A website that lets you reach customers is essential in today’s digital age. However, putting your content on pages without the proper horsepower backing behind them won’t suffice in today’s environment. You must choose the right WordPress web hosting provider. 

While going for a cheap hosting plan is tempting, we strongly recommend against it. It could save you money in the short term, but in the long run, you could pay more than you bargained for. 

This post defines what a WordPress platform is. We then explore the pitfalls of cheap WordPress hosting, the value of performance, and how our premium platform is superior to bargain-bin alternatives. 

What is a WordPress hosting platform?

WordPress hosting platforms are hosting services providing resources optimised for the WordPress CMS. Most feature one-click installation, automatic updates, security, speed, and WordPress themes and plugin support.

Hosting platforms may also offer managed services, which means they handle the technical aspects of running a WordPress site for you. Multiple options are available, but the quality of the service they offer may differ significantly. 

The pitfalls of cheap (or free) WordPress hosting

Some free things are great: airline upgrades, meals at friends’ houses, and hikes in nature. Unfortunately, WordPress hosting isn’t one of them. Here, you get what you pay for. 

This section details some of the pitfalls of choosing the lowest-cost options: 

Cheap means shared

First, cheap hosting plans usually mean sharing server resources with other websites. Therefore, expect slower website speed, poor page performance, and a less-than-ideal user experience.

Worse still, shared hosting plans often have strict resource limitations, leading to issues like downtime, slow load times, and even complete website crashes. Users get a shoddy experience, negatively affecting your brand. 

Lack of website uptime features

Another pitfall of cheap WordPress hosting is the absence of essential features to keep your website running smoothly. For example, free or bargain plans don’t give you automatic website backups, malware scanning, and automatic updates, all of which you need when operating at the enterprise scale. 

Poor customer support

Lastly, many cheap WordPress hosting plans (or free options) come with atrocious or non-existent customer support. Providers try to save money by eliminating support staff, leaving you with slow response times, limited support hours, and subpar support quality.

Why premium WordPress hosting is essential

Premium WordPress hosting is essential in today’s market environment for several reasons. Enterprises that fail to invest in it could find themselves at a significant disadvantage. 

For instance, website speed is a factor in user experience and search engine ranking. Users expect pages to load quickly, and search engines like Google use website speed to determine your rank in SERPs.

According to data from Hubspot, 50% of internet users expect web page load times of less than 2 seconds. Eighty-three per cent expect them to load within three seconds. Therefore, if your site isn’t snappy, leads could go elsewhere. 

Fortunately, premium hosting services facilitate these speeds through various technologies, including high-performance servers, advanced caching mechanisms, and content delivery networks (CDNs). They also offer scalable resources that can easily handle traffic spikes and ensure consistent website speed, even during high-traffic periods. Hence, you can better cope with demand when launching a new product or dealing with a wave of customer enquiries. 

What are the benefits of premium WordPress hosting? 

The benefits of premium WordPress hosting depend on the provider. That’s because the underlying technology and implementation firms offer can vary significantly. 

Dedicated Virtual Machines

For instance, our customers benefit from dedicated virtual machines. These are networks of servers that are hosted online and reserved for use by one client, meaning they don’t share processing power or storage with any other party.

The result is like having an on-premise server that only you can access. Hence, your operations won’t be affected, regardless of activity on other sites. 

Custom-Built In 24 Hours

Premium WordPress hosting also gets you up and running faster. For instance, SaneChoice can arrange to host custom solutions in less than 24 hours, streamlining your workflow. 

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) As Standard

SaneChoice’s premium platform also offers CDNs as standard. A content delivery network (CDN) is a system of geographically distributed servers that work together to provide fast and efficient delivery of internet content. These cache content at the network edge, which means they store copies of frequently requested content on servers closer to the users who request it. This process reduces the distance and time that content travels from the original source to the user’s device, improving the experience. 

For instance, CDNs can

• Improve web performance
• Reduce bandwidth costs
• Increase content availability 
• Reduce redundancy
• Enhance security   

High-Performance Components

Premium hosting services, like SaneChoice, also leverage high-powered components in WordPress servers to drive even better performance. Quality CPUs, RAM sticks, GPUs, and SSDs improve the speed and efficiency of processing and storing data.

For example, the more CPU cores a server has, the more instructions it can process simultaneously. Likewise, the more RAM a server has, the more data it can store and access quickly. These upgrades translate into servers’ ability to cope with higher traffic and more dynamic website content than cheap or “free” offerings. 

Stress-Tested For Assurance

Another benefit of premium WordPress services, like SaneChoice, is that they stress test website hosting servers for assurance. This process evaluates the performance and reliability of the server under high load and traffic conditions, simulating the behaviour of real users accessing the website and measuring how the server responds to their requests.

Stress testing lets us determine whether your current setup suffices your needs. If it doesn’t, we can upgrade it. 

Scalable Resources

Lastly, premium services offer scalable resources. Hosting servers can easily handle traffic spikes and sudden increases in website traffic. This ensures your website is always available and accessible to your customers, which is critical for maintaining a decent online reputation.

Conclusion

Ultimately, cheap website hosting is a mirage. While the sticker price might be lower, the final price you pay is usually higher. Furthermore, a lack of pricing transparency is also a significant issue. Providers may promise cheap hosting upfront but then charge you in underhand ways that cost you more. 

Speed can also be a significant problem. Cheap hosting options often come with severe resource limitations, such as bandwidth limit, memory limit, storage limit, or anything else, which can be used up quickly, especially if you do not know the system requirements for your site. 

SaneChoice remedies all these issues, providing users with a more consistent and enjoyable experience. You get proper support, scalable resources, and fast loading times, even during peak periods.