Although it's possible to build, host, register, market and grow your website on completely separate platforms, this WordPress review is going to look at WordPress and some of the other top companies on the market offering an all in one solution.
We will explain the differences between cloud and web hosting and explore if there are any disadvantages to this. We will also conduct 5 mini reviews on some of the top providers whilst sharing exactly what we look for when deciding whether a provider is worth your time, money and energy.
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Once you’ve created your site with the WordPress website builder, the next step is to host your website so that it's actually visible to others online and not tucked away just for you to see. Web hosting does this by storing your website files and applications on a physical server that is connected to the internet. The hosting provider will also maintain the files.
There are a few different types of web hosting available, the one you choose will often depend on a combination of budget and needs:
Cloud hosting is similar to web hosting in that it ensures that your website is visible to others online. The major difference is in how the data is stored. Instead of being hosted on a physical server, similarly to how WordPress Hosting might, it stores the data on virtual servers. Most would argue this is the best solution, however, it is usually the more costly option and it does come with its own drawbacks.
There are many different companies that now offer hosting, building, or both all under one roof and claim to be the best hosting provider or website builders. And WordPress is one of these companies. So to see if WordPress is worth it, we’re going to review both WordPress and some of the others currently available.
WordPress is classed as one of the best website builders on the market with a whopping market share of more than 40% of websites on the internet. Initially, it was mainly used by bloggers, but WordPress has grown significantly and so have the tools and plugins, many of which are free, that you can use with it. The WordPress website builder may have a steeper learning curve than a traditional website builder however, once you master it, the sky really is the limit as it allows for complete customisation. You can choose to use the free version and upload as many web pages as you wish or opt for a paid version to enable access to a custom domain name alongside a host of other benefits and plugins.
Many WordPress hosting reviews would agree that it is the best choice for WordPress sites. But, It’s not the only choice, you could host your website with Wix or Hostinger. However, WordPress Hosting is optimised for WordPress sites. It allows for additional premium plugins to be used and generally gives better uptime and loading speeds.
The Wix website builder is incredibly easy to use, it offers simple on page editing where users can easily change any of the elements with a simple click. There are hundreds of free templates to choose from and every template has been designed to be optimised for mobile. It has scheduling, ecommerce and SEO tools all of which can be used to customise and improve your website.
Wix also offers free hosting which claims to have 99.9% uptime, advanced security monitoring and is automatic. So once you're ready to share your website with the world, you publish it and Wix hosting takes care of everything, no installation or 3rd party apps required.
GoDaddy is great for those just starting out as they can build their website for free and choose to pay for add ons as their business grows. Thus making it a little easier to budget in the early stages of developing a website and business. GoDaddy has hundreds of templates to choose from all of which are mobile optimised and it uses a simple website editor, so no coding skills are required.
Having made its name as one of the best domain registrars, not only does GoDaddy now offer website building but you can also host your website with them. With plans starting from just £2.99 a month which includes 25GB storage and daily back ups, GoDaddy appears to have a beginner friendly pricing structure for both building and hosting.
Shopify is the complete package when it comes to commerce. From building your website with their customisable templates, choosing from over 800 plugins to add additional features to the ability to sell across a number of platforms including web, social, online marketplaces, pop up shops and bricks and mortar stores.
Shopify is 100% cloud based including hosting. When it comes to creating an ecommerce store, these guys are specialists with a range of tools to build your business into something big. However, as specialists, they are also some of the most expensive on the market. Although that being said there are a number of pricing options available.
The One.com website builder is simpler than some of the others we have reviewed, however, it's intuitive to use and there are over 140 customisable templates that you can choose from. However, if the One.com website builder isn’t quite as advanced as required, then you can use the WordPress website builder which is included in all of the hosting plans and can be installed with just one click.
One.com offers 3 months of free hosting after which point you will then need to choose from one of their 4 paid plans.
| 💰 WordPress Promo Code | 🥇 WordPress Alternatives |
| 🤝 WordPress Discount | 💳 WordPress Pricing |
| 🤑 Free WordPress To Use | |
There are certain criteria that we always look at when evaluating the quality of a hosting provider or website builder. If you follow the 5 key areas outlined below you too should also be able to distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly.
It's important here not to mistake a learning curve for something that is unnecessarily difficult to set up and implement. For example, many of the WordPress reviews would not sell it as the easiest provider, however, that is because it comes with more of a learning curve than some of the straightforward website builders. This is different to a poor product that has additional unrequired steps, tools that don’t work as they should, or needs too many 3rd party apps just for basic functionality.
These areas may not seem important in the early stages of building a website or choosing a domain name. But, they should be considered before you even begin to make your site. Uptime for a hosting provider is one of the key metrics to understanding whether it is a good provider. If a hosting provider guarantees a 99.99% uptime then you know you are dealing with the gold standard.
Ensuring that the provider you use is secure should be at the top of your priorities. If you build a website that requires customers to enter their personal details it is your responsibility to ensure these details are kept secure. WordPress hosting is considered very secure but that doesn’t mean it's completely invulnerable. However, there are a few precautionary steps that you can take to help, such as; keeping it updated to the latest version, using a strong password, and keeping said password safe.
Most people who start a website often have hopes or plans of expanding it. So, ensure that the hosting provider you have selected has the capability of doing this otherwise you could find yourself with no space to expand without starting over.
There should be at least 2 or 3 different pricing plans that you can choose between. Having just one price screams that the company doesn’t understand the true scope of its users' needs. Also, check the features and tools that are included in the plans as sometimes sites will mislead users by showcasing their top tools in their marketing campaigns but actually they are only available with the premium packages.
The website and hosting platforms that we have looked at all offer multiple solutions such as hosting, building and domains which inevitably make life much more simple as everything is under one roof or platform. They also offer varying amounts of other features such as SEO tools or plugins, ecommerce tools - which are abundant on Shopify, and other marketing tools such as One.coms email marketing package. It might be that you only need a host or a domain registrar but if you are at the beginning of your journey and are in need of it all then choosing a provider that offers it all is a good starting point.
Customer support is crucial to setting up and maintaining a professional website. You must look at reviews and also look at what level of support is included in your chosen plan. For example, WordPress website reviews can be seen to have positive customer support offering live chat or email support however, if you are using a free plan then this is not the case. Instead, there is a community forum or guides available, so just be sure to understand what level of support is provided within your chosen package.
Below we will take a more detailed look at the differences between cloud and web hosting as well as look at the step by step process of signing up with a website builder and hosting provider.
Anyone who wishes to have a website that is visible and accessible online needs their website to be hosted. Strictly speaking, that doesn’t mean you have to use a hosting provider. You can host your website on your own server and there are some advantages to this BUT it can be a very costly set up both in time and money. For a professional website, we would always recommend using a hosting provider as the more secure, usually cheaper and efficient option.
| ☁️ Cloud Hosting | 💻 Web Hosting | |
| 🗃️ Infrastructure | Uses a network of virtual servers | Uses physical servers, sometimes shared |
| ⚡ Performance | Often performs better with more uptime | Performance can vary depending on the server load, although single servers are available |
| 📲 Scalability | Easily scaled | More limited as resources are finite and shared |
| 💵 Expenses | Much more expensive | More affordable option |
| 🔧 Maintenance | Managed by the hosting provider | Managed by the hosting provider |
Yes, you can use separate domains and hosting providers. You can have everything separate, however, where possible it's easiest if everything is on one platform.
Websites should aim to be accessible to all and sometimes this requires using assistive tools. If you’re unsure where to begin then WordPress has an accessibility checker via a plugin. This can help to identify any issues and from there and give solutions or offer guidance on which tools to use to help minimise the identified issues.
The free WordPress website builder reviews are actually pretty positive. If you know what you are doing you can build any size website for free. However, with most things in life, in the end, you do get what you pay for. So although there are options to build free websites and even some sites that offer free hosting, the reliability, security, support, or functionality of these sites will never be as good as a paid for service.
Web and even Cloud hosting are not immune to the problems we face every day when online. Although they usually have the best security in place and the right tools for managing spikes in traffic and backup servers or networks of servers it doesn’t mean they don’t fall foul to hackers or viruses or even power outages. But using a reputable company drastically minimises the risks.
WordPress is a legit site with some top security features but you must keep up to date with the latest security tools so be sure to take a look at our latest guide.
Take a look at our Wordpress ecommerce review to find out if it's the right solution or if there might be a better option on the market
Our latest guide explores whether WordPress is a good website builder along with looking at some alternatives that might help you decide which website builder would be best suited to you.
Following our WordPress review it's apparent that you can pretty much access everything you need on their platform including; building, hosting and growing your website. You can build your website to any size you wish, for free, but the real magic of it is in all the additional features and plugins that you can access. Although many of these are only available on the paid plans.
However, Wordpress isn’t the only site to offer all in one solutions and some of the others we have reviewed in this guide could be more suited to your plans. Remember to assess the provider using our 5 key criteria and then it's just a case of using the step by step instructions and you're ready to go.
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