What to Look for in a Host: Choosing a WordPress Host Q & A

At one of our past meetups, the questions about hosting plans and providers almost took over the scheduled talk, so I figured it might not be a bad time to just focus a talk completely on Hosting & Hosting providers. We'll discuss:
- What do YOU need in a hosting plan (not everyone is the same)
- What to look for & what to avoid
- Recommendations and Reviews

We'll also arrange to have plenty of time to discuss the questions that you folks normally have regarding hosting.

Video for this presentation: https://youtu.be/8T57JQWMOHI

Transcript

1. What to Look for in a Host Choosing a WordPress Host: Q & A WordPress St. Petersburg
2. Jim True Support Lead & Community Manager
 Pods Framework pods.io | @podsframework jimtrue.com | @jimtrue
3. Who has raised a Baby?
4. What are some things a Baby Needs? NAME
 Birth Certificate ID
 Social Security # ADDRESS Place to receive mail
 Know who to contact if lost HOME Shelter & Place
 to Grow Safely HEALTH Food & Nourisment
 Balanced Diet SUPPORT Medical Attention,
 Protection
5. Your Website is Kinda like your baby
6. Things your Baby Web Needs NAME
 Domain Name 
 lucas-spider.com ID
 IP address ADDRESS Name Services/DNS HOME Web Hosting HEALTH High Speed Network
 & Web Server/DB SUPPORT 24/7 Tech Support Backups & Virus Protection
7. Name: Domain Name Registration • Business, Personal or Brand in the name: Must Be Unique • Extensions (.com, .net, .org, etc.) some are restricted but lots have been added just to help with ‘uniqueness’ • Year to Year Registrations (renewal terms can be longer) • Prices vary: $9.99 - $15 - $25+, Annually
 Premium Domain Extensions can cost much more lucas-spider.org That’s not my address!
8. Name: Name Search Tools • WHOIS: Tracks Names, Expiry Dates, Registrants & Contacts
 Official: whois.icann.org • InstantDomainSearch.com, NameMesh.com • Almost all Website Hosts provide some form of Domain Registration & WHOIS Searching • Requirement: Name Services (Points your Name to your Address) • Beware the UPSELL and the Name Brokers (Fake WHOIS)
9. Top 5 Name Registrars* • GoDaddy: Add on’s obviously & Hosting • BlueHost: Addon’s & Hosting • HostGator: Addon’s & Hosting • NameCheap: Free Domain Privacy • domain.com: Domain Privacy, Bulk Registration & Transfers • BuyDomains: Broker House selling Premium Domain Names * From WPBeginner: 
 https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-choose-the-best-domain-registrar/
10. ID & Address: Internet GPS/Post Office Get you from: tampabay.org TO 104.28.28.88
11. Name Servers (& DNS): How? https://www.youtube.com/c/LucastheSpider That’s where I live! Name Servers (DNS)
 Lookup “youtube.com" for it’s IP address
 (the host) Host for YouTube:
 Looks up the rest of the Address HI!
12. Nameservers: What you need to know • Your Host should give you the Names of their Nameservers to change at your Domain Registration, since Nameservers are configured with the Domain Name. • Some Hosts have no Name Servers or CName Registration (lucas-the-spider.wpengine.com) so you need another service like CloudFlare (free for one domain) • Most Hosts know how to help you configure your Name Servers, so don’t sweat it: Ask for Help!
13. Home: Web Hosting SHARED VPS DEDICATED 3 Primary Types
14. Web Hosting: Shared Community Swimming Pool
15. Web Hosting: Shared No Splash Protection, $
16. Web Hosting: VPS Sectioned Swimming Pool
17. Web Hosting: VPS Easily Accommodate Growth, $$
18. Web Hosting: Dedicated Private Pool
19. Web Hosting: Dedicated No one bugs you, $$$$
20. Health: All the Tech Stuff • Good Network Connectivity & Fast Hardware • Strong Stable Database: MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.0+ • Strong Stable Web Servers: Apache or Nginx (some Windows, but not as common for WordPress) • Strong Stable Programming/Scripting Environment: 
 PHP 7.2+ Suggested > Should be EASY to switch • Interface/Client Dashboard: Cpanel (ugh!), Database phpMyAdmin, SSH, SFTP/FTP, GIT • STAGING Copies and Management!
21. Support: Backups & Uptime • Daily Backups and Documented Backup Retention • One Click Backup & Restore On Demand • Backup Includes FILES & Database • You can manage these yourself: Updraft, BackupBuddy, etc. • Uptime Guarantees or at least reporting • Uptime Monitoring: uptime.com
22. Support: Human IT Staff • Multiple Contact Methods: Email, Live Chat & Phone • Coverage: 24/7/365? Holidays? • Responsiveness & Knowledge: • Do they know WordPress? • Do they know Databases, etc? • Friendliness Matters: Check out their PreSales Support
23. Managed WP Hosting • Handle all the WordPress Upgrades (not your plugins unless there are issues) • Typically VPS or Dedicated Servers • One-Click Staging Copies and One Click Staging to Production • One Click WordPress Installs • No Email, Domain Registration or anything else: Focus on WordPress
24. Required Recommendations • PHP 7.2+, MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.0+, 
 https support* • FREE SSL (since it’s now required), easy to configure • FREE Backups (if not user generated, should be daily and include your files & your database). • Support: Phone, Email & Live Chat • NO Penalties for Changing Hosts, NO Hidden Fees https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/
25. What’s the Best WP Host for YOU? https://www.wpbeginner.com/wordpress-hosting/
26. Top 5 WordPress Hosts* https://www.wpbeginner.com/wordpress-hosting/
27. What’s the Best Managed Host for YOU? https://www.wpbeginner.com/managed-wordpress-hosting/
28. Top 5 Managed WordPress Hosts* https://www.wpbeginner.com/managed-wordpress-hosting/
29. End-Users: Things to Beware! • Maintain Ownership of your Domain! • Make Sure you KNOW who your Web Server Host is and that you can talk to them yourself. • Beware Mom & Pop Web Hosting or Developers who will host you: What happens if they win the lottery or get hit by the bus? • Final Note: You should be able to quit your web developer (and they you) at any time and you shouldn’t lose your website just because that happens.
30. Developers: Things to Beware! • You should be able to get to Server Logs without having to write an Act of Congress. DDoS and other bad people are out there and you shouldn’t be charged when something outside your control happens • Backups: YOU should have control over them and be able to initiate restores. • Beware the UpSell and Beware the ‘well we fixed it, but don’t know what was wrong.’ Ask for explanations when there is downtime.
31. Questions?
32. Thank You! https://www.youtube.com/c/LucastheSpider