3 Make or Break Features Your WordPress Host Needs to Have

WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system, powering  a vast multitude of sites in different parts of the world. That’s why it’s not surprising that web hosting companies have been offering WordPress-specialized hosting solutions. But what makes these solutions different from traditional hosting? What are the features you should be looking for as you scrutinize your options for WordPress hosting?

  1. Security Features

Because of the popularity of WordPress, it’s not surprising that myriad cyber threats have been created to attack WordPress sites. As such, it is very important for a WordPress web host to have the right  security features. In particular, web hosts should be able to provide reliable protection against DDoS attacks and network intrusion, firewall protection optimized for sites that use WordPress, the automated scanning of viruses and other malicious software, HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), user management functions, spam filters, as well as support for single sign-on (SSO) and two-factor authentication (2FA). Additionally, as part of the security system of a WordPress web host, it’s important to have automated file and database backup. It would be

To emphasize, WordPress security is not just on the part of the website. It is equally important to have the necessary features to help site users or visitors in securing their access. Attacks on WordPress websites can be through different ways and modes. It’s only logical to plug all possible means for threats to get through. Of note, not all web hosting platforms has support for SSO and two-factor authentication, something that is mainly intended for site users (the visitors/subscribers of a website) to make use of but is an important security measure website owners should seriously consider providing. As you examine your WordPress hosting options, make sure that your choice has support for SSO and 2FA.

  1. High Server Performance

Just like in the case of security, the server performance of a web host does not rely solely on one or a few features. It’s made possible by several features. The most important of which are processor speed, the number of CPU cores, RAM, and the type of storage used (RAID, HDD,. SSD, and others). if you are evaluating your web hosting options, you need to make sure that these server resources match your needs.

Many web hosting companies fondly list “high performance” as one of their service’s features. Obviously, this claim is quite vague. What constitutes high performance for some may not be the same for others. You need to look at the technical specifications to make sure that the server you will be getting is truly high performance. You may encounter PaaS/IaaS products that combine hardware and cloud data center optimization techniques along with special software useful in doing professional web development for WordPress. Examine what they offer and find out if they suit your websites’ requirements.

Moreover, it’s also worth mentioning here that many WordPress site owners nowadays tend to choose Nginx over Apache web servers, as they are generally known to offer better performance. Nginx servers also support more web traffic as compared to Apache servers that use the same hardware. There are web hosting companies that offer pre-configured Varnish Cache and Nginx. There are also those that include the option for free content distribution network integration (CloudFlare CDN in particular) to boost web server performance for static pages being accessed by a good amount of visitors in different parts of the world. These details can be confusing especially for those who are not that well-versed with the technical aspects of web hosting. This requires a bit of “digging-into”, and so it’s a good idea to educate yourself and consult some advanced materials, such as this WordPress hosting guide.

  1. Adequate Bandwidth

Lastly, it’s important to evaluate a web host’s bandwidth. This feature may seem straightforward to scrutinize but it isn’t exactly so. You can’t just base your decision on numbers such as 30GB, 100GB, 1TB, or unlimited. Likewise, you can’t just rely on what a web host says regarding the amount of bandwidth you should typically be getting. Be sure to take into account if your site has bandwidth-consuming features such as file caching, CSS/JavaScript compression, as well as CDN integration.

Also, don’t fall for the myth of unlimited web hosting. It is only mostly intended for smaller sites with minimal traffic. if your site eventually grows and gains a good amount of subscribers and visitors, expect issues with performance or expect the web host to make things difficult for you so you can be compelled to upgrade to a more expensive hosting plan. Be sure to examine the terms and conditions of the web host. You will likely find a “fair use policy” provision, which effectively defeats the whole idea of an unlimited hosting.

Adequate traffic is essential for a website, especially for a growing one. As much as possible, make sure that your host can provide an easy way for scaling up to make sure that a traffic surge becomes an advantage and not something that puts your site down.

If you were expecting top three specific web hosting features, this post apparently failed your expectation. However, it’s important to point out that it would be very difficult to limit the list here to three specific features. Security features can’t be just one specific feature. Likewise, high server performance can’t be dependent on just one particular feature. All the security, server performance, and bandwidth of a web host are “make or break” features because they directly affect the operation of a website and its ability to deal with threats and the need for growth. Essentially, these make or break features are actually not that different from the features you should primarily be paying attention to in other types of web hosting.