Web Hosting Guides & Tutorials

Choosing the best web hosting plan for your specific project has always been a bit confusing. Plan features never line up. Terminology never matches. And pricing varies according to current discounts and plan length.

But that was before the latest trend in web hosting – WordPress-specific hosting plans.

Nearly every hosting company offers a “WordPress Hosting Plan” in some form.

Sometimes those plans are nothing more than a headline change.

Sometimes they are very well-priced for the extra services. And sometimes they are plainly upsells with dressed up “features.”

It’s maddening – because here’s the thing. WordPress software runs fine on typical web hosting.

You do not need “WordPress Hosting” to run WordPress software.

All you need is a Linux-based hosting account that supports PHP and mySQL – aka plain vanilla shared web hosting.

Both are run of the mill features on even shared server plans since the early 2000s. So what is the difference between WordPress Hosting plans and Web Hosting plans?

Well – sometimes a WordPress-specific plan is absolutely worth paying for. WordPress does have some needs & requirements that are not “generic” so some companies can offer seriously better service, support & performance for WordPress installs.

Here’s how they differ along with features worth paying for, and what to look for when shopping for the right host for your specific project and next steps.

[Read more…] about WordPress Hosting vs. Web Hosting Explained

WordPress Hosting is a hosting product that is pre-configured to host a WordPress powered website efficiently. There is no industry-standard definition for “WordPress Hosting” so the exact product will vary by host. WordPress Hosting is usually used for the 3 “S’s” – to simplify, to secure, and to speed up a WordPress install compared to a WordPress install on a typical Linux server.

[Read more…] about What is WordPress Hosting?

I recently had a reader question sent via email  –

Is there a way to try out WordPress for free before signing up to a hosting site? Maybe a ‘try before you buy’ arrangement, or something which you can download and try out on a laptop? Am just worried about signing up and then finding WordPress isn’t for me.

[Read more…] about How To Try WordPress For Free Before Purchasing Hosting for Your Website

If you are shopping for website hosting or browsing technology news, you are likely to come across the term “LAMP Stack” somewhere.

[Read more…] about LAMP Stack Explained

For years, I’ve had issues with email forms on websites hosted at GoDaddy. Whether I was trying to get a contact form in WordPress to work, or simply forward emails within cPanel, the whole troubleshooting process was just a pain.

The GoDaddy email issue especially pops up when a client switches from GoDaddy email hosting to a 3rd party email host like Google, Zoho, NameCheap, etc.

And it turns out that it’s not just me. It’s a documented issue with everything from WooCommerce to other non-WordPress software.

But GoDaddy’s documentation is straight-up horrible and poking around StackOverflow / Googling developer forums gets old after a while. So here’s a short guide to GoDaddy form email problems that I wish I had several years ago.

[Read more…] about GoDaddy Email Problems: Solving Issues w/ Forms & Not Receiving Email

Website hosting is reserved space on a computer server that stores & serves files related to a website (ie, HTML, CSS, images, etc) to browsers when requested via the Internet. Website hosting is usually connected to a human-readable domain name.

As an analogy, website hosting is like a plot of physical land…but on the Internet. Like a physical plot of land, it’s usually connected to a known address, and it’s only truly useful if you build something on it.

Also like physical land, website hosting can come with an infrastructure to make your project easier / cheaper. It also has many tradeoffs.

That’s the short version. But there’s more to website hosting than the definition.

[Read more…] about Website Hosting Explained

There has never been a time when running a website has been more accessible, convenient, and profitable than now.

But there has also never been a time when running a website has been so confusing, frustrating, and winner-take-all than now.

And that contradiction comes because some of the major computing & networking innovations from the 2010s are finally coming to the everyday Internet.

And as the 2010s close out and the 2020s begin, here are some of my considerations (in no specific order) that I think would be useful for DIYers, freelancers, small online business owners, and anyone planning an online presence.

[Read more…] about 20+ Considerations on The Future of Web Hosting, Website Builders & Digital Marketing Beyond 2020

So, how much does a website cost per year?

Wait for it…. it depends. :)

But yes – “it depends” is not helpful at all.

[Read more…] about How Much Is A Website Per Year Explained

Cloud Hosting is a website hosting product that distributes your website data among an entire network of data centers with near infinite resources.

Cloud hosting usually charge per use rather than per resource feature. Cloud hosting is provided by the big tech companies like Amazon, Google, Oracle, Microsoft and IBM – but is sometimes resold via traditional hosting brands who bundle customer support.

[Read more…] about What is Cloud Hosting? Definition, Uses & What To Look For

VPS Hosting is a website hosting product that dedicates specific server resources to a hosting account. VPS Hosting is used as a predictable hosting solution for high traffic or resource websites.

[Read more…] about What is VPS Hosting & How Does VPS Hosting Work?

Shared Hosting is a website hosting product that shares server resources across several hosting accounts. Shared Hosting is used as an affordable, straightforward hosting solution for the majority of websites.

[Read more…] about What is Shared Hosting?

Reseller Hosting is a hosting product that dedicates specific server resources to an administrator who can create shared hosting accounts. Reseller Hosting is typically used as a stable, affordable product for freelancers & agencies to provide to clients. It allows agencies & freelancers to generate recurring revenue via hosting, maintenance & turn-key solutions while providing clients with world-class infrastructure & technical expertise.

[Read more…] about What is Reseller Hosting?

Tired of your current hosting company and want to move?

A while back, I got really tired of GoDaddy hosting several of my small projects and decided to move many of my small websites over to HostGator*.

[Read more…] about How To Move Your WordPress Website To A New Hosting Company