Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for products or services that I personally use and highly recommend. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and clients. (I don’t recommend junk; that’s not how I roll.)

Every website needs web hosting. Without it, your website wouldn’t be visible online. A web hosting account allows you to rent space on a computer (a web server) where you can store all your website files. The web server connects visitors to your website from anywhere in the world.

So yes, you will need to purchase a web hosting account for your WordPress website. Fortunately, there are a ton of web hosting providers available. But unfortunately, not every web hosting company offers the same quality and service.

You may be tempted to go for the cheapest web hosting plan you can find; but be careful. Many of the cheaper web hosts often lack essential features, offer little or poor support, and can be magnets for getting hacked. Performance issues (for example: slow website load times) can also be a common occurrence on budget web hosting.

Your website’s hosting account is one of the most important options that business owners shouldn’t skimp on.

If your monthly hosting bill costs less than a
Salted Caramel Mocha (Mmmmm!),
you most likely should upgrade to a better web host.

What to Look for in WordPress Hosting:

1. Supports WordPress

Since WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, most hosting companies support it. But it’s worth checking with them, just to make sure.

Even better: some hosting providers offer web hosting plans that are optimized specifically for WordPress websites. This can help your site run faster and it may include additional security features too.

2. Features

Most hosting companies have a range of web hosting packages, so you can pick one that meets your needs in terms of how much website traffic you think you’ll get and the storage space you need. But you’ll also want to see if the packages include any other important features. For example: daily website backups, an SSL certificate, WordPress core updates, and extra security measures to prevent, detect and fix your website if it gets hacked.

3. Reliability

You definitely don’t want your site to suffer from long or frequent periods of downtime, so always check the hosting company’s uptime statistics. You can also search online for customer reviews of hosting companies.

4. Customer Support

If you’re just starting out with a new WordPress site you may have some questions, so check what support is offered by your hosting company before you buy. Look at the support hours, especially if they are not available 24 hours a day and are in a different time zone than you. Also check if they offer a range of ways to get support, for example by email, by phone or live chat. And will you have a dedicated person that you always contact with questions or issues – or will it be a different support person each time you contact them?

Consider Cost, Experience and Time.

Now of course the more features the web hosting plan includes, typically the more expensive the plan costs. So you’ll want to decide how much you can afford in order to get the features that you want. The average website can be hosted very securely for around $25-30 per month. Yes, this is more than the cost of a coffee; but keep in mind that the cost to fix a website that has trouble on a cheap shared hosting platform is often hundreds of dollars.

And don’t forget to factor in your experience and your time in your web hosting decision. Do you have the skillset and the time needed to take care of any necessary features that aren’t included in your hosting account? For example: installing an SSL certificate, performing website backups, and updating WordPress. Can you afford to take time away from your business to focus on these important website tasks?

If you answered “no” to these questions, then I recommend:

• investing in a good web hosting account that takes care of some of these things for you and
• hiring an assistant or purchasing a WordPress Care Plan to take care of the remaining tasks.

A good web hosting account plus an experienced person managing your website maintenance tasks will give you peace of mind about your website and allow you to focus on other areas of your business.

It may seem overwhelming when you start to think about #allthethings that go into not only choosing WordPress hosting – but also how to maintain and protect your website. That’s why I created my Website TLC plans. They include a web hosting account plus a ton of additional services that you can take off your busy entrepreneur plate! 

Now that you know what to look for in a WordPress web host, you can start researching different hosts to see what their hosting plans include. Ask other website owners for their recommendations too. If you want mine, here are my top two web hosting providers I recommend for WordPress websites:

My #1 Pick: Flywheel – I use Flywheel hosting for this website. And I also include a Flywheel hosting account in my Extra TLC Website Care plans.

My #2 Pick: SiteGround – I use SiteGround hosting for some of my other smaller websites. And I also include a  SiteGround hosting account in my “A Little TLC” and “TLC” Website Care plans.

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