Buy Web Hosting

If this is your first website, then it doesn’t really matter – right now – where you get your web hosting.

Our philosophy is to make the website work, then bring it to specs. That will take from 3 weeks to three months. It will probably be at the 6-month mark when you even consider the possibility of making a change.

There are several features to compare: site load speed, storage, bandwidth, email, and especially support (availability, experience). When you’re ready to change, you know what to look for.

It’s easy to transfer your website to another host.

We recommend that you make off-site backups (your Google cloud drive), and those are always available to you.

There are plugins that will pack up your website and download it to your computer. From there, you can upload it to another web hosting company.

You won’t be alone. The new hosting company will be able to provide technical support for the transfer.

Web hosting is always quoted by the month and often sold by the year.

If you paid $75 for a year’s worth of hosting, and you’re ready to move at the end of six months, don’t worry about that last $35. You are not going to get a refund, but you are not contractually required to stay. you do not have to wait until the end of the year to make a transfer.

Consider NameCheap hosting; Change later

We said a “best practice” is to buy your web hosting services at a place different. For convenience and an easy way to get started, it would be OK to start a NameCheap with the expectation of changing web hosts 6 months to a year from now.

Comments from 2018-2019…

If you want to start a lively discussion among web developers, then simply ask “What’s the best hosting company?” It’s comparable to walking into a bar and asking “Who makes the best pickup?”

• The consensus among WordPress developers is that you should avoid GoDaddy hosting (domain name registration is OK).
• Bluehost is recommended by WordPress.org, and runs $100/$180 per year (often on sale). This guy talks about BlueHost on YouTube and is owned by EIG (read below).
• Dreamhost is recommended by WordPress.org, and starts at $36/year ~ but you have to read this, and other offers, carefully. Not only is email sold separately, customer service wrote “Prices: Monthly plan: $4.95, 1-year plan: $47.40, and 3-year plan: $93.24”
• Siteground is recommended by WordPress.org. They run $144/yr to $420/year (on sale Jan 2019 for $50-$140/year)
• WPEngine has an excellent reputation but is expensive, with the starter plan priced at $35/month
• NameHero is is on sale in the fall of 2019 for $3.89/month
• Also for your consideration: Hostgator.com, InMotionHosting, A2Hosting.com,  Site5.com, etc. Apparently HostGator and Site5 are also owned by EIG.

I found this page in February 2020: ResearchasaHobby.com/full-list-eig-hosting-companies-brands. The author really doesn’t like Endurance International Group (EIG). It contains some familiar names, including BlueHost (see above), HostGator, Site5, NameZero and FatCow. There are dozens of additional URLs that connect to other businesses, such as domain registration sites. Most of the web page is comments, which were read/answered as late as Feb 24, 2020. (The earliest comment is 2014.)

If you want to do “due diligence” then search YouTube for “Best WordPress Hosting” and spend an hour or two listening to reviews. (Recommended beverage: coffee instead of wine.)

Simple is better…

But for now, simple may be the best choice for you. Don’t worry about paying attention to a lot of little details. Remember, WordPress sites move easily from one host to another. , which is another reason you should buy web hosting somewhere different from where you buy your domain.