Why you need a self hosted WordPress website
Self hosted WordPress websites are the best choice for serious business owners who value control, advanced customization capabilities, and growth options. From Wix to Weebly, Shopify to Squarespace – decide to build a website and you’ll be offered tons of advice on which platform to use. Here are a few reasons why WordPress.org is still preferred.
What is a self hosted WordPress website?
60% of websites that use a content management system are now built in WordPress. There are nearly 20 blog posts published on WordPress sites every second of the day. Its easy interface makes WordPress popular with the less technical crowd, while the powerful customization capabilities make it a designer and developer’s dream.
Be aware, though, that WordPress.com and WordPress.org are different and only WordPress.org is self hosted with full customization control. It’s common for beginners to be excited about WordPress and start building a website on WordPress.com, only to run into design limitations and unexpected monthly costs. The WordPress.org open source software is free, but does not run on a built-in platform. To use it, you need hosting space and a domain name with the provider of your choice (we recommend GoDaddy) and then upload the software. While the set-up is a bit more than a button click to begin, there are many reasons why a self hosted WordPress website is still the best solution, long-term.
1. Own and manage your website
There is nothing scarier to me than not having the ability to backup, download, or move my website to a different host. Many of the easy, do-it-yourself website options fail to mention that the website you design on their built-in platform is not transferable. Imagine waking up one morning to find that your quick-click, monthly subscription web company has gone out of business and has taken your content and files with it! Using a self hosted WordPress site instead, you can backup and download a full copy of your website at any time, which can be loaded to any other server.
2. Themes and plugins for powerful customization
The popularity of WordPress.org has prompted the development of hundreds of thousands of third-party themes and plugins. Searching the options is like using an App Store for WordPress. Themes are the design frameworks used to get a branded look and feel. Plugins offer bolted-on capabilities, such as e-commerce. The large majority of these can be found for free, but I prefer searching for paid-for and Premium versions, which often offer advanced features, better customer service, and long-term reliability. Sites that are not self hosted are limited in the plugin and theme options available, while others will not allow customization features at all.
3. SEO
Websites that are not self hosted will sometimes charge extra to use your own domain name. If you take the free route, they will require you to use a subdomain URL such as yourname.theirplatformname.com. Data shows that subdomains do not perform as well in search engine ranking as primary domain names do. With a self hosted WordPress site, the traditional blog software base is already built for better SEO, but you have full control to optimize this and even add plugins such as SEO Press to further boost your website rankings.
4. Grow and upgrade at any time
There are no restrictions to the number of pages or features you add to your self hosted WordPress website. Your users (and Google) will appreciate a quick loading and efficient website, so having the ability to upgrade your server package at any time for a faster and more powerful solution is a win. There are also no restrictions on marketing your website or adding revenue-generating advertising to offset costs.
Reminder about self hosted WordPress websites
There are no fees to use the open source WordPress.org software, but you will be required to purchase hosting space and a domain name. The price will vary depending on the size and features of the package you choose and the provider. We recommend Deluxe Linux cPanel hosting with GoDaddy, which is included in many of our services. Book a consultation to learn more.