Is WordPress a web host? is a commonly asked question by users. It is not, it is a Content Management System based on PHP and MySQL. It is open source software and has a template system and plug-in architecture among its features. WordPress started in 2003 and has since then grown to be largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world and is used by millions of websites all over the world. WordPress is a very powerful blogging and website Content Management System.
Benefits of WordPress
There are a number of benefits of using WordPress hosting services. The first advantage of using a Word Press web host is the ease of use clients get from using WordPress in their business hosting. This is because WordPress is very simple to use and has an intuitive interface. Another advantage that comes from using WordPress web hosting is the fact that it allows a user to manage their websites from any computer, anywhere in the world. This is mainly because WordPress is browser based. Another benefit of using WordPress is fact that it does not need HTML editing software. This makes it very easy to create blog posts, new pages, upload images, documents, and video and image galleries along with many others.
WordPress web hosting themes are also included in this CMS. Another advantage is fact that code behind WordPress is simple, which makes it very easy for search engines to read and index content in any given site. On top of that, every post, image, and post can have its own description, and title, and can be optimized for specific keywords, which in turn allows for more precise search engine optimization. Another advantage of using WordPress is it ensures that design of your website is customizable. This is because WordPress acts as an engine for your site, thus the look and feel of the site can be 100% customized to suit your specific need.
Since WordPress is originally created as a blogging platform, WordPress has blogging capabilities built in and which are very easy integrated. Web hosts for WordPress also offer users ability to extend the functionality of your website with plugins. These plug-ins help users to add video galleries, Facebook Fan Box and many more. Scalability is another advantage that comes with using WordPress. This is because with WordPress blog web hosting, you will be able to grow your site as your business grows, therefore, even with an increase in your blog posts and pages, the performance of your site will be maintained.
WordPress web hosts also allow you as the administrator of a WordPress site, to set up multiple users for your website along with assignment of access levels and capabilities to every user.
Selecting Best WordPress Hosting
There are several factors that you should take into consideration when choosing a web host for WordPress. This is because you must ensure that you choose the best WordPress hosting provider to suit your WordPress web hosting needs. Primarily, the best blog web-hosting provider should offer you support for MySQL version 5.0 or greater and PHP version 5.2.4 or greater (recommended: PHP 5.4 or greater). Apache or Nginx as the most recommended because they are robust and has many features. On top of that, you must also look for a provider that offers an affordable WordPress web-hosting package for you.
You must also look at the other web hosting features that a web hosting company offers on top of WordPress hosting. Looking at WordPress web hosting reviews from other users is another good way of finding the most preferred WordPress web host.
The requirement of WordPress Hosting
For you to be able to use WordPress there are some requirements that you must meet. You must firstly be using a server that supports MySQL version 5.0 or greater and PHP version 5.2.4 or greater. However, Apache or Nginx is the most recommended severs because they are robust and have many features.
Installation Of WordPress
Installing WordPress is very easy and can be done in a few easy steps. The first step is to visit the official download page and download WordPress. It is important to make sure that you download and install the latest stable version of WordPress. The next step is to upload the extracted files and folders onto your server, which is done easiest via FTP. After that, you need to create a MySQL database and ensure that you have assigned a user to this database with full permissions, once you have done this; you need to make a note of the database name, database username, and password created since you will need them during the installation process.
Navigation to your website in order to start the installation process is the final step. If you uploaded WordPress in the public_html directory then you have to go to http://yourdomain.com and you will get a message informing you that you do not have a wp-config.php file and you should create one. Here you just click the Create a Configuration File button to proceed.
After you have created this page, you will get another message asking you to prepare the necessary information for the installation after which you only need to click on the Go button. You will then enter the details for the MySQL database you created and click on Submit, after which you will see a confirmation screen and click Run. The next screen will require you to enter your administrative username and title of your new site and then click on Install WordPress. Ensure that you should specify a real email address since it can later be used in case you forget your password.
WordPress is open source software that means it is free. It, therefore, can be used by anyone who wants to use it from any part of the world.