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WordPress. Veiled in misconceptions and confusion, the digital masterpiece has managed to captivate almost 27 percent of the entire internet. In other words, the CMS is dominating the whole web space and this trend seems to be set to continue.
But why is this? How did WordPress manage to become the number one choice of both, amateurs and professionals?
We’ve always been persistent on why you should use WordPress and the reasons are numerous. From comprehensibility to customizability, from responsiveness to creative liberation, almost every aspect of the CMS allows users to develop their ideas as precisely as possible.
Moreover, WordPress is suitable for virtually all web users who can either cautiously wade into the water or dive in head first. Whichever their choice is, learning is inevitable.
Nevertheless, when it comes to creating a WordPress website, a question usually arises. Do I need web hosting for WordPress or can I do without it?
Difference Between wordpress.com, wordpress.org, and WordPress web hosting?
First of all, prior to answering this question, we need to clear out the difference between using actual web hosting and using the platforms of wordpress.com or wordpress.org.
WORDPRESS.ORG
When using wordpress.org you can launch a website by directly downloading a software which enables you to host it with your own server.
This means that from their website you can download free software helping you create, customize and simultaneously add and integrate plugins. All of this, however, comes with both benefits and drawbacks.
Upsides: Two are the main upsides of using this option: it’s free and you can even monetize it.
Downsides: The downsides, on the other hand, are a little more complicated. Since the whole responsibility of downloading and configuring the website is on you, you will need to take your time to get your website online. This also means that you will still need a separate hosting plan in order for your website to be hosted online. Combine this with the technical knowledge in HTML and PHP required to configure and integrate the website and you’ll see where this is going.
WORDPRESS.COM
When it comes to wordpress.com, there’s a slight difference in the creative process. While you still get the CMS for free, your website is hosted on WordPress’ servers. This may lead to some expected hiccups.
Upsides: There is no need for looking for separate hosting as wordpress.com will host the website for you.
Downsides: The free plan provides users only with a subdomain such as mywebsite.wordpress.com. While this might be fine for some, there is a reason why big companies use domains owned by them. Also, when using this service, you lack a complete ownership of your website. This also results in limited resources and most importantly, annoying wordpress.com advertising on free websites.
WORDPRESS WEB HOSTING
What differentiates web hosting companies from the two options mentioned above is their focus. With hosting providers, the main aim is providing as many resources as their users could ever need for their web projects. This includes disk space, traffic, and customization. And all of this needs to be served with a hot price.
Upsides: With free web hosting you can create your WordPress website with zero investment. Meaning that you enjoy all the required resources for a beginning website without having to break the bank. Moreover, installing the CMS can be as easy as clicking a button when you use the Zacky Installer. All of this provides a much more consistent and facilitated experience to both, beginners and professionals. Once the website has grown and has begun driving a larger traffic, you can easily upgrade to a premium WordPress hosting. With WordPress hosting being specifically optimized to host WordPress websites, users can enjoy a large number of features suiting their needs.
Downsides: Here again, you will only receive a subdomain when using the free plan. This can be a satisfactory option when just starting but once you decide to build a brand and acquire more credibility, purchasing a premium web hosting plan + free domain can be as low as $0.25 /month!
Do I Need Web Hosting for WordPress?
Now that we’ve arrived at the planned destination, we can easily find the answer to the question “Do I need web hosting for WordPress?”. And the answer is yes.
With the three options for creating a WordPress website we’ve mentioned, it has become clear that whatever you go with, you will need to have a hosting space. While this is quite self-evident, the question of which hosting alternative to choose can be decisive.
A web hosting provider has the responsibility to take care of the well-being of your hosting service and will, therefore, apply measures to protect your security and privacy. Going with a web hosting provider usually ensures the best price-quality ratio as it will offer a wide range of plans suiting the diversity of your prospective needs at a reasonable cost.
Final Thoughts
Even though WordPress has become the leading choice for web users, when it comes to creating and maintaining websites there is still a lot of misunderstanding. One of the leading questions is whether one needs web hosting for WordPress.
While the numerous options for creating a WordPress website overflood users, there are some clear benefits of trusting a WordPress optimized web hosting plan. Web hosting providers usually offer a cost-efficient service which aims to tailor the features
Once the plan is chosen and purchased, creating a website is a couple of steps ahead. And therefore, the digital journey you’ve embarked on is just about to begin.
