World 88% uptime
Site Speed
Everyone has a different idea of what speed is and it’s up to you to decide. Usually, you’ll only see site speed when loading your site in a browser, don’t worry if it seems slow at first, just give it time and it should speed up as traffic increases! Site speed is also affected by the amount of content on your site, so make sure the hosting company can handle that load before choosing them as your host!
Backup Time
Backup time is the amount of time it takes to create a backup of your site in case of failure. Most hosts offer at least a daily backup and some offer even more! I also recommend using an online tool from your host to keep an eye on the current backup status, like cPanel’s Status Bar or Site Ground’s Backup Checker.
WordPress blog 68% uptime Award Sites 82% uptime
Customer Support
Customer support is just as important as your other services, if not more important! You can’t be expected to know everything about hosting and WordPress on your own. A good host will have plenty of methods of communication to reach them, like phone, email, chat, and even video chat.
I hope this article has given you a few ideas on what you should look for in a new host. If you’d like to learn more about WordPress Hosting, please visit my other posts on this blog site.
