Types of Hosting
Once you have got set up with your domain for starting up your site, the next step is to find a service provider to host your domain.
There are four main types of hosting prevalent today
– Shared (okay for small online stores, higher downtimes, very little scalability or traffic handling capabilities)
– VPS (your own store corner in a shared server, much better than Shared hosting, less traffic spike handling)
– Dedicated (dedicated server for only your website, costly but good, best for brands/corporations)
– Cloud (latest in technology, lot of scalability and options available, costly)
Why Shared or VPS for Starting off on Woocommerce
It takes time to build a steady sales funnel for any web store, and is your woocommerce site is no different, unless you are coming in with a high budgeted marketing plan in place, or transitioning from an offline-only model.
Hence, the major focus is on selecting hosting that has :
– comparatively high uptimes (99%+)
– good support base
– good user ecosystem
but, lastly and most importantly,
– is price effective and has excellent value for money
That is why Shared and VPS hosting are the two best options to go for in the initial stages, it’s also easier to install wordpress and deploy a woocommerce store from them easier.
We are not looking at Dedicated Hosting, or really good cloud based solutions, namely, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud, because of price sensitivity and less requirement for added sophistication. However, as mentioned above, if you expect steady high traffic from the get go, Cloud based hosting is your best option.
Shared Hosting for woocommerce
You should opt to go for Shared hosting if :
– You are looking for an extremely cost effective solution
– Testing out your idea for traction is important to you, and if it will take some time before your sales start coming in
– You are looking for easy upgradation if required
– You can compromise on user experience on your site slightly in the initial months
It should be noted that shared hosting sites come at the bottom of the value chain for the providers – hence, the quality of uptime, as well as support expected would go down significantly.
However, there are a couple of shared hosting providers you can definitely look at, to test out the initial stages of your website, before you move on to better things.
VPS Hosting
You should opt to go for VPS hosting if :
– You are looking for a cost effective alternative to shared hosting with much better performance
– You don’t want to compromise on UX, also, not lose sales due to downtimes
– You are looking for easy upgradation if required
VPS is a much better performance and cost alternative to Shared Hosting, and not many people can afford dedicated or cloud.
That being said, here are our three best choices in Shared or VPS hosting that would make your stores run smoothly and give you less headaches down the line, compared to the thousands of people ranting on support and community forums of websites.
Option 1 - LINODE VPS
Linode is a developer-friendly VPS service providers, based on Linux.
PROS
– Performance wise, Linode is a great choice
– WordPress application direct installation. functionality is there
– Cost is extremely affordable – their Nanode plan for 1 GB RAM and 25 GB storage starts from only 5$/month
– Terrific for developers with UNIX knowledge, configurations can be greatly customised
– Support is good for a tech company, response is okay in TAT and resolution
CONS
– People from a non-technical background find it a bit daunting to use Linode, but since wordpress comes as an application, it won’t be much of a problem here
Linode’s standard plans are as follows (apart from the Nanode plan) :
We believe that Linode is the most cost effective, and performance wise the best choice, for any woocommerce store starting off.
Option 2 - SITEGROUND SHARED
Siteground has a wide range of offerings in the hosting space – they have been around for a while, and the overall market feedback is good.
PROS
– Well documented high uptime – they have a 99.9% uptime guarantee
– One of the few providers in this segment to have good performance constantly
– Cost is extremely affordable – their plans start at 4$ monthly for the first year
– Good support system
CONS
– Their rates become nearly 3x from the second year onwards
Siteground’s standard plans are as follows :
All things and options considered, we believe that Siteground has the best to offer when looking at shared hosting providers.
Option 3 - VULTR VPS
Vultr is a VPS provider with multiple OS and hosting plans available, as well as application-based hosting, which means that you can install stores based on woocommerce in WordPress, with a single click.
PROS
– Single click WordPress install
– Costing is very cheap, starting at 5$/month with 1 GB RAM/1000 GB Bandwidth, which is crazy
– Downtimes are low, although they have scheduled maintenance from time to time
– Lots of upgrades available
– Installation is very easy, works even if you are a complete programming dud
CONS
– Support is not that good, responses can be a bit not up to the mark, in our personal experience
Here is a look at the various options for Vultr :
While Vultr can be a mixed bag sometimes due to support, we have run multiple websites on Vultr, and we haven’t had much to complain about in regard to downtimes or service.
What’s more, you can sign up with the link below and get a special 100$ discount on your hosting fees, valid for 30 days.
So, in short, you can try out any plan for free for the first month.
Happy Building!
Do let us know if we can help, or if you have any questions. We are happy to help!
If you are looking for custom services, do check out our Services tab for solutions. We have tailor made long-term offerings for start-ups, personal projects, SMEs and brands; as well as standalone deployments.