If you are hip on the blogging scene, then no doubt you’ve heard of WordPress. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms around. Likewise, it has become something of a phenomenon as webhosts are now offering WordPress-specific webhosting. The question is- should you go for a generalized host or a WordPress-specific host?
Common Features In WordPress Hosts
First and foremost, WordPress users want a platform that is easy to install. This means that advanced editing of configuration files is out of the question- and webhosts know it. Even general webhosts give access to auto-installers for WordPress, so the initial installation shouldn’t be what worries bloggers.
When it comes to security, bloggers prefer WordPress-specific webhosts. This is mainly due to the fact that when important security releases are circulated, normal webhosts aren’t always the first to get their auto-installers updated with the new information. WordPress-specific webhosts are much more “on the ball” in this sense, as they are always kept updated on new releases.
Where general webhosts tend to fail bloggers is in the upgrade category. Auto-installers such as Fantastico (packaged with cPanel) offer easy ways to upgrade, but the configurations, themes, plugins, and other content will be lost in the upgrade as files are overwritten. Clearly, WordPress specific hosts get the win here, since they take previously configured files into account when upgrading.
Anyone WordPress user that has been on the front page of websites such as Digg.com know that with excessive demand comes downtime. This is because WordPress is database driven- meaning that if a lot of people are on your blog at the same time, it is bound to go down. WordPress-specific webhosts take this into effect and offer better performance and efficiency at the database level.
Added Benefit For Bloggers
One of the biggest benefits of WordPress hosts is the fact that they tend to offer free content to WordPress users. You shouldn’t be surprised to see free WordPress themes, plugins, and content from these webhosts. Try finding these benefits from normal webhosts- odds are you won’t.
The biggest benefit to webmasters in this case is the exclusivity of the themes that WordPress webhosts provide. Since the themes aren’t open to the general public, there will be very few blogs on the Internet that have the same theme as you do. This will help blog owners to brand their domain name and company identity with ease.
Compared to the exclusivity of other methods, such as getting a custom design laid out and coded, the webhosting route is much cheaper. Getting custom designs can easily run hundreds of dollars, and sometimes that isn’t counting the coding of the design!
When we add the score up, it seems that the WordPress hosts come out on top. But be sure to get quotes from several sources before making your decision. After all, a website is only as good as its host!
