At first glance, it may seem easy to choose the best. Although, in reality, it’s quite a frustrating process when you don’t have pointers that could help you decide what is the best choice for you. So, let’s get straight into it.

The first thing to check is if the host, which you’re considering to use, meets recommended requirements for WordPress support:

• PHP 7.3+. In this case, I would recommend PHP 7.4. WordPress websites present faster execution times and less memory usage when using PHP 7.4, compared with previous versions. Just make sure that your WordPress theme and plugins are updated for the recent release. Also, it’s worth mentioning that PHP 7.4 comes with many other exciting features.
• MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.1+. Make sure that your potential host uses a secure and high performing relational database management system (RDBMS). An industry-standard like MySQL or MariaDB with its cutting edge features like GIS support should do the trick.
• HTTPS support (SSL/TLS). HTTPS is a secure extension of HTTP. Websites that install and configure an SSL/TLS certificate can use the HTTPS protocol to establish a secure connection with the server. The goal of SSL/TLS is to make it safe and secure to transmit sensitive information, including personal data, payment, or login information. SSL/TLS is a must whenever confidential information such as usernames and passwords or payment processing information is being transferred.
• LiteSpeed web servers (LSWS). I would definitely recommend this, although it isn’t a requirement. LSWS increases the performance and scalability of web hosting platforms through its event-driven architecture. So, it has the capability of serving thousands of clients simultaneously with a minimum usage of server resources such as memory and CPU. To put a cherry on top – WordPress has the LiteSpeed Cache plugin developed by LiteSpeed engineers. It vastly improves the loading speed of your website.

Since many of the hosts meet these recommended requirements, it shouldn’t be hard for you to find an attractive web host. After you’ve done that, there are other things to check:

• Price. Keep in mind that you don’t need to choose the most expensive hosting or plan to get the best quality. There are hosting providers that are perfect for WordPress hosting, and for a simple website that doesn’t require many resources, you can get a deal from KES550/month. So, your budget doesn’t have to be huge!
• Uptime. One of the most influential aspects when choosing a web host. What you should settle for is a host with an uptime of at least 99.9%.
• Support. Time to time, things get complicated or confusing. In this case, hosting providers have customer support agents who do their best to help you out. What you should look for is if they provide 24/7 live chat support. I believe that this kind of support is the most effective when solving technical problems. Sharing structured, easy to read instructions, making it easy for a client to follow, even without much technical knowledge.
• Easy WordPress installation. If you’re merely a beginner, using a CMS could be overwhelming. So, it’s a bonus if a hosting provider offers WordPress auto-installer. Just fill the required fields and click “Install”!
• WordPress tutorials. Some web hosts got your back on that part – many WordPress and web hosting related tutorials (*). Not a must but a good thing to have within a hand’s reach.

(*) Artkenya hosting includes a full suite of WordPress video tutorials.

Artkenya hosting meets all of the above requirements. Click here to check out our competitive hosting plans.

The last thing left to do is to choose the right plan for your website. It isn’t too hard of a task when you know what each plan is best used for:

• Shared hosting. The most popular type of hosting. It isn’t the best option for websites receiving lots of traffic but a really excellent and cheap choice for blogging and small businesses.
• VPS hosting. With Virtual Private Server (VPS) you get dedicated server space, so it’s a more secure and stable solution than shared hosting. However, it’s smaller-scale and cheaper than renting an entire server. Perfect for high-traffic blogs and established websites.
• Cloud hosting. This type of hosting uses multiple different servers to balance the load and maximize uptime. This means that if one server fails, another kicks in to keep everything running. The main benefits of cloud hosting include a significant focus on uptime, isolated resources, easy scaling, and a dedicated IP address. If a website is mission-critical, meaning that the company can’t function without it, then cloud hosting is a good idea. It’s also chosen by many e-commerce stores, lead generation sites, corporate websites and high-traffic projects.

Artkenya offers all of these hosting plans (VPS hosting on request). In addition, we offer ‘Managed Web Hosting’ on our Cloud server, which includes a full suite of maintenance, SEO and security tasks.

In the end, it all comes to many choices when trying to discover the best. As you can see, there are numerous things to consider, but it’s well worth it to dedicate time for some research and make sure that your website is in the care of the most significant web hosting company you could find. Hopefully, this answer will aid you in finding the best fit for your project.

Go ahead and contact us today to find out more about web hosting, email hosting and web development!