Hosting is a very important part of any online entity. Regardless of whether you’re planning to launch a business website, online portfolio, or a simple blog, you will need a certain hosting plan in order for it to be seen by other visitors.
Since it also directly influences your brand’s exposure, positions on search engines, and even the sales revenue you generate, finding the right type of hosting can be quite the tricky task.
One of the most common questions people seem to have regarding hosting types is the main difference between WordPress hosting and web hosting. These terms, while both related to hosting, address completely different concepts of hosting a website.
In this article, we will dive deeper into the key differences between WordPress hosting vs. web hosting and also talk about what you should look for in a hosting provider.
What is WordPress hosting?
WordPress hosting means that a certain hosting plan will be optimized specifically for websites made with the WordPress content management system.
Each of these plans will have a certain amount of resources allocated for your website, however, the big benefit here will be that everything will be tuned to maximum efficiency for WP.
If you already have a website created using this CMS or plan to do so very soon, this is certainly a good plan to consider, especially since they do not come with a hefty price tag that often.
As your website grows and you need more resources, you can easily scale up to a dedicated WordPress hosting plan later down the road.
What is web hosting?
The term “web hosting” does not refer to a particular hosting plan, but rather, the concept of providing a website with space online, that allows it to be visible on the internet.
Hosting providers sell you not only the space for your website on their servers, but also allocate a certain amount of resources and allow it to be reached by anyone online.
Since there are many types of web hosting out there, including WordPress hosting that we already mentioned, you can think of it as a kind of an umbrella term that encapsulates everything related to hosting in general.
How WordPress hosting is different from web hosting
As already mentioned, web hosting refers to the general concept of hosting a website on an online server, meanwhile, WordPress hosting is simply one of the web hosting niches that involve plans dedicated to WordPress websites.
Some other key differences include:
- Website platform – web hosting is a very broad service and there are many systems that you can use to build a website. There are hundreds of plans out there, catering to every need that a website owner might have. In WordPress hosting, everything is dedicated to WordPress.
- Resources – every hosting plan will have a certain amount of resources allocated for the user. Depending on the specifics of your website, a general hosting plan can be tuned for speed, and file hosting, among other things. Meanwhile, in WordPress hosting, everything will be aimed at making your WP website as good as possible.
- Support and other services – a strong support system is necessary in case clients have troubles with their website’s hosting. In general, it could mean anything from a proper support team to call, troubleshooting, etc. Naturally, with WordPress, everything will be aimed at providing the best hosting experience for WordPress websites.
Tips on how to choose the right hosting service for your website
While we discussed the differences between WordPress hosting and web hosting, the question still remains on what factors you should focus on when considering a web host.
In our opinion, the most important features of a good host include:
- Great customer service – not everyone is a technical mastermind, so launching a website might provide difficulties for some. A good support team will help troubleshoot issues and assist in making sure everything is properly set up.
- Domain flexibility – a domain name plays a very important role in forming your brand identity and also helps better search rankings. Look for a hosting service that offers the flexibility of choosing the name you desire.
- Website security – no website is exempt from a potential online attack. Make sure that your hosting provider offers all the necessary security options for the most sensitive parts of your website.
- Uptime – uptime refers to the time that the server your website is hosted on is online. Naturally, you’ll want to find a provider that offers as much uptime as possible.
All in all
Today we explained the main differences between web hosting and WordPress hosting. While one is a general term referring to the concept of the services itself, the other describes a niche that is important for many website owners.
Regardless of your plans for your online entity, you will need a proper hosting provider in order to achieve success online.
