4 Things to Know Before Buying WordPress Hosting

Since its launch in 2003, WordPress has grown in popularity and powers around 31% of the web. The ease of use and flexibility of this Content Management System (CMS) has attracted enterprises from different sectors and of different sizes to WordPress. Further, hosting services were platform-agnostic for many years and there was a demand for WordPress-specific hosting services from site owners. Hosting providers also realized that running maintenance tasks was a time-consuming process and designed WordPress Hosting plans to help run and manage WordPress websites. In this article, we will highlight 4 important things that you must know before buying a WordPress Hosting plan.

Before we start, let’s look at some tasks that WordPress site owners need to perform regularly:

• Updating the WP core, themes, and plugins.
• Backing up the database and site data.
• Scanning and monitoring the website for security threats

4 Things That You Should Know Before Buying WordPress Hosting

A good WordPress Hosting plan should offer the following benefits:

1.      Automatic Updates of the Core, Plugins, and Themes

WordPress is an open source platform with a community of developers working constantly to ensure that the platform is secured from the latest security threats, bugs are fixed and users get access to the latest features. All these changes are made available to WordPress users through updates which are made available from time to time. At the same time, plugin and theme developers also update their products for maximum security and performance. As a WordPress user, you must ensure that your WP core, themes, and plugins are updated regularly. These updates can be done manually via the dashboard.

Many WordPress hosting plans offer automatic updates of themes, plugins, and WP core, saving time and effort. Ensure that the host offers this feature.

2.      Website Scans for Identification and Elimination of Threats

WordPress offers hundreds of plugins and tools to improve the security of your website. However, being an open source platform, there is always a possibility of a cyber-attack. Therefore, it is important that the website is scanned regularly for possible threats. This is again a time-consuming task.

WordPress Hosting services usually include regular security scans of your WP site using the latest tools to ensure that such threats are kept at bay.

3.      Website Backups – Automated

Even if you take the best security measures, the chances of an attack going undetected can never be ruled out. Therefore, you must take backups of your website regularly. This ensures that your data is safe even in case of a cyber-attack. After all, losing data can be bad for your business and reputation. Many WP Hosting providers offer automatic website backups as a part of the hosting plan. However, it is recommended to take additional backups of your own.

4.      Customer Support

Websites need to be online 24x7x365 with fast loading pages and the highest security levels. Problems, if any, need to be resolved immediately to minimize the impact on the performance of the site. Therefore, it is important that the hosting provider offers 24×7 support to help you counter technical issues if any.

Conclusion

Before you start looking for a web host, ensure that you spend time assessing the hosting requirements of your WP site. Once you are clear about what you want from the host, research the market and look for plans which offer features best suited to you. Not all WordPress Hosting plans are the same; compare a few plans before investing. Good Luck!