If you are planning to start a new blog, the first decision you need to make is about hosting.
Do you want a self-hosted blog or you want to use any of the free platforms like out there like WordPress.com?
You can do a lot of thinking for this but at the end its boils down to, if you are blogging as a hobby or are you serious about it.
If you are serious about it, you will be looking for a self-hosted blog.
And here you will be greeted with another important decision – What kind of hosting should you get?
For a novice, it can be really a daunting task to figure out which one works best for you. For a long time, I have been an advocate of using shared-hosting to start a new blog.
If you are just starting out, and this is your first blog, shared hosting provides a cost effective way to test and see if you can actually sustain your blogging enthusiasm.
If down the line you feel that this is not your cup of tea, you will not lose much. You always have an option to upgrade your plan to a VPS or dedicated server in case you need it.
We are now at the middle of 2017, most people are talking about mobile apps, PAAS, IAAS, SAAS. Do you still think that shared hosting has the same value?
Lets take a look at some of the hosting solutions and options available for your new blog:
Shared Hosting
This was my preferred way to start a blog till now. Most of the hosting provider offer shared hosting.
A single server is shared between multiple accounts, though you will not know your neighbors. Some hosting providers even allow multiple sites in a single account. Typically these are the cheapest options available running around $5 a month. You can get 30-35% discount if you decide to signup for longer terms. But if you have ever used a shared hosting, you might know the pain associated with them.
For starters they are certainly not the fastest servers around! Also, if there is one bad neighbor sharing the server with your blog — the party is spoiled for everyone. Page speed is one of the most important criteria for Google as customers are not ready to wait too long and shared hosting takes a hit in this area.
You still need to know about WordPress management and backend installation. Most of the hosting provider provide a simplified installation tools to handle that.
WordPress Managed Hosting
There are more and more hosting providers who have started to offer WordPress Managed Hosting. Ms. Ileane is currently using Site-Ground for this and she recommends them highly. (aff. link)Â
Get more information:Â SiteGround Anti-Bot Protection, SEO Ranking Factor Quiz, Future of Site Ownership Replay
StudioPress and some other vendors take it up a notch by offering all-in-one packages including paid themes and plugins, so that bloggers can focus on content writing.
There are some providers offering shared hosting but with a commitment that the only CMS running on those servers will be WordPress. They will also manage WordPress installation including some standard plugins. They also prevent use of the plugins that are known to wreak havoc on WordPress blogs. Automatic WordPress updates and warnings about outdated plugins can be a life-saver and really help you keep the security tight. These providers try to make sure that each server is tuned to WordPress requirements which might reduce the chances of you getting stuck with bad neighbors.
These all in one solutions can be little costly for a new bloggers, but if you have a budget and you don't want to spend time on setting things up, these can be good solutions to explore.
VPS or Dedicated Servers
Virtual private servers (VPS) or dedicated servers are another hosting solution where the server is only used for your site.
Most of the providers offer multiple site installation on a single VPS or dedicated server. VPS (like what you can get with Liquid Web for example) is still a shared hardware with restricted boundaries, so bad neighbors will not affect your installation. A dedicated server is a most costly option as it reserves the hardware for your use and you have to manage everything in there.
These are expensive options and you should invest only if you also intend to invest significant effort towards your blog or if you have a plan to monetize it.
Even if you have the budget to invest, there is a always a good chance that it will be underused at the start of the blog. Traffic generation takes some time and blogs usually grows organically, which means if you take high end server, you will end up wasting lot of money at the start.
Cloud Hosting
This is the latest hosting solutions offered by companies like Microsoft, Google or Amazon. Most of the solutions provide the flexibility in terms of pricing with an assurance to handle any huge surge in your blog traffic. Several cloud solutions offer pay per use charging model, so you end up paying the amount based on the usage and your blog is able to handle significant traffic.
Now this is a major concern for many bloggers as this is a very open-ended pricing model. You don't know your expense at the start. Also technical expertise is needed to manage the infrastructure.
Amazon has changed this now with their Lightsail service. Lightsail service is targeted for people who wants close ended pricing with the ability to handle surge in traffic.
What is Lightsail? – Lightsail is the implementation of Amazon EC2 technology of implementing virtual private server on demand basis with a fixed cost and resources.
They have plans starting at $5, which provides 1TB of bandwidth and 20GB of SSD storage. That should be more than sufficient for any starter blog.
Also most of the web application including WordPress can be installed easily on Lightsail.
Once the traffic starts coming in, you can keep the same server and pay for any extra outgoing data or have an easy way to upgrade to higher plan.
Not only that, Lightsail has included Static IP Address, DNS management, Backup and Recovery in the same plan. So you don't need to spend anything extra for those services. This plan has become one of my preferred hosting solution for new blogs because it offers the flexibility of VPS on a shared hosting cost.
So which hosting would you like to use for your new blog?
Recommended:
- SiteGround Review from Wpbegginer
- WordPress: Finding a WordPress Webhost
- WordPress Hosting Review from WPShout
Thank you Sanjeev for sharing your views on different hosting solutions one can choose based on the size of blog and the security.
I am sure you will agree that many bloggers complaining about frequent hacking on their website and here I am agree with you to go with specialized hosting solutions like SiteGround.
Do you recommend any other specialized wordpress hosting solution?
Hi Mellina,
Managed WordPress hosting does take away some concerns out of the equation like WordPress and plugin updates.
Ms. Ileane is using Site-ground and seems to be very happy with the support and service.
I myself, usually prefer AWS LightSail for the starter blogs and would suggest to move to WordPress Managed Services once they have established themselves and started earning.
Hello Sanjeev!
Thank you for posting your knowledge about hosting types. But, managed hostings are too costly and it won’t be suitable for newbie website…
Keep posting!
Thanks!
I agree Akhil, Managed hosting can be a costly option for the newbie. That’s the reason I have suggested Amazon LightSail as an alternative which can offer a VPS at the cost of shared hosting for newbies.
This is a nice idea but hosting types are so expensive! Nice content.
I have eight WordPress sites hosted on Hostgator shared hosting. Should I think of moving to Amazon lightsail? What are the benefits?
Hi Saikat, It really depends on how much you are paying for those sites. Though technically you can have multisite installation on Lightsail for as low as $5 with a basic VPS. But setting multisite is little complicated.
The benefit includes Amazon route 52 DNS service, backup and recovery (charged extra), Static IP, HTTPS configuration, Server monitoring etc. So if you have some site which gets a decent traffic and have a budget of $5 for that site, you can try lightsail.
Hi Sanjeev,
Great topic.
I would highly recommend anyone using shared hosting especially when they are starting out.
If you’re a beginner, instead of spending more money, figure out ways to make money first.
You can go for shared hosting and start a blog, try to grow your audience first.
Focusing too much on other hosting things may affect your productive time I guess.
Hi Sanjeev,
i always say that shared hosting is for those who are new in business or don`t have a large volume of traffic. But when traffic grows then you needs VPS or dedicated server to digest your hosting needs.
I prefer siteground, bluehost and hostgator.
Thanks for sharing.
Gaurav
Hi Sanjeev,
Nice Informative Post!
A WordPress blog hosted with Bluehost is the best option for new bloggers.
Avoid free hosts and blogging platforms if you want to succeed with your new blog or make money.
Bluehost is the recommended host by WordPress itself.
Over 2,000,000 people use Bluehost to host their blogs.
I will tweet your post.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Hi Manish, If the monthly budget is $5, I prefer Lightsail these days. If you are planning for multiple blogs under a single hosting, you can look for Bluehost.
Hello Sanjeev,
Great tip over here 🙂
The way you show us how to choose different hosting solutions and what to choose that would be best suited for for our blogs. There is a lot of report in the past years, that many of the website were hacked by the unknown persons and all the hard work of the bloggers were gone in a moment.
We need to choose our hosting very wisely so that it could give the best results in the long run.
I am currently using WordPress for my web site as being a new bie managed hosting solutions could be a bit costlier for me.
Thanks for the share.
Shantanu.
Thank you sanjeev for different hosting solutions. These hosting solutions help me.
Hi Sanjev, I’m still with Hostgator – over 5 years and pay over $120 per year now. I have had no major issues with them and love the 24/7 support to date.
I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about Site Ground and if I ran into an issue or if they keep raising their rates I would surely consider them as Ms. Ileane uses them 🙂
Thanks for the info on this one – have a great day!
Hi Lisa, I have used Hostgator for almost 3 years and loved their 24/7 support. I have recently moved my new blog to LightSail and loving the freedom of VPS at a low cost. The competition is forcing companies to offer more and more at low cost and we are getting many good options.
Do you like LightSail? I’m more concerned about space and having the technical stuff done for me vs low cost. I recently had too much traffic for my package and will be increasing it soon. There are so many hosting companies out there now.
Hi Lisa, I like lightsail but you are right, people need to have technical understanding to use this. Lightsail is more like a VPS and you need some internal knowledge so you can maintain it. Also some overview of Cloud Apps are required otherwise you might need to hire someone to do the work for you.
In my case I am from technical background so its easy for me to manage and I am still able to save the cost. Space and Bandwidth is not a concern with Lightsail as they provide 20Gb space and 1TB bandwidth with the lowest $5 plan.
Hi Sanjeev,
I bought WordPress Managed Hosting via hostgator. Recently, I scheduled my blog for deletion. But I wish to renew it. I contacted hostgator customer service, they are asking me to pay 15$ for restoring it.
I have backuped my blog through updraftplus, a wordpress plugin.
My question is that if i buy another hosting, can i restore my blog through updraftplus??
I usually use shared hosting for my new site. Some good hosting service I use as HostGator, a2 hosting, stable host, … I think shared hosting is still a good choice for sites with less traffic and low budget.
Hi Sanjeev,
Very informative article! I have also started with the shared hosting, VPS or dedicated server are too expensive and actually, at this stage, I do not need to spend so much. Infact for blogs, in most of the cases, shared hosting would do just fine. But nice to know about managed hosting, offering templates and plugins as part of the package, would love to explore this option. Many thanks
Hi Sanjeev,
I love SiteGround and switched from Hostgator when I started my new blog. I think starting with shared hosting is a great way for a beginner to get started.
They get to get a self-hosted blog started without having to pay an arm and a leg.
Once the blog starts growing and outgrows their traffic, at that point the blog should be profitable. Then you can consider upgrading your hosting.
There’s no reason to start on a more expensive hosting provider when you’re just starting out. It just wouldn’t be worth the added expense in the beginning.
Thanks for breaking down the different types of hosting for bloggers.
Have a great day 🙂
Susan
I’m currently on shared hosting with SiteGround. I used Godaddy before and had mixed feelings. At times, I would work on the site late night and notice interruptions. I switched to SG because of the uptime promise, and so far so good. It’s only been a month but I can already notice the difference. I just hope it stays the way it is now. Later down the road when my site grows, I hope to move to VPS or dedicated hosting.
Great post Sanjeev! Before you decide whether or not to use shared hosting option for your website, it is essential to understand what you stand to gain and what shortcomings to expect. This will enable you to decide if this is the correct hosting option for you to use for your new website or blog.
Hello Sanjeev,
Shared hosting is a good option to get started if you just started a blog. I am now using Milesweb Hosting and really happy with them so far. Customer support is excellent and very friendly. Previously I was on Godaddy managed WordPress but the services are not so promising and my site was very slow. BTW thanks for this great piece of content.
Have a great day 🙂
Vishwajeet
Hi Sanjeev, i recommend host-stage for me, its a cheap hosting for those who are new in to the business. and also, using hostwinds for more than 3 years. and my site still running upto date. great solution and post ! have a nice day!
Thanks for this wonderful Article.
Holleghren
It’s so hard to choose the right service these days. I’m on my root server for years now but if I had to choose again, I’d look into Amazon AWS to have all the flexibility, I guess.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I have used bluehost,bigrock to amazon aws. Thanks for unveiling Amazaon Lightsail. It seems many might think its easy to go with bluehost siteground for new comers. Its true same time they must soon shift to cloud vps based wordpress.
I would suggest to use Cloudways a platform to manage cloud vps which is very good where you can host many wordpress site in same server and even you get ftp database access and all.
I have been using shared hosting from a long time now and it’s awesome for me.
Try NameCheap Shared hosting, their support is awesome and hosting as well.
Each has its own pros and cons, but for beginners and for those who has minimal knowledge on site maintenance and development, WordPress is the way to go. It’s really easy to use.
I think shared hosting is fine until you make your own name. As a beginner, what shared hosting offers is an additional hand for marketing, better SEO and more eye balls. I think that will be a good platform to start with.
I think shared hosting is still a better way to get started until gets established. It is affordable. When traffic is consistent, it is a good idea to upgrade to a VPS. Some web hosts offer great speed and performance on their shared servers
I use SiteGround’s WordPress Hosting and the GoGeek package. It’s absoloutely brilliant for speed and this is so important these days. It performs well when testing with Pingdom and Google PageSpeed. It also provides daily backups and a staging feature which lets me create a copy of my live site which I can switch around quickly.
Sanjeev, the VPS and Amazon option are great options once a professional blog is off the ground and rolling. As you mentioned, it does cost more and should be budgeted accordingly. As an additional note, Amazon has robust security features.