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Things to Consider When Choosing a Host

Before we get into which domain hosts are our favorites, let’s touch on a couple of the biggest issues you want to keep in mind when looking for a host for your website.

Easy WordPress Installation

Managed hosting comes with tools that make it really easy to install WordPress. Without giving a second to it host will Install WordPress to your hosting.

Faster Site Loading

Managed hosting often results in faster site loading speeds, because of specific server settings that are optimized for WordPress.

Updates and Backups

This is probably the biggest one. All relevant updates are automatically loaded to your site, and your content is periodically backed up in case your site gets hacked.

Security

Your site should be more secure with managed hosting since the security features are also optimized for WordPress.

Optimized For Speed

Elementor is a pretty resource-intensive theme Builder. All of that customizability and the wide array of options it gives you as a website builder can come at a price.

Caching

To keep it brief, caching is where a static version of your website is stored on the server, so that visitors can access your site without making WordPress go through the time-intensive process of retrieving data from your MySQL database every single time. If you didn’t understand that, don’t worry. Just understand that caching makes your website load way faster. Some hosting services automatically cache your data, others don’t (in which case, you’ll need to install a caching plugin).

Recommended Settings to Optimize website

for the Best Possible Performance

Regardless of which hosting service you ultimately choose, it’s a good idea to make sure that your server is configured for the best possible performance. Here are the recommended server settings for elementor builder:

✓ PHP version 7 or greater

✓memory_limit 256M

✓ post_max_size 128M

✓ max_execution_time 180

✓ upload_max_filesize 256M

✓ max_input_time 600

✓ max_input_vars 5000

✓ MySQL version 5.6 or greater OR

✓ MariaDB version 10.0 or greater

✓ HTTPS support

✓ Nginx OR Apache with mod_rewrite module

The Best Hosting Services

Already Hosted 749+ websites using our recommendations

1. Siteground

SiteGround was founded back in 2004 and has become one of the biggest names in website hosting. They’re 2nd cheaper on this list, and for the price, SiteGround is a very compelling option.

Best Features

Affordable:

Their cheapest managed WordPress hosting option comes in at $11.95/month, but with frequent specials, it can be had even cheaper.

Customer support:

Like WPEngine, SiteGround has a great reputation for customer support.

Free CDN:

Every SiteGround plan comes with Cloudflare CDN. This is a pretty spectacular bonus when you consider the low price you’re paying, and it helps keep SiteGround competitive with more expensive options when it comes to speed.

Lots of websites:

The $11.95/month plan only includes 1 website, but upgrade to $19.95/month (or above) and you get unlimited websites. Again, that’s a pretty startling value for the price.
Downsides

Limited storage:

SiteGround caps the amount of storage that can be used in each plan. For many small websites like a personal blog, this is fine. But for others, like image-heavy sites, it can be a problem.

Not a dedicated managed WP host:

Unlike the other choices on this list, they are not specialists in managed WordPress hosting — it’s just one of the many hats they wear.

Who’s it Right For?
  • Need managed hosting on a budget
  • Small websites that won’t scale too fast
  • Anyone looking to try out the managed hosting
2. Bluehost
Bluehost is known or famous for its amazing blazing fast speed and their great customer support not ending with this. They do have more amazing features that make them unique. If iotexdigital recommends any host personally then this is the one.

Best Features

Affordable:

Their cheapest web hosting option comes in at $3.95/month, in fact, one of the cheapest and fastest hosting in the market.

Customer support:

Like WPEngine, SiteGround, Bluehost has a great reputation for customer support and they are having 24/7 customer service.

Lots of websites:

The $3.95/month plan only includes 1 website, but upgrade to $5.85/month (or above) and you get unlimited websites. Again, that’s a pretty startling value for the price.
Downsides

Less Control over Data Backups:

They do have an automatic data backup for websites hosted on Bluehost but to get you to need to contact their support as you will have less access to get the data.
Who’s it Right For?
  • Need managed hosting on a budget
  • Small websites and medium websites.
  • Anyone looking to try out the web hosting and wants to play with speed.
  • Anyone who wants the Gtmetrix or Pingdom result 90+. 
3. Flywheel
Like WPEngine, Flywheel also only does managed WordPress hosting. But they’re even more niche-focused, billing themselves specifically as “Managed WP hosting for designers and agencies.”

Best Features

Affordable:

With plans starting at $14/month, Flywheel won’t break the bank.

Very focused:

Like we mentioned above, Flywheel takes it to another level with their niche focus. If you’re a designer or have your own agency, this is sure to catch your eye.

Useful add-ons:

Flywheel provides truly useful project collaboration tools, templates, and site blueprints, all really compelling add-ons for designers and agencies..
Downsides

Pay for CDN:

If you want to optimize your site for the fastest possible speed, it’s going to cost you more.

Multisite plans are expensive:

You only get one site with their basic plans. In order to have more than one WordPress install, you have to buy one of the professional plans, which get pricey fast (but could be totally worth it if you’re doing good business as a designer or agency).

Who’s it Right For?
  • Just like their branding says, if you’re a designer or you run an agency, it’s definitely worth checking out Flywheel.
4. Wp Engine
WPEngine is considered by many to be the gold standard in managed WordPress hosting for website owners looking to scale up and move out of the budget category. And even a couple of years ago, we probably would have agreed. It’s an excellent option for many WordPress users looking for premium hosting.

Best Features

Fast loading times:

WPEngine is a very well-built, truly premium hosting platform, and it shows when it comes to speed, in part due to the automatic caching function.

World class customer support:

WPEngine takes customer support seriously. Really seriously. They have a hard-earned reputation as one of the best (if not the best) in this area.

Specialized:

They specialize in managed WordPress hosting. It’s all they do, and they’re really good at it.
Downsides

Price:

This is among the most expensive options out there, and this is one of the biggest reasons we have them at last.

Single site:

You only get one WordPress installation with their lowest tier, and it quickly gets very expensive if you want to add more sites.

CDN is free/pay:

WPEngine has a great CDN, but it’s only free for the first 1000GB sent every month. After that, you’re getting charged.
Who’s it Right For?
  • Enterprise sites (due to its security, scalability, and speed)
  • Sites that need large bandwidth

Final thoughts – iotexdigital Rating

There is certainly no shortage of website hosting options currently available, and this list doesn’t cover every possible option. Choosing a host is all about choosing the best one for you. By following the list above, you should be able to do just that.

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SiteGround Rated 9/10

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Bluehost Rated 9.5/10

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Flywheel Rated 8.8/10

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Wpengine Rated 9.7/10