To launch a website or an online business through WordPress, a single question always pops up: “What’s the best web hosting option?” To which the response is frequently, “hosting on the cloud.”
There’s a lot of hype around cloud hosting. But what is ‘the cloud’? And what’s it got to do with hosting?
You’re probably using so-called cloud services already but didn’t realize. ATMs, Gmail, social networks, even your online banking relies on cloud services to function.
Cloud hosting makes websites available using the same cloud resources. It’s a popular choice for ‘WordPressers’ who don’t want to worry about their site going down, loading slowly, or costing too much. This post takes a deeper into just how well WordPress and cloud hosting work together.
Let’s get started.
Cloud Hosting Outshines Traditional Hosting
Cloud hosting is a popular and advanced technology that uses multiple servers. Unlike traditional hosting, such as shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting where your data is held on a single machine, your data is spread across several servers. If you’re maxing out on storage or bandwidth on one, you can tap another for resources. Having multiple servers at your disposal helps maximize uptime and balance the traffic load.
What Exactly is WordPress Cloud Hosting?
WordPress hosting is, unsurprisingly, best for WordPress websites, but there’s more than one way to host a WordPress website. Let’s distinguish between some of your options.
- Shared hosting is the entry-level hosting type plan where your site shares resources with other sites on the same server. It’s a low-cost option that can be altogether more complicated for WordPress users. Unless the host provides a quick install, you’ll have to install WordPress yourself and navigate the heavy duty ‘c-panel’ dashboard.
- Managed WordPress hosting (which can be shared or not) is specifically optimized for WordPress sites. Things like keeping WordPress updated and performing backups are usually taken care of. You can focus on your content without having to deal with any technical stuff. Plus, you have access to higher quality support and better security, at just a slightly higher cost.
- Then, there’s WordPress cloud hosting, which combines the benefits of cloud servers with a managed WordPress hosting service.
Managed hosting costs more, but you save an untold amount of time on-site maintenance. For this reason, it’s a solid choice for small businesses and sites looking to scale up. With WordPress cloud hosting, you get the benefits of WordPress on the one hand and the advantage of cloud hosting on the other. By combining these technologies, your site not only looks great and is responsive, with all the features you want, but it’s also delivered fast and scales smoothly thanks to the advantages of state-of-the-art cloud servers.
These days, the best WordPress hosting providers use cloud technology to offer their services because they are such a good match. EasyWP, for example, is a popular managed WordPress hosting that’s fully hosted on the Namecheap Cloud.
Now you’re clued up on the lingo, let’s check out the benefits of cloud hosting over any other option for WordPress websites.
Higher uptime guaranteed
With cloud-powered web hosting, uptime and reliability increase exponentially. Since the cloud doesn’t depend on a single server but an interconnected network of servers, your website’s data is always available on a connected server in the cloud network, even if one goes down. That’s why cloud-hosted websites never go offline.
Furthermore, the Namecheap Cloud is fully containerized, guaranteeing 99.9% uptime with no noisy neighbors to slow you down.
Easy to scale when you need to
Web hosts talk a lot about scalability. It just means that there’s room to grow. As an ambitious owner of a website or online business, you’ll want to find hosting that can grow with your website, especially given that changing plans and providers can be time-consuming (changing plans is a breeze with EasyWP by the way).
By the nature of its architecture, cloud hosting is very scalable. The starter EasyWP plan comes with a generous allowance of 50,000 visitors per month. This service scales elastically as your visitors grow. You can add more resources in one click from your EasyWP admin dashboard.
Optimized by WordPress people for WordPress people
The best way to choose a cloud hosting company is to determine the overall value of the service. The keys to finding a quality plan are learning the speeds the company provides, availability of support (i.e. your lifeline), how their servers are optimized, and any free features.
WordPress cloud servers are optimized to run WordPress in the most efficient way. Servers are monitored by a technical team proficient in fixing any type of WordPress server issue. For example, Namecheap users have the advantage of the latest cloud computing technology that delivers the fastest speeds available.
Things to Consider when Choosing a Cloud Host
Now you’re interested in choosing a cloud provider for WordPress, how do you choose between providers? There are several features to consider, including reliable support, optimization, free backups, security, and whether or not it’s a managed service.
Customer support
There may be a time when you need to reach out to your host to solve something. You’ll be grateful if you checked beforehand to ensure that your provider has strong customer service available around the clock. You never know when you might need it if something happens to your website. Aim for a cloud provider with a solid reputation for customer service. For example, Namecheap customer service is one of the most well-regarded in the industry. You get 24/7 customer support, for free, when you need it.
Easy install
WordPress can be tricky for beginners to install and set up. Fortunately, five-minute install solutions are available, and all good hosts provide to smooth over the process. EasyWP managed hosting has shaved this down to just under 90 seconds. In such a short amount of time you can get WordPress installed and ready to go with all the maintenance taken care of so you don’t have to set up a database or get your hands dirty with technical tasks.
Other features
Web hosts differentiate their services by providing a variety of free features bundled with their services. Check to see if your host offers services relevant to you.
With EasyWP, you get a straightforward interface, and premium features like Positive SSL and access to Namecheap’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) to deliver content in record time from servers worldwide, all for free with Turbo and Supersonic plans.
Cost
Cloud hosting is decidedly more affordable these days. To get the best deal, factor in any free features you would otherwise be paying for when predicting the total cost of your hosting. For example, Namecheap’s cloud hosting includes a host of features for an unbeatable price. Plans start from as low as $1 for your first month, and you’re not locked into a long-term contract. Cancel when you like, with no hidden blockers.
WordPress Performance
Performance is more than making bold claims about uptime. It’s about user experience and how smoothly people can access your site. To give yours the best possible experience, making sure you’ve got fast loading speeds is the name of the game.
With standard hosting, you have set resources that your site can’t exceed. With cloud hosting, it’s easier to add extra as and when you need it. For example, you might be featured in the news and receive a surge in traffic. With cloud hosting, you can add more bandwidth, so your site runs smoothly.
Management
Unless you’re a computer whiz, fixing a security breach or updating your software is best left to the experts. With managed cloud hosting, your web host is responsible for your server configuration. With a fully managed service, your provider takes care of everything for you, from setup to security. If you’re short on time, and lack technical skills, this is the way to go.
However, it’s important to pick a reputable host to ensure the most secure configuration. Namecheap’s advanced cloud hosts all EasyWP plans so you can bet on professional service that delivers on security.
When deciding on a WordPress provider, besides reliable customer support, you will want to look for security measures, bandwidth, extra features such as free CDN and SSL, and the golden ticket to pain-free experience: managed WordPress hosting.
The Sky’s the Limit with WordPress and Cloud Hosting
WordPress is one of the easiest ways to build a site and it deserves a web hosting provider that’s just as good. Whether you’re creating your first website or looking to change your current hosting service, cloud hosting deserves your attention.
With the Namecheap cloud, you get top-of-the-line technology, which gives you consistently high performance with over 99% uptime, backups, and a flexible, monthly contract. Deliver your pages at blazingly-fast speeds thanks to SSD (solid-state drive) cloud storage..
Because Namecheap Cloud powers EasyWP, you get the added benefits of affordable pricing and a iron-clad commitment to privacy and security. And with the new EasyWP WordPress wizard, you can be up and running in just ninety seconds!