I will share few things you want to look while choosing a web hosting company for your first WordPress website.
Reliability
Look for how long company has been around and wheter they are still evolving.
You can find this information by searching company name on Google.
Do they have a good reputation? Do they actually deliver what they promise? What is their Uptime?
Security
When setting up your WordPress website, you want to get seen and sell your products and services.
Having a secure website is very important. It will give you peace of mind and is good for your brand.
There are many things good web host can do for you.
SSL Certificate
A secure socket layer is used to create a secure connection.
It will be seen in your browser as https://instead of only http:// and this s stands for SSL security layer means that information between your website and the user will be encrypted.
If anyone will try to capture this data they will not be able to read it.
While having http://without s means that everything will be sent as is in text format which means that it is readable.
You don’t want anything personal to be delivered this way on your website.
Firewall protection
A web application firewall (WAF) is a security system that uses a set of rules to filter and monitor http traffic between applications and the internet(users)
Antimalware protection
Protects against malware attacks.
Speed
In 2023 having fast loading website is very important. Users tend to be busy and have low attention span. If they can’t access your website in 2 sec. they will bounce.
Support
Especially in the beginning, you may need some help this is why having a good, reliable web hosting company is so important.
Hosting a company that is big enough, high quality, and growing will put resources into customer service because they know if you grow, they grow. It is easier for them to keep customers happy than look for new customers.
Make sure that you will have access to support with live chat, phone, or email.
Always stay away from services that don’t have proper support.
Easy to use
Especially when you are beginner go with hosting that is easy to use.
I personally use Hostinger.
Domains
Sometimes you get a free domain for a year when you purchase a web hosting plan for a year.
As example Hostinger web hosting plan for multiple websites includes free domain for a year!
You can also in many cases buy a domain name from your web hosting company.
Or point your existing domain to your web hosting servers (you are not forced to buy a domain name).
It is important to have a professional-looking email and you want it to be included.
Storage and bandwidth
How much space you get and how many visitors you can handle is meaningful. Don’t get into the trap of free web hosting or very low pricing.
Low pricing may mean limiting features, issues with security, way too little employess, no customer support, limited storage and bandwith.
It is important to take these things into consideration especially you plan to grow, have a lot of content, images, and lots of visitors.