It’s vital to get your web hosting setup correctly for your WordPress website. There’s a number of things you have to consider, which I will explain in this chapter. There are a number of different providers (GoDaddy, 123 Reg, tsoHost, IONOS, etc), but please remember, trying to go with someone really cheap can have many negative consequences.
The key things I tell my clients to purchase for a WordPress website are: cPanel Web Hosting, SSL Certificate, Domain Name Registration, and Office 365 Email. With these four items you have everything you need to have a professional WordPress website.
Domain Name Registration is important. It’s the address people will visit when they want to access your website (www.example.com). It’s important to pick a name that is suitable for your business, is easy to read, and makes sense. You will also be using this Domain Name for your professional Office 365 Email. You will probably find that your number one choice of domain is already taken. Therefore, you’ll either have to think of something that’s close to what you want, or simply go with the recommendation of your Web Hosting provider when you search for a domain.
You will need an SSL Certificate for your website. This is the padlock symbol that appears in the browser and is important for many Cybersecurity reasons. Having SSL on your website means that all communications from your customers accessing your website are encrypted and therefore secure. There are also many other benefits.
“Linux Shared Web Hosting is one of the most common types of hosting people are looking for on the web.”
Office 365 Email is professional email that works with your domain name. You can have name@domainname.com as your professional email address, as an example. I think this is really important to have as a business and you get access to all of Office 365 Email features such as Calendar. I also recommend getting this as the email account will work along side the website itself, so people can easily contact you directly from the WordPress website.
Finally, you need a good Web Hosting package. I work with Linux cPanel Web Hosting, which is pretty much an industry standard for modern Web Hosting services. Most providers offer cPanel Hosting but remember you don’t want to go with the cheapest package. Having a slow Web Server can have many negative consequences for the performance of your website. If your website is slow, people won’t want to visit and you will lose customers. And on top of that, if your server is slow you may lose ranking positions on Search Engines like Google, so people may not be able to find your site at all.
