So, you are ready to make moves on starting your blog or website! Congrats! One of the first things you will have to decide is what platform will be best for what you want to accomplish. You will likely read many articles, and often, you will see most bloggers and web pros recommending self-hosted WordPress. But what exactly does that mean, you ask?
What is Self-Hosting?
Self-hosting is when you pay a hosting company a monthly or annual fee for space on their servers for your website to “live” so it can be found on the internet.
You can then install a free and open-source content management system or framework, such as WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, onto your site via your hosting account’s dashboard. You can also buy your domain name through your host.
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What is Self-Hosted WordPress?
Self-hosted WordPress is when you install the free, open-source version of WordPress via WordPress.org onto your website via your hosting dashboard. A lot of web hosts will offer one-click, easy installs of WordPress.
Why Do Most People Recommend Self-Hosted WordPress?
According to WordPress themselves, WordPress powers 36% of all websites in the world. Most web professionals and bloggers will recommend self-hosted WordPress because it allows the freedom to truly build and customize a website for your needs.
You will often hear people say that you should do self-hosted WordPress so that you “own” your website. What they mean when they say this is that you own all of your website’s content and files.
Think of it this way – you are paying a monthly rent for your house (the hosting fee), but you own all of the furniture in the house (your site’s files), and can take the furniture wherever you want.
When Should You Use Self-Hosted WordPress?
You should use self-hosted WordPress if you plan to monetize your website through ads and if you want full control over the backend of your site. If you need a lot of flexibility with your site and are planning on a lot of customizations or integrating with other products- self-hosted WordPress will be your best option.
What are the Other Options?
There are many other options out there if you don’t want to do self-hosted WordPress, all with their own pros and cons.
You do not need to buy hosting if you choose to use any of the following platforms: Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, Weebly, ShowIt, Webflow, or WordPress.com. These are all their own website builders and include hosting in the monthly fees you pay for your membership.
WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com
And yes, I said WordPress.com. The dot com version is WordPress’ hosting company. It was founded by the same people who created the free, open-source WordPress.org. WordPress.com offers plans that range in monthly cost from free to around $45 a month, but those plans can be limiting if you want your website to also be your business.
To get many of the important features that are standard for WordPress.org, such as the ability to upload plugins, you won’t have access to that in WordPress.com until you upgrade to their Business Plan, which is around $25/month.
People will pay a premium price for WordPress.com or other website builders so they don’t have to fuss with manual WordPress updates. There is a learning curve with every option honestly, but if you want full control over your site, self-hosted WordPress is the way to go.
Getting Started with Self-Hosting
Once you have made the decision to proceed with self-hosted WordPress.org, now you need to find a hosting company that fits with the goals you have for your website.
Some factors to consider when you are looking for a hosting company include the following:
- Are you starting from scratch or are you moving your site over from somewhere else?
- If you are moving it from somewhere else, you might want to look into if the hosting company offers free migration services.
- How much traffic are you getting?
- If you are just starting out, you can go with a cheaper hosting plan. As you build a following and start monetizing your site, you can always upgrade your hosting plan as you scale.
- If you already see a lot of traffic, you will want to make sure your hosting plan can support the traffic.
- How good is their customer support?
- When I was first starting out years ago, I had soooo many questions. I would submit support tickets all of the time. If this is you, you will want to make sure that the customer support is responsive and won’t leave you hanging if there is an issue with your site, or if you are just not sure what to do.
- What are the hosting fees after the first year/introductory period?
- Some hosting companies are known to offer really great introductory rates, but then once the introductory period is over, the next renewal period could cause some sticker shock.
Everyone’s needs are different, so it is best to evaluate your overall goals so you can choose the best host for you.
Hosting Companies to Look In To
The Hosting Company I Have Used: A2 Hosting
I self-host my WordPress sites, and when I made the switch over from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, I started with A2 Hosting on a shared hosting plan.
Overall, I have been happy with A2 Hosting. They have always been responsive, helpful, and polite whenever I submit a support ticket. I haven’t gone viral or anything, so I am not sure how my site would hold up under a lot of stress yet, but I think it would stand the test. One of their big selling points is the their turbo boost site speed.
It has been a great way for me to learn about self-hosting and cPanels (control panel for your hosting account.)
Recommended by WordPress.org: SiteGround
I am active in a lot of WordPress-oriented Facebook groups and forums, and one hosting company I have heard a lot of people rave about is SiteGround. To be honest, when I first made the move to a self-hosted website, I was torn between SiteGround and A2 Hosting.
I ended up going with A2 Hosting because I was unsure about the visitor metrics of ~25,000 visits a month noted on SiteGround‘s GrowBig plan. I was worried that this was a cap, but it turns out it is just an approximation meant to contextualize what 20 GB of web space means. Now I know that would have been just fine for me starting out.
SiteGround is a great option popular with many bloggers and self-hosters.
Newish Kid on the Block: Lyrical Host
I had never heard of Lyrical Host until recently, but those who use it seem to absolutely rave about it. It is a premium host, so you will pay more up front, but the plus to that is that you won’t see the pricing jumps or fluctuations on renewal.
Use my code champagne10 to get 10% off any Lyrical Host plan.
Lyrical Host brings a beautiful and stress-free user interface to web hosting, which is usually notoriously clunky. This company is all about fostering a community, and they will send you free stock photos and tips and tricks each month to help you along.
People rave about their support team and the level of comfort they have using Lyrical Host.
There Are So Many More Hosting Companies
There are so many more hosting companies out there. Some that you will hear about over and over again that I have not mentioned in this article.
My goal with Domains and Champagne is to help cut through the noise of building a website and going after your digital dreams, so I am not going to list many more here.
Before you make your final decision as to where to spend your money and where to host your website, read reviews on Better Business Bureau, look at the hosting company’s support forums, read their reviews on Facebook, or find a subreddit about the company you are thinking about going with.
It is a complicated industry, and it is important to know your goals and needs for your site before you choose a host. Always do your research!
Tell Me Your Thoughts on Self-Hosted WordPress
Have you self-hosted your site? What challenges have you faced? If you haven’t started yet, what is keeping you from taking the plunge into the self-hosted world? Let me know in the comments.
As always, thanks for reading Domains and Champagne.
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