Things to consider when choosing WordPress hosting
WordPress underpins millions of websites around the world. However, building a successful WordPress site is not limited to writing a stylish theme or quality content. One of the most important factors that will ensure that your site runs fast, reliable and sustainable in the background is choosing the right hosting. Especially as web standards and user expectations have increased even more by 2025, it is important not to ignore some critical features when choosing WordPress hosting.
In this article, we explain all the important details in plain language and practical information under the title of things to consider when choosing WordPress hosting.
Why is custom optimized hosting for WordPress important?
Not every server is optimized for WordPress. Hosting services configured specifically for WordPress offer a huge advantage in software compatibility, security and speed. So themes, plugins and updates run smoothly.
Speed and performance: Importance for SEO and user experience
Google's algorithms use site speed as a ranking factor. Users also spend more time on fast-opening pages. With a fast hosting, both your SEO success and visitor satisfaction will increase.
Should you prefer hosting with SSD disk?
Description. SSD disks have much faster read-write times than traditional HDDs, allowing your site to load in less time. This is a direct contribution to performance.
Why is server location important?
The physical location of the server affects how long it takes for the page to load for people visiting the site. For a site based in Turkey, having the server in Turkey or nearby geography makes a big difference in terms of performance.
How much should the uptime guarantee be?
%99.9 uptime garantisi veren firmalar tercih edilmelidir. Aksi halde, siteniz sık sık erişilemez hale gelir ve bu durum hem SEO hem de marka itibarı açısından zararlıdır.
Hosting resilience in the face of heavy traffic
When there's a sudden surge of traffic to your site, your hosting service needs to be resilient. A site that slows down or crashes, especially during campaign periods or when your content goes viral, creates a loss of visitors and a poor user experience. This is why it's important to choose hosting plans that offer scalable resources.
Shared hosting, VPS, dedicated server?
- Shared Hosting: It is affordable, but performance can fluctuate as resources are shared.
- VPS (Virtual Private Server): Resources are allocated specifically for you, enabling better performance.
- Dedicated Server It provides full control and high performance, but is more expensive.
If you're a beginner, shared hosting is fine, but for medium and large projects, VPS or dedicated servers are recommended.
PHP version and WordPress compatibility
WordPress is a PHP-powered system. Current versions of PHP (e.g. PHP 8.1 and higher) are faster and more secure. Your hosting provider should at least support these versions. It is also important that they support compatible versions of the database software that WordPress requires, such as MySQL or MariaDB.
Next generation technologies such as HTTP/2, QUIC
Next generation internet protocols increase page load speed. HTTP/2 allows multiple data transfers, while QUIC reduces connection setup time. These technologies have a direct impact on SEO and improve the user experience. You should check whether your hosting provider supports these protocols.
Control panel fully compatible with WordPress
User-friendly interfaces such as cPanel, Plesk or custom WordPress panels allow you to easily manage your site. A simple and functional control panel is a great convenience, especially for beginners.
Easy one-click WordPress installation and update
One of the biggest time-saving features is the "one-click installation" option. Instead of installing WordPress manually, you can complete the installation in a few seconds through the hosting panel. Likewise, automatic updates are vital for security.
The importance of an automated backup system
Hosting plans that offer an automatic backup system should be preferred so that you can easily restore your website in case of possible data loss or hacking attacks. Daily, weekly and manual backup options keep your site safe.
SSL certificate support and free Let's Encrypt
Google marks sites with SSL certificates as "secure". At the same time, sites that use HTTPS rank higher in search engines. It is a great advantage if your hosting service offers free SSL. Let's Encrypt is one of the most preferred solutions.
Firewall (WAF) and malware protection
WordPress sites are often the target of cyber attacks. Your hosting provider should have a firewall (WAF), malware scanning, and automated threat detection systems. Such security measures will strengthen your site both in terms of SEO and protection of user data.
Measures taken against DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks can make your site inaccessible. This affects your SEO ranking badly. A quality hosting provider should offer measures against such attacks, such as traffic filtering and temporary IP blocking.
Support and ease of site migration
If you want to move your existing site to another hosting company, it is a great advantage if your new provider offers a free and technically supported migration service. In this way, you can switch to the new infrastructure without data loss.
Email services and branding advantage
Many hosting companies also offer a professional email service dedicated to your domain name (for example [email protected]). This service plays an important role in your branding and corporate image. It is also important that email servers have spam filtering and security systems.
Quality of customer service and 24/7 support
Hosting problems can happen at any time. What matters is how quickly these problems are responded to. A customer service infrastructure that is available 24/7, experienced and can offer support in Turkish can be a lifesaver, especially in emergencies.
User reviews and reputation of the hosting company
One of the best ways to find out which hosting provider is reliable is through user reviews. Through independent forums, blogs or social media reviews, you can find out how well a company performs in terms of speed, support and security.
Cache support and its impact on site speed
The cache system allows visitors to open your page faster. This feature both improves the user experience and contributes positively to Google's algorithms for evaluating site speed. It is an advantage if your hosting provider offers server-based cache support.
Global performance increase with CDN integration
If your site receives visitors not only from Turkey but also worldwide, CDN (Content Delivery Network) integration is a must. This system allows your site to load faster in different locations. Hosting companies that support CDN services such as Cloudflare should be preferred.
Compatibility with SEO plugins (Rank Math, Yoast)
If you use SEO plugins on your WordPress site (for example Rank Math or Yoast), your hosting infrastructure must be compatible with these plugins and run smoothly. Hosting panels that allow edits to URL redirects, .htaccess and robots.txt files provide a great advantage at this point.
Editable .htaccess and robots.txt files
Important for SEO, these two files tell search engine bots how your site should be crawled. Your hosting service should have a file manager that allows easy editing of these files. Otherwise, search engine indexing may be limited.
Frequency of backups and ease of restoration
While many hosting providers offer automatic backups, what really matters is how often these backups are taken and whether they can be easily restored. An ideal hosting plan should offer daily backups and a one-click restore option.
User-friendliness of the hosting control panel interface
The more understandable and practical your dashboard is, the easier it is to manage your site. Complex interfaces can cause time loss and incorrect operations for new users. Especially panels with Turkish language support are a great advantage for local users.
Resource consumption limits and flexibility
Some hosting companies impose restrictions on CPU, RAM or inode (file size) limits. If these limits are too low, your site will often slow down or go down. Hosting plans that offer flexible resource utilization are more advantageous in this regard.
Hosting provider's support for scalability
As your business or visitor numbers grow, your hosting needs may change. For this reason, your provider should easily offer opportunities such as plan upgrades and resource increases. It is important that this transition process is seamless and without data loss.
Money-back guarantee and trial period
If a good hosting company is confident in their service, they usually offer a 7-30 day money-back guarantee. If you're not satisfied with the service within this period, you can get a refund. Some companies also offer trial or free plans, which is a good opportunity to evaluate.
Whether WordPress has multisite support
If you plan to build more than one WordPress site, you should choose a hosting with multisite support. This way, you can manage all your sites from a single control panel. Especially for agencies and e-commerce projects, this feature is a lifesaver.
Best WordPress hosting providers recommendations
Here are some prominent quality hosting companies for WordPress in Turkey and globally:
- TR companies: Veridyen, Guzel Hosting, Alastyr, Turhost
- Global firms: SiteGround, Bluehost, Cloudways, WPX Hosting
These companies offer successful options in terms of speed, support and SEO compatibility.
Dedicated hosting is not essential, but WordPress-optimized hosting offers higher performance and security.
Yes, it is often slow and limited in resources. Reliability suffers and SEO is negatively affected.
A server closer to the visitor ensures a lower load time, which has a positive impact on SEO.
Not if done correctly. But it can affect if the URL structure changes or if there is a long outage.
It is enough for beginners. But for high traffic sites, resource constraints can negatively affect SEO.
Speeds of 100 MB/second and above are sufficient for modern sites. However, this can be further optimized with a CDN and cache system.
The last tips you shouldn't miss when choosing your hosting
Choosing WordPress hosting determines the future of your website. The right choice brings speed, security, SEO performance and user satisfaction together. When deciding, consider not only price, but also technical features, user reviews, and quality of support.
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