27 Nov WP 101: What Is WordPress Hosting & How Does it Help?
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What is WordPress and WordPress hosting?
WordPress hosting is one of the most important components of a successful website. WordPress is a CMR (Content Management System), which is actually an application that simplifies the complicated process of styling, as well as managing and publishing content on the web. WordPress is made of various interacting parts, and it’s written in a programming language, which is called PHP. PHP scripts, along with the traditional languages of the platform (HTML, JavaScript and CSS) combined make the application known as WordPress.
The WP application depends on many components. The most important component is a PHP interpreter that needs to run the PHP code, and generate web pages which a web browser will be able to understand. WP also requires a web server, such as Apache, to be able to answer requests from the web browser, a particular database so it can store information (like the site’s content and user information), and other components, such as an image manipulation library.
All of these components run on an operating system, which is an enormously software machine made of different moving parts. This operating system runs on a server. In order to connect online, the server has a network interface that connects it to a network, which is then connected online via one or several bandwidth providers.
All of this information might sound complex, and that is because it is. The great thing is that most of the time, WP users don’t have to worry about any of this. A web hosting company is there to take care of these details. You only need to deploy WP on a web hosting account, and manage it through its built in interface.
What is actually a WordPress hosting?
Any server with the components mentioned above is capable of supporting a WP website, but there are many different ways to configure a server and the software it runs. For example, a web host which is not specialized will optimize their servers only for the general case, or even not at all. A WP host optimizes specifically for WordPress.
Web hosting is one of the most important components for a successful website. Choosing the right web host for your site may improve your SEO and increase sales as well. There are so many different types of WordPress hosting options available, such as free hosting, shared, dedicated, as well as managed WordPress hosting.
There are various things you need to consider when choosing a hosting for your website, such as speed, security and reliability. However, before purchasing a web hosting, you need to evaluate your needs in order to choose the right one.
- Free web hosting is often offered in different online forums. This type of hosting is usually managed by an individual, who is actually reselling a small part of his server space. There is usually a catch with this type of hosting, and in most cases you’ll need to put the individual’s banner ads on your site, or in some cases they may ask you to out a text link in the footer of your site.
- Shared web hosting is the most popular type of WordPress hosting for beginners used worldwide. It is the most affordable hosting for new users. Shared web hosting is actually a large server shared by many sides.
- WordPress VPS hosting is best for different medium sized businesses, aspiring developers or designers and high traffic blogs. This is actually a method of partitioning a physical server computer into various multiple servers with respects to the customer’s needs.
- WP dedicated server hosting is a physical server which you can lease from the hosting provider. This allows you to have absolute control over the server, including the choice of hardware, operating system etc. You don’t need a dedicated server hosting if you are a beginner. You may consider this option when your site will start receiving a significant amount of traffic.
- An account with a Managed WP hosting provider allows you to only host a WP based website, and nothing else. The best thing about this type of hosting is that you don’t need to worry about anything, as they take care of everything (performance, security, regular backups).
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You have many different web hosting to choose from, such as Bluehost, HostGator, SiteGround, InMotion Hosting, DreamHost, and many more. Do a research on what every hosting has to offer, and choose the perfect one for your site as per your needs.
Thank you for reading this article. If you have any additional questions regarding web hosting, do not hesitate do ask below in comments, and we will do our best to help you in any way we can.
Robby Longin
Posted at 10:06h, 18 JulyHello. If i have a host do I still need to pay for a subscription from WordPress itself?