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9 Best WordPress Hosting Services of 2023

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9 Best WordPress Hosting Services of 2023

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WordPress is a highly-customizable, free and open-source platform that allows users to create professional-looking websites and blogs with minimal effort. To get a WordPress website up and running, you need a web hosting provider. Fortunately, there are many web hosting platforms designed specifically for WordPress.

In this review, we’ll look at the 9 best WordPress hosting services suitable for both small businesses and large commercial enterprises.

Our Top Picks for Best WordPress Hosting

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Best WordPress Hosting Reviews

  • 24/7 phone and online chat support

  • Well-developed knowledge base
  • Many user-friendly guides and video tutorials
  • Tech-savvy customers might feel limited by the novice-friendly control panel

  • Frequent UI/UX redesigns may be frustrating for some users

Why we chose it: Bluehost — one of the few hosting platforms recommended by WordPress — regularly redesigns its user panel to incorporate technological changes and make automatic WordPress installations and configuration easy for novice users.

Users just getting started with WordPress will have access to a host of professional services, including automatic WordPress installation, custom themes, SEO marketing, malware scanning and daily backups.

BlueHosts offers four plans optimized for WordPress, all of which include free CDN and free domain registration for the first year. SSL is free for the first year on the basic plan, but if you purchase a higher-tier plan, this security feature is included for free.

Business owners who want to set up an online shop can purchase the Online Store plan to access BlueHost’s e-commerce solutions — unlimited product listings, secure online payments, shipping labels and more. And if you run into any troubles with your website, Bluehost offers 24/7 phone and online chat support.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From $2.95 per month
Speed:
2nd fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
Unmetered
Load time:
0.98s
  • Competitive pricing

  • Scalability
  • Requires a higher level of technical expertise
  • Upgrading plans can be confusing

Why we chose it: AWS security is unparalleled, with security standards from nearly every regulatory body, including PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, FedRAMP, GDPR, FIPS 140-2 and NIST 800-171 compliance.

Amazon Web Services, also known as AWS, is the leading cloud-hosting provider responsible for hosting over a third of all the websites hosted on the cloud.

AWS also offers the Lightsail solution, which allows users to launch pre-configured virtual private servers (VPS) to cater to a range of needs. This can be particularly useful for WordPress plugins or an app developer needing cloud-based computational power.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From $3.50 per month
Speed:
9th fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
1TB on their starter plan
Load time:
1.12s
  • Website design and creation services
  • Can act as a domain name registrar with some price breaks
  • SSL certificate support
  • Somewhat limited bandwidth compared to competitors

  • Lack of 24/7 configuration flexibility

Why we chose it: The platform’s speed, reliability and low starting price make IONOS a solid recommendation, as does its SSL support and ability to act as an ICANN-accredited domain registrar.

IONOS has been around since 1998, making it one of the few WordPress hosting companies with decades of experience. The company uses data centers that are optimized for WordPress websites, ensuring that loading times are minimized. Additionally, they provide SSD storage, which is faster than traditional hard drives and can reduce website load times.

Additionally, IONOS uses a content delivery network (CDN), which helps improve site performance by distributing content across multiple servers worldwide. Lastly, the company offers caching solutions such as Varnish and Memcached, which can further enhance website speed by storing frequently accessed data in memory for faster retrieval.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From $1 per month
Speed:
Fastest on our list
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
10,000 visits
Load time:
0.37s
  • Excellent customer support

  • High ratings in security offerings
  • Limited disk space on entry-level plans

  • Long-term commitments necessary for price breaks

Why we chose it: SiteGround has a comprehensive support hub with tutorials and cataloged help articles that can be helpful for new users. Customers who run into any trouble with their website can first consult the support hub, and if that doesn’t work, they can contact SiteGround by chat and phone at any moment or submit a ticket request.

WordPress.org recommends a handful of sites for hosting services, and among them is SiteGround. SiteGround is an industry leader in providing WordPress hosting solutions that are optimized for websites of various sizes.

Some of the platform’s notable features include one-click installation, automatic updates, managed WordPress, enhanced security and performance optimizations. Users also have access to a full array of plugins.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From $2.99 per month
Speed:
4th fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
10,000 visits
Load time:
1.07s
  • Great for high-volume e-commerce sites

  • Excellent speed and load times
  • Higher than average pricing

Why we chose it: We recommend Convesio for high-traffic e-commerce websites due to its speedy loading times and continuous website monitoring. The company guarantees monitoring of every site at one-minute intervals, and if an error is identified, an engineer will be assigned to rectify the issue.

Convesio was designed from the ground up with WordPress-optimized infrastructure. This has made it one of the most popular WordPress hosting providers on the market but also one of the most expensive. To ensure sites hosted on the platform are stable and reliable, Convesio relies on popular third-party solutions such as Cloudflare and AWS.

Convesio also offers business plans equipped to handle high-volume websites, using automatic scaling to keep the site running smoothly during traffic surges.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From $50 per month
Speed:
3rd fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
50GB on the starter plan
Load time:
1.02s
  • Secure, fast, optimized WordPress hosting

  • Free trial with a copy of your current website, migrated for free
  • Higher than average pricing

  • Based in EU

Why we chose it: Raidboxes makes an effort to be carbon positive in their operations by contracting energy from sustainable sources and planting a tree for every WordPress installation ordered.

Raidboxes — one of the few, large, EU-based providers — offers a user-friendly platform and installation process that’s easy even for novice users. The platform, which is optimized for WordPress, comes with multiple built-in security features, removing the need to install additional plugins.

In addition to templates and one-click installation, Raidboxes provides website monitoring, automatic updates and backups, a website staging environment for risk-free testing, and the ability to access all your WordPress projects with a single login.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From 15€ per month
Speed:
7th fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
5,000 visitors on their starter plan
Load time:
1.9s
  • Competitive pricing

  • Broad support for e-commerce
  • Limited to a single site

  • More expensive Pro plans required for growing businesses and multiple websites

Why we chose it: GoDaddy’s ManagedWooCommerce store plans are designed for e-commerce and come with over 25 WooCommerce extensions built in.

The main advantages of the ManagedWooCommerce plan are its daily malware scans and unlimited product listings via WooCommerce. This is a significant advantage for larger e-commerce users, as other providers typically charge for more than a few hundred listings.

In addition to unlimited product listings, Managed WooCommerce Stores plans offer unlimited staff accounts, multiple payment provider options (GoDaddy Payments is built-in and offers low transaction fees compared to the rest) and the option to edit your website from any device.

And to better manage the shopping process, there are also tools to connect with clients who filled the cart but didn’t press checkout, as well as address validation tools (verification, auto-complete or postcode lookup) to prevent any shipping errors.

HIGHLIGHTS

Starting price:
From $8.99 per month
Speed:
Tied for 5th fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
25,000 visitors on their starter plan
Load time:
1.08s
  • Competitive pricing

  • One-click scripted WordPress Installation
  • 24/7/365 customer support
  • Entry-level plans not geared specifically toward WordPress

Why we chose it: HostGator is a good middle-of-the-road choice for users more concerned with reliability and budget than accessing the latest features or excellent technical support.

HostGator has over 10 million domains and is known for offering one of the most affordable plans on the market.

Starting at $9.95 per month, HostGator’s WordPress Business plan can handle 500,000 visits a month and offers up to three websites, a free SSL certificate and free domain registration for one year.

The company offers 24/7/365 customer support as well as several online resources to choose from, including blog posts, KnowldgeBase articles, YouTube tutorials, Facebook communities and webinars.

HIGHLIGHTS

Company highlight:
Great for users on a budget
Starting price:
From $5.95 per month
Speed:
6th fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
Unmetered
Load time:
1.4s
  • Unlimited emails

  • One-click setup
  • No-charge dedicated IP Address with every plan
  • Introductory pricing reverts to higher rates after the initial billing cycle

  • Higher prices than similar offerings from competitors

Why we chose it: Hostwinds offers unlimited subdomains, making it an excellent choice for anyone interested in running multiple WordPress installations under a blanket domain name.

Hostwinds isn’t the cheapest option on this list, but all of their WordPress hosting plans come with free SSL certificates, use only solid-state drives and provide access to a fully-featured cPanel, a web hosting control panel software.

For the price, they have a good combination of unmetered storage, bandwidth, a free dedicated IP address and unlimited emails. This also makes this one of the best email hosting services available.

HIGHLIGHTS

Company highlight:
Free dedicated IP address
Starting price:
From $5.24 per month
Speed:
7th fastest
Uptime:
99.99%
Traffic per month:
Unmetered
Load time:
1.8s
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Other Companies We Considered

A2 Hosting

  • Free site migration

  • Free CDN access
  • AI-powered website builder technology
  • Higher rates on plans after introductory period

A2 Hosting has great perks like free site migration, free CDN access and website builder technology powered by AI. However, A2 Hosting’s various plan offerings are most affordable only in its initial term and revert to higher prices after the first billing cycle.

Cloudways

  • Excellent performance, load times, and overall speed
  • Access to robust CDN offerings
  • No budget or starter plans

  • Customer support is geared toward more tech-savvy users or bigger businesses

Cloudways boasts impressive performance for larger online businesses, with advanced e-commerce features and flexible scalability paths for growing ventures. However, with starter plans at $12 per month and the most popular plan costing $50, it’s not a good choice for anyone on a budget.

Kinsta

  • Simple migration path

  • Free daily backups
  • No phone support option

  • Premium pricing

Kinsta offers a quick and easy setup and makes migrating from other hosts easy, but their perks come with a price. As one of the more premium hosting platforms on the market, their plans are more expensive than most competitors, with a Starter WordPress hosting plan going for $35 per month.

  • Excellent US-based support

  • Endorsed by WordPress
  • Live chat support only available at limited times

  • Limited support for customers in the EU or Asia

DreamHost features a novice-friendly user panel with various options for installing themes, plugins and other WordPress add-ons. It’s good for WordPress users interested in low-effort, reliable hosting. That said, the performance figures are slightly off compared to competitors, even though it generally has favorable reviews.

InMotion Hosting

  • Industry-leading customer support

  • Easy-to-use installation scripts
  • No pre-installed WordPress options

InMotion provides excellent performance in the U.S., though it can be noticeably slower for Asia-Pacific users. That said, it delivers exceptional value for the price for U.S. users primarily concerned with reaching a domestic audience.

InMotion features a well-developed support center for customers with FAQs, articles and tutorials, as well as always-available live support.

AliTech

  • Fully-featured hosting packages
  • Dedicated WordPress hosting
  • Frequent control panel redesigns

  • Feature-rich environment confusing for novices

AliTech is a relative newcomer, founded in 2020, and can be arguably considered a work in progress. Its setup process could be clearer to amateur users, and it’s difficult to understand certain aspects of its upgrade process. However, this host is notable because it offers unlimited access to features such as PHP and MySQL.

The mid-range “Gold” WordPress package offers hosting for five websites and includes a free domain if you purchase the annual plan.

WordPress Hosting Guide

In this section, we explain how WordPress hosting works and how much the service costs. We also review the factors you should consider when selecting a WordPress hosting service.

How does WordPress hosting work?

WordPress web hosting provides a faster and more secure hosting experience designed for sites running exclusively on the WordPress platform. Users can choose a web hosting service that specializes in WordPress but many of the best web hosting companies also offer products optimized for WordPress.

WordPress hosting services offer features such as automatic updates, caching and enhanced security features. Hosting typically involves installing WordPress software and other related plugins onto a hosting server, setting up the necessary databases and configuring everything for fast and secure performance.

What is the average cost of WordPress hosting?

The average user can expect to pay anywhere from $2.95 to $35 per month. That said, the cost of WordPress hosting varies widely, depending on the hosting package you choose and whether it’s a managed WordPress hosting service or a virtual private server.

Some features that affect the price include:

  • Bandwidth allotment
  • Fast SSD storage
  • Access to WooCommerce (considered one of the best online store builders) or other e-commerce packages
  • Website security
  • Email accounts

Additionally, the amount of traffic and storage space required for your website can also affect the cost of hosting. Depending on your needs and budget, you may want to choose a more expensive package to ensure your website is properly maintained and running smoothly.

Users should also note that the advertised prices are often promotional rates valid during the first term only. Once the first term expires (the term duration can range from a month to 36 months, depending on your plan), the provider will likely increase the cost of the service to the regular rate.

How to choose a WordPress hosting provider

To choose the best WordPress hosting service, run through the following checklist and note how the provider fares in each category.

Reputation

Choose an established hosting provider known for its value and reliability. Read multiple reviews and look for reviews that mention the company’s uptime, customer service and load time ratings.

Affordability

Be sure to compare the cost of different hosting plans across providers so you’re not paying more than necessary for the basic features and services. Some web hosting plans are more expensive than others but may offer valuable hosting tools for that price increase. Depending on your website’s needs, some add-ons may be worth a slightly higher monthly fee.

Features and tools

Review hosting offers and identify the features that are important to you, for example, unlimited email, unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth or a 30-day money-back guarantee. Other useful features include one-click WordPress installation, databases and third-party applications.

Security

Choose a hosting provider that offers secure hosting, such as SSL encryption with a provided SSL certificate and malware scanning. If anything should go wrong, you’ll want to be able to rely on daily backups and a support team with good response time.

Customer support

It’s a good idea to ensure the hosting solution you choose offers the support you need, such as 24/7 customer service with multiple help channels available (online chat, phone number, help desk and tutorials).

Scalability

Choose a hosting provider that can grow with your website, such as one that offers additional storage and bandwidth. Newer users or startup businesses might overlook this detail but preparing for this situation can help avoid potential headaches down the road.

How to set up WordPress hosting

Setting up WordPress hosting can seem mystifying, but it’s a reasonably straightforward process.

First, you’ll need to purchase a domain name and a web hosting account with the provider of your choice. That is, unless you’re opting for one of the free hosting packages available on WordPress.com.

Many web hosting platforms offer free domain registration for the first year, but if you’d like more options, check out our reviews of the best domain registrars.

Once you have these two components, install WordPress by following the instructions provided by your web hosting company. After you complete the installation, it’s time to pick a theme. WordPress has varied design themes and layouts to suit all types of websites, be it an e-commerce site or a travel blog.

Lastly, browse through the available WordPress plugins to expand your site’s functionality and customize it as needed.

How to migrate from one hosting provider to another

Migrating from one hosting provider to another can sometimes be challenging. Still, there are steps you can take to make it easier and mitigate any downtime. Some providers will even take care of the transfer for you.

  1. Backup your WordPress site. Use plugins like BackupBuddy, Duplicator or BackWPup to create a complete backup. You can download it, store it on your computer or a cloud storage service
  2. Export your WordPress database with WordPress’s built-in WordPress Export tool. You can export all your posts, pages and content, enabling you to import it to your new host.
  3. Update the database name and user. Configure the new WordPress host to use the same database name and user as your old host. You’ll also need to configure your DNS settings through your domain name registrar to point to the new host.
  4. Transfer files to the new host. Move all the files from your old host to the new one and test your WordPress on the new host to ensure everything works properly. It’s also a good idea to monitor your new WordPress host closely for the first week or so in case some problems aren’t immediately obvious.

WordPress Hosting FAQs

What is the difference between WordPress hosting and web hosting?

WordPress hosting is a specialized hosting platform designed to run the WordPress content management and its associated applications. In contrast, web hosting is a more general hosting service that can support a wide range of websites, including WordPress sites. Typically, a web hosting company offers the necessary infrastructure and technologies to accommodate a wide range of websites, including those powered by WordPress.

The best web hosting services usually offer more features and flexibility than dedicated WordPress web hosting but are generally more expensive and require more technical expertise to manage.

Why do I need web hosting for WordPress?

WordPress requires web hosting to store and serve the files that make up your website. Without web hosting providers, your WordPress site won’t be accessible to the public. Web hosting providers also provide added features, such as security and backup services, which are essential for keeping your WordPress site up and running.

Can I use WordPress without hosting?

It is impossible to use WordPress without hosting. WordPress is a content management system that requires a web hosting provider to store and serve content such as images, videos and other files. Additionally, WordPress plugins central to a site’s functionality require a database to store content and settings.

Can I host multiple WordPress Sites on shared hosting?

You can host multiple WordPress sites on shared hosting. The cheapest shared hosting plans often limit you to just one site per account, but anything above an entry-level plan will allow for hosting multiple projects, either under subdomains or individual domain names.

Shared WordPress hosting plans usually come with an easy-to-use control panel, such as cPanel or Plesk, which allow users to quickly install and manage multiple WordPress sites on the same hosting account. Most shared WordPress plans will typically feature automatic WordPress installation, and some may also offer custom WordPress themes or access to paid WordPress plugins.

How We Found the Best WordPress Hosting

We considered many factors to build this list of the best hosting sites for WordPress, including:

  • Price-for-value: Instead of just focusing on the lowest priced plans, we looked at each feature and how these compared to similarly priced plans by competitors. We also considered introductory or promotional rates and pricing for renewed plans.
  • Features: We considered features such as SSD storage, CDN access and metered vs. unmetered plans.
  • Add-ons: We also considered supplementary features like regular backups, malware scanning and access to pre-configured mailing or marketing plugins
  • Ease of use: Although any hosting plan requires some expertise, we took special note of those that were much more beginner-friendly than others.
  • Performance reviews: Most hosts have some slight discrepancies between their stated performance and their real-world numbers, which is to be expected. We compared independent performance reviews against published figures in an effort to arrive at a more balanced understanding.
  • User feedback: Although speed and uptime are important metrics, user reviews shine a light on the platform’s reliability and the quality of its customer service.

Summary of the Best WordPress Hosting of 2023

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WORDPRESS

The Ultimate eCommerce Launch Checklist for WordPress

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The Ultimate eCommerce Launch Checklist for WordPress

Starting a new online store can feel intimidating, especially if you’ve never done it before. There are a lot of things to keep track of, from choosing the right eCommerce software to promoting your products.

However, following an eCommerce launch checklist ensures that you don’t miss any crucial steps that could impact your store’s success. This list can help you stay organized, prevent errors, and boost efficiency.

In this article, we will share the ultimate eCommerce launch checklist for WordPress.

The Ultimate eCommerce Launch Checklist for WordPress

Why Use an eCommerce Launch Checklist for Your New Online Store?

An eCommerce checklist allows you to check your online store’s security, pages, checkout options, SEO, and other features without forgetting anything before you launch it.

It acts as a safety net, catching any potential errors or snags that you may have overlooked while preparing your website for launch.

Plus, it keeps you on track and helps you avoid any delays. This physical or digital product launch checklist allows you to prioritize tasks based on importance and deadlines.

If you are working with a team, it also ensures that everyone stays on the same page and tasks are divided effectively. Other than that, it can also be used to evaluate your launch and identify areas for improvement.

Having said that, you are now ready to follow the ultimate eCommerce launch checklist to prepare your store for success. Here is a breakdown of the steps we will cover in this guide:

1. Choose a Website Builder and a Hosting Plan

To start an online store, you will first need to select a website builder. We recommend WordPress because it is the best website builder on the market with over 43% of all sites using it.

It is free, flexible, has several customization options, and is super scalable for businesses of all sizes. This makes it the ideal choice for your eCommerce store.

Note: Keep in mind that we are talking about WordPress.org, which is an open source platform. There is also WordPress.com, which is a self-hosted software. You can view our comparison on WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com to see the difference.

Now even though WordPress is free, you will still need to purchase a hosting plan and domain name for it. Hosting is where your website stores all its data while a domain is your store’s name on the internet, like www.shoppingonline.com.

Expert Tip: If you are just starting your store, then you can use our WPBeginner Free Business Name Generator to come up with your company name.

If you plan to sell physical products, then we recommend Bluehost WooCommerce hosting. This is a WordPress-recommended company that also offers a free domain name, SSL certificate, and pre-installed WooCommerce.

Bluehost WooCommerce HostingBluehost WooCommerce Hosting

Plus Bluehost offers a huge discount to WPBeginner readers. To take advantage of this offer, just click the button below.

However, if you want to sell digital products, then SiteGround’s managed hosting for Easy Digital Downloads is the better option.

It comes with a free SSL certificate, EDD pre-installed, all the optimization features, and a huge 81% discount, making it a great choice.

SiteGround Managed EDD HostingSiteGround Managed EDD Hosting

To get this discount offer, just click the button below.

Once you purchase hosting and set up a domain name, WordPress will automatically be installed for you. You can now head to your dashboard to start creating your store.

For more details, see our guide on how to make a WordPress website.

2. Choose the Right eCommerce Platform

The next step in creating and launching an eCommerce store is to select a platform that allows you to build a store without any coding.

For this, we recommend WooCommerce because it is the best eCommerce plugin on the market and is completely free.

WooCommerceWooCommerce

The plugin allows you to easily add products, integrates with numerous payment gateways, and supports multiple currencies and languages, making it a great choice for creating your store. For details, you can see our guide on WooCommerce made simple.

However, if you plan to sell digital products on your eCommerce platform, then we recommend Easy Digital Downloads instead.

Easy Digital Downloads WebsiteEasy Digital Downloads Website

It allows you to sell eBooks, music, PDFs, and any other digital products you want. Plus, the plugin is beginner-friendly, integrates with a lot of different payment gateways, has in-depth reporting, and connects with email marketing solutions.

For details, you can see our tutorial on how to sell digital downloads on WordPress.

Note: If you have created a store that sells digital goods, then the following list will still work for you as a digital product launch checklist.

3. Create and Check All the Pages for Your Store

After you have added your products to your store, it’s time to create some pages on your website. We recommend starting with the home page and making it attractive because it will be customers’ introduction to your website.

You should add a CTA (Call To Action) on this page to direct users to where you want them. Additionally, you should create a navigation menu so users can browse through your store easily.

For example, this is the homepage for WPForms, a popular WordPress form builder. As you can see, it has a prominent CTA button that directs users to the online store for the plugin software.

WPForms' homepageWPForms' homepage

For details on how to do this for your online store, see our tutorial on how to create a custom home page in WordPress.

Bonus Tip: If it feels like too much work to create custom pages for your store, then you can opt for WPBeginner’s Website Design services instead. Our team can create a beautiful and functional eCommerce website tailored to your specific needs, complete with a seamless checkout process and optimized for conversions.

Depending on which eCommerce plugin you are using, it should have already created a checkout page, products page, and cart page for your online store.

You can customize these pages using SeedProd, which is the best page builder on the market. It fully supports the WooCommerce integration and also has special WooCommerce blocks that you can add to any page you want.

The plugin also offers numerous premade templates and a drag-and-drop builder, making the process super easy.

Editing shop page for your WooCommerce themeEditing shop page for your WooCommerce theme

For more information, see our beginner’s guide on how to edit WooCommerce pages.

4. Create a Seamless Checkout Process

Next, you need to create a seamless checkout process for your store. This will improve conversion rates, reduce cart abandonment, and boost your brand’s image.

To do this, you must integrate your online store with popular and reliable payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal. Customers usually trust these options, and they provide secure transactions, making them a great choice.

Plus, these gateways easily connect with WooCommerce. All you would have to do is install the plugin for these gateways and visit the WooCommerce » Settings » Payments page.

Here, you can toggle the switches to enable different gateways and then add your account details to complete the process. For instructions, see our tutorial on how to accept payments with Stripe in WordPress.

Add Stripe payment gatewayAdd Stripe payment gateway

After configuring the gateways, you can add an express checkout button to offer a seamless experience to customers. This button allows users to go directly to the payment page without having to fill in any details.

For information, see our step-by-step tutorial on how to add express checkout buttons in WooCommerce.

Express checkout buttons previewExpress checkout buttons preview

If you need some more tips, then you can see our beginner’s guide on how to customize your WooCommerce checkout page.

5. Add Social Proof and FOMO

Now that your store has been set up, adding some social proof before launching it is important. This proof will show visitors that other customers have trusted your store and had a good experience with it.

Plus, it will develop FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) which can boost your sales. One way you can do this is by adding testimonials and customer reviews to your store.

Preview for testimonialsPreview for testimonials

If your customers have left reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, or Facebook, then you can also showcase these feeds on your site with the Smash Balloon Reviews Feed Plugin.

It comes with a visual editor and makes the process of connecting these platforms with WordPress super easy.

For instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to show your Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews in WordPress.

Facebook reviews, embedded on a WordPress websiteFacebook reviews, embedded on a WordPress website

Popups and optins are other great options for building FOMO and social proof.

You can use OptinMonster to display popups with customer reviews and limited-time offers/sales to encourage customers to take action and purchase.

For more details, see our guide on how to increase WooCommerce sales.

OptinMonster's countdown timer on a live websiteOptinMonster's countdown timer on a live website

Another excellent way to build FOMO amongst customers is to use TrustPulse, which is the best social proof plugin on the market.

It tracks your store activity, such as purchases, signups, and downloads, and then displays notifications in real time that highlight these actions to visitors.

Fomo notification previewFomo notification preview

For detailed information, check out our guide on using FOMO on your WordPress site to increase conversions.

6. Add a Contact Form

You need to add a contact form to your online store so that customers can reach out if anything goes wrong, like reporting inappropriate behavior or having issues processing their payments.

For this, you can opt for WPForms, which is the best contact form plugin on the market. It has a beginner-friendly drag-and-drop builder, 1800+ premade form templates, and complete spam protection.

WPForms' homepageWPForms' homepage

Upon activation, you can simply use the plugin’s ‘Simple Contact Form’ template and add it to any page you like using the WPForms block.

For details, see our tutorial on how to add a contact form in WordPress.

Add the WPForms block for the online order formAdd the WPForms block for the online order form

Keep in mind that this is a good solution if you are just starting your store, but as your website grows, a contact form won’t be sufficient to provide all customer support.

Add Other Tools To Contact Support

When you outgrow a contact form as the only way that customers can reach you, we recommend using a business phone service.

We believe Nextiva is the best business phone service for your site. We actually use Nextiva for our business, and you can read more about it in our complete Nextiva review.

It will allow customers to contact you over phone calls and you can also set up an auto attendant if you want.

Nextiva's homepageNextiva's homepage

Plus, you can use Nextiva to add live chat, online faxing, surveys, CRM, analytics, and more.

If your store grows rapidly, then we recommend picking a customer service tool like Groove, which will allow you to manage all your customer data in one place. We use Groove across a few of our brands, which you can learn about in our complete Groove review.

GrooveHQGrooveHQ

You can also create a knowledge base, use AI to create smart responses, and set up automated workflows.

For more information, see our top picks for the best customer service software.

7. Optimize Your Store for Search Engines

Before launching your store, you must optimize it for search engines so that it will rank high in search results and gets more traffic and customers.

This is where All in One SEO (AIOSEO) comes in. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin that allows you to optimize your store in just a few minutes.

All in One SEOAll in One SEO

The plugin has a broken link checker, schema generator, XML sitemaps, on-page SEO checklist, keyword tracker, image SEO, and so much more. For more details, you can see our AIOSEO review.

Plus, AIOSEO offers a GTIN, ISBN, and MPN schema that allows your individual products to rank in search results.

Add the ISBN, GTIN, or MPN and click Update Schema buttonAdd the ISBN, GTIN, or MPN and click Update Schema button

You can also write product SEO titles and descriptions, optimize slugs, enable breadcrumbs, and add alt text for product images.

For detailed instructions, see our ultimate WooCommerce SEO guide.

8. Set Up Email Marketing

Before opening your store, you must choose an email marketing service and set up your account on it. This is an important step of your physical or digital product launch checklist because it allows you to start building an email list as soon as your store goes live.

You can then send cart abandonment, welcome, birthday, or discount offer emails to customers to bring them back to your website and earn their loyalty.

For your online store, we recommend using Constant Contact because it is the best email marketing software for small businesses.

Constant Contact WebsiteConstant Contact Website

It allows you to add signup forms and comes with automation tools, email segmenting, split testing features, drip campaigns, and a visual builder for workflows. 

The tool also offers easy tracking and reporting, built-in social media sharing tools, a free image library, Facebook ads integration, and amazing customer support.

For details, you can see our guide on how to connect Constant Contact with WordPress.

However, if you plan to consistently send automated emails for order confirmations, abandoned carts, and invoices, then FunnelKit Automations is a better choice.

It is the best automation marketing plugin for WooCommerce that comes with a visual funnel builder, premade email automation templates, A/B testing, and more.

Is FunnelKit Automations the right marketing automation plugin for you?Is FunnelKit Automations the right marketing automation plugin for you?

For complete details, see our tutorial on how to send automated emails in WordPress.

9. Set Up Google Analytics

Another crucial step to making your store customer-ready is installing Google Analytics. This will allow you to track your store’s performance and give you real-time insights into how users interact with your website.

You can then use this data to improve your marketing strategy and drive more sales.

To make using Google Analytics super easy, you can use MonsterInsights, which is hands-down the best analytics solution for WordPress.

Ecommerce overview report in MonsterInsightsEcommerce overview report in MonsterInsights

It easily integrates with WooCommece and lets you track product performance, shopping cart abandonment rates, and checkout behavior. You can easily identify products with high abandonment rates and take steps to improve those product pages.

For more information, see our step-by-step guide on how to set up WooCommerce conversion tracking.

10. Create a Backup of Your eCommerce Store

Once you have added all the features to your online store and feel that it’s ready for launch, we recommend first creating a backup.

This will allow you to safeguard your data against security threats and let you recover it in case of data loss due to malware or hackers.

For this, you can use Duplicator, which is the best WordPress backup plugin. It has features like scheduled backups, recovery points, cloud storage integration, migration tools, and more.

Is Duplicator the right backup and migration plugin for you?Is Duplicator the right backup and migration plugin for you?

With this plugin, you can create a backup right from your WordPress dashboard in just a few minutes.

For step-by-step instructions, see our tutorial on how to back up your WordPress site.

11. Secure Your Online Store

Once you have followed all the steps in our eCommerce launch checklist, your store is ready to go live. However, you can still take some extra steps to secure your online store from malware or hackers.

To do this, you can use Cloudflare, which the best security solution for WordPress. It comes with a powerful firewall to filter out bad traffic, prevents DDOS attacks, and has a browser integrity check to block hackers.

Plus, it has an amazing CDN (Content Delivery Network) that improves your page load time by caching static content across multiple servers worldwide.

Note: We use Cloudflare at WPBeginner to protect our site from hackers and malware. Overall, we have had an amazing experience with the tool and have even observed improved page load times since we started using it.

CloudflareCloudflare

Cloudflare also lets you optimize your images for reduced bandwidth, add page rules, manage SSL certificates, perform email routing, use fast DNS services, and identify and block malicious bots.

However, if you have a small business or blog, then Cloudflare may not be the best option. In that case, you can pick Sucuri, which is a popular firewall plugin that comes with a free plan.

For more tips, see our ultimate WordPress security guide.

Keep in mind that once you implement these security measures, you will still need to monitor your site regularly for threats or malware, which can be time-consuming and a bit annoying.

That is why we recommend WPBeginner’s Website Maintenance Service. Our team of experts will provide 24/7 maintenance and support to your website.

We will consistently update WordPress core, themes, and plugins, monitor uptime, remove malware, create routine cloud backups, prevent slow-loading page times, and even give you detailed maintenance reports.

WPBeginner Pro Maintenance ServicesWPBeginner Pro Maintenance Services

Plus, we offer affordable pricing, making us an ideal choice for small businesses. For details, see our WPBeginner Pro Services page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Launching an eCommerce Store

Here are some questions that are frequently asked by our readers about starting an eCommerce website.

Is WordPress good for eCommerce?

WordPress.org is an excellent platform for your eCommerce store because it is open-source, free, scalable, and beginner-friendly.

It is used by 43% of the sites on the internet, has a massive community, and gives you complete freedom to build an online store according to your liking. To learn more, you can see our guide on whether WordPress is good for eCommerce.

Do I need any coding knowledge to launch a WordPress eCommerce store?

You do not need any coding knowledge to start an online store. All you have to do is select an eCommerce plugin and configure its settings to launch your store in just a few minutes. Plus, you can use a drag-and-drop page builder like SeedProd to design your store without coding.

How much does it cost to launch a WordPress eCommerce store?

Your eCommerce store costs can add up as you choose a hosting provider ($5-$25/month), domain name ($10-$15/yr), and eCommerce plugin (free-paid) for your store.

In our opinion, costs will start at about $100 to build a basic online store, with costs adding up as your store grows.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.



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John Kostak of Web Dev USA – WordPress.com News

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John Kostak of Web Dev USA – WordPress.com News

“We can really be dangerous if we want, without being too afraid of it.”

John Kostak has been building websites for longer than most social media networks have even been around. So splashy features don’t interest him much—he’s far more into performance, reliability, and compatibility. Which is why he and his company, Web Development USA, have been using WordPress.com from the start. 

In this fun Q&A, John shares more about his WordPress journey, what matters most to him as a developer, and a few of his favorite sites (in spite of the fact that it was like making him pick his favorite child). Note: The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

If John’s love for WordPress.com has you reconsidering your current hosting environment, you can learn more about our specs and get started at WordPress.com/hosting

Jeremy: How long have you been using WordPress and WordPress.com?

John: I have been building websites for about 15 or 16 years and started in a corporate environment for a large company. We never had an internal digital team and we basically created our own digital agency within this big corporate company. And that was pretty innovative back then. 

Then out of that, I spun off and started Web Development USA. That began in 2015, and so next year will be our 10th year, which is crazy to think about. But it went quickly because we really do enjoy this. And we look for people who find this to be a passion, as we do. 

Jeremy: Have you been using WordPress.com the entire time?

John: Yes we have. We started doing some testing with SiteGround and Elementor hosting, but we still like WordPress.com the best. You know you can go through a McDonald’s three miles away or 10,000 miles away on the other side of the planet and your lunch is going to be reasonably what you expect. That’s what WordPress.com feels like with its consistency and the familiarity of the UI and getting around. 

Jeremy: What do you like most about WordPress.com? Is it about ease of use on your side as a builder? Convenience for the customer? Both?

John: Resiliency. With Jetpack at the core and all the updates that it does, we just don’t have that much of a risk of things exploding, especially when we bring contractors in and out. We can always fall back to a previous state, and we have an exact record of it. We can get into PHP code. We can get into the very, very back end if we want. We can really be dangerous if we want, without being too afraid of it. 

Overall, it is certainly the all-around performance, security, and cadence that you use for backing up sites. 

Jeremy: What are some of your favorite features when building sites on WordPress? Do you have go-to themes, blocks, plugins, etc.?

John: Well, it’s changed over the years. We used to use standard old-school wireframe and theme templates that were very basic. And then we went into more “custom designer” mode, I would say, with templates and flashy designs. We graduated from Walmart t-shirts to Gucci t-shirts. And, you know, we enjoyed that for a while. 

Now we’re going back to robust wireframes and doing more from scratch. What’s more important now is really the entire stack, including performance and compatibility. You know, we just don’t have time to troubleshoot when we have some whizzy feature on the site. We don’t have time to go in and look for why the thing is down. So, we are sort of simplifying certain things and then standardizing on a certain stack.

Jeremy: What excites you about the future of WordPress.com? Are there any new features you’re especially excited to try out and use?

John: Honestly, we just don’t have time to get into a lot of that. We don’t look much to experimental features or anything like that. We’re trusting that by the time the feature or tool makes its way into being a standard of WordPress, it will be tried and true. We’re not looking for early adopter types of things anymore. 

The reality is that our value add is more about custom coding for integrations—maybe for a particular reservation system that has to shake hands and stay for a while on the site before it goes out to a third-party point of sale. It takes some custom coding there. That’s where our focus has really been—managed services and then a lot more programming. We’ve been onboarding more programmers in the last 18 months than we did the first eight years of the company.

Jeremy: Do you have a few favorite client sites that you can share?

John: Well, Jeremy, it’s like asking you who’s your favorite child. 

Jeremy: Depending on the week, I can give you a pretty good answer. 😊

John: Yeah, that’s a good point! Sure, I have a few:

TuckMusic.com

appalachian-air.com

kdmconsults.com

Get started at WordPress.com today 

Even though WordPress.com provides the freedom and tools to create stunningly beautiful and innovative websites, that’s not why developers choose us. Folks like John Kostak rely on WordPress.com because we have the most performant, secure, and compatible infrastructure out there. If you made it this far, you already know that you don’t have to take our word for it. 

Learn more about our top-notch hosting and get started: 


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Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience

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Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience

When I started building my website with WordPress, I stumbled upon Elementor’s plugin. This powerful website builder, known for its drag-and-drop interface, has been my go-to tool, thanks to its user-friendly interface and wide array of design options.

Since then, Elementor decided to take things up a notch by expanding into the hosting space.

Elementor Hosting is a hosting service tailor-made for WordPress users, seamlessly integrated with Elementor’s page builder and WooCommerce. With Elementor hosting, you get a streamlined experience from site creation to publication, all within the Elementor platform.

This article will dive into Elementor’s hosting service, examining its features, pricing, and overall value, providing an in-depth Elementor Hosting review.

What is Elementor Hosting

Elementor Hosting is a managed web hosting service provided by Elementor, the industry-leading WordPress website builder.

I’ve found that Elementor Hosting is designed to seamlessly merge web hosting services with the advanced capabilities of the Elementor page builder. This unique integration creates an all-in-one platform that empowers you with everything you might need for website creation, hosting, and management.

In a single package, you gain access to the Elementor Pro website builder, valued at $99 per year, alongside the freedom to install preferred plugins.

Keep reading this full hands-on Elementor Hosting review to decide if this is the right option for you.

Who is Elementor Hosting for?

Elementor Hosting is designed for users who want to create, manage, and host WordPress websites using the Elementor website builder.

Here’s a closer look at who might find Elementor Hosting particularly beneficial:

  1. Web developers and designers: Elementor is a great choice for people who regularly build websites for clients and appreciate its versatility and extensive design capabilities.
  2. Small- and medium-sized businesses: Ideal for entrepreneurs looking to establish or enhance their online presence with a polished web design without shelling out hefty design fees.
  3. Bloggers and content creators: Elementor Hosting is suitable for individuals seeking a user-friendly platform that enables them to concentrate on content creation.
  4. E-commerce store owners: Elementor Hosting comes with WooCommerce, which is great for people with an online store.
  5. Marketing and SEO professionals: Perfect for marketing professionals requiring quickly editable and optimized web assets.

Core Features of Elementor Hosting

Elementor Hosting is tailored to offer a seamless experience for users who wish to design, manage, and host websites easily. You get everything under one roof — editor, theme, and hosting.

Before we get into how you can easily build a website with Elementor Hosting, let’s have a look at the features.

Below are the core features that make Elementor Hosting stand out.

Page Builder

Elementor is the #1 Page Builder plugin for WordPress, and it comes free of cost with Elementor Hosting. You get all the following features of Elementor Page Builder to build your WordPress website:

  • Drag-and-Drop Editor: Elementor’s website builder is renowned for its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, allowing users to build websites without any coding knowledge.
  • Responsive Design: Every design or element you create will be responsive, ensuring your site looks great on all devices.
  • Live Editing: See the changes you make in real-time, offering a true what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience.

Pre-Designed Templates

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 1

When building a website with Elementor Page Builder, you can choose from an empty canvas, wireframe designs, or a design from a large library of all-inclusive website templates.

  • Extensive Template Library: Access to a vast library of pre-designed templates suited for various industries and purposes.
  • Blocks and Sections: Apart from full-page templates, Elementor also offers blocks and sections to quickly build custom pages.
  • Template Import/Export: Easily import templates from other projects or export them for use in different websites.

Customization Options

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 2Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 2

With Page Builder, you get a comprehensive collection of widgets and global settings to add different functionalities to your web pages, such as sliders, buttons, and forms.

  • Widgets: A wide range of widgets are available to add functionality to your pages, such as buttons, headings, sliders, and more.
  • Theme Builder: Gain control over your website’s theme, allowing you to design headers, footers, single posts, and archive pages.
  • Global Settings: Customize and maintain a consistent design across your website with global settings for colors, fonts, and other styling options

Performance and Security

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 3Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 3
  • Optimized for Speed: Elementor Hosting is optimized for performance, ensuring fast loading times for your website.
  • Secure Hosting: Implementing the latest security measures to protect your website from online threats.

Integrations with Other Tools

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 4Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 4
  • WordPress Ecosystem: Seamless integration with the vast array of WordPress plugins and themes, expanding the functionality of your website.
  • Marketing Tools: Integration with popular marketing tools and platforms, such as MailChimp, HubSpot, and ConvertKit, to enhance your marketing efforts.
  • eCommerce: Full compatibility with WooCommerce, allowing you to build and manage an online store directly within your website.

Elementor Hosting Dashboard

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 5Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 5

Elementor hosting has an easy-to-navigate dashboard where you can manage your site(s), teams, and subscriptions. You can choose which websites you’re hosting with Elementor Hosting and which ones you’re hosting somewhere else. Accessing the site’s dashboard gives you access to:

  • Manage Domains: Simplifies custom domain setup with an intuitive process. Initially assigns a temporary staging domain.
  • Email Account: Easily set up email sending post-domain connection. Partnered with Zoho Mail, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365 for custom business emails.
  • Backups: Access automatic daily backups and initiate manual backups for data security.
  • Advanced: Provides tools like staging sites, phpMyAdmin, and SFTP details for advanced management. Creating staging sites is effortless with supported plans.

Onboarding Experience with Elementor Hosting

Starting my journey with Elementor Hosting was a breeze, thanks to its seamless onboarding process. From signing up to getting my website up and running, the platform guided me every step of the way, ensuring a smooth and hassle-free experience.

Here are the steps that you can also follow to set up your WordPress website with Elementor Hosting:

Step 1: Sign Up

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 6Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 6
  • Plan Selection: Choose the hosting plan that best fits your needs. Elementor Hosting offers various plans based on the size and requirements of your website.

Step 2: Website Setup

  • Domain Configuration: You can either register a new domain through Elementor or connect an existing domain to your Elementor hosting account.
  • WordPress Installation: Elementor Hosting automatically installs WordPress for you, eliminating the need for manual setup.

Step 3: Elementor Plugin and Theme Installation

  • Automatic Installation: The Elementor plugin and Hello Elementor theme are automatically installed on your WordPress site. This ensures you have the essential tools to start designing your website immediately.
Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 7Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 7
  • Activation: Log in to your WordPress dashboard, where you’ll find the Elementor plugin and theme already activated.
Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 8Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 8

Step 4: Template Selection and Customization

  • Template Library Access: Upon entering the Elementor editor, you’ll have access to a wide range of pre-designed templates. Choose one that fits your website’s purpose.
Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 9Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 9
  • Customization: Utilize the drag-and-drop editor to customize your chosen template. You can change text, images, layout, and more to match your brand. Here, I have chosen the interior design agency template from Elementor.
Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 10Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 10

Step 5: Website Launch

  • Preview and Test: Before going live, preview your site and test all functionalities to ensure everything works as expected. With Elementor’s responsive design, you can check how every element looks across all devices.
  • Publish: Once you’re satisfied with your website, hit the publish button.

Congratulations, your website is now live!

Plans and Pricing

Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 11Elementor Hosting Review: Analysing Features, Pricing, and User Experience 11

Elementor offers different tiers of hosting plans tailored to various needs, from personal blogs to business websites.

Basic Plan

  • Price: $9.99/month (discounted from $14.99)
  • Features: Includes Elementor Pro, 10 GB storage, 25K monthly visits, and 30 GB/mo bandwidth.

Business Plan

  • Price: $19.99/month (discounted from $24.99)
  • Features: Everything in Basic plus more storage and bandwidth for higher traffic sites.

Grow Plan

  • Price: $49.99/month (discounted from $59.99)
  • Features: Includes all Business plan features with increased storage, bandwidth, and monthly visitor limits to support growing websites.

Scale Plan

  • Price: $299.99/month (discounted from $349.99)
  • Features: Includes all Grow plan features with expanded resources, advanced performance optimization, and priority support.

Educational resources

Elementor offers a wealth of educational resources designed to help users learn, grow, and excel in web creation. These resources cater to a wide range of audiences, from beginners to advanced users, covering various aspects of using Elementor and web design in general.

Below is an overview of the key educational resources provided by Elementor.

1. Elementor Academy

The Elementor Academy is a comprehensive learning hub filled with courses and tutorials aimed at enhancing your web creation skills. Whether you’re looking to understand the basics of using Elementor or delve into advanced design techniques, the academy has something for everyone.

2. Help Center

The Help Center is your go-to resource for detailed articles and guides on troubleshooting, FAQs, and step-by-step instructions on using Elementor features. It’s a valuable resource for solving specific issues you might encounter while working with Elementor.

3. Elementor Blog

The Elementor Blog is an excellent source of inspiration, tips, and the latest trends in web design and marketing. It features articles written by web design professionals and Elementor experts on everything from cloning your websites to new features and the latest releases.

Customer Feedback and Reviews

Per user reviews, while Elementor Hosting shines, there are complaints about its support lacking efficacy.

Nonetheless, Elementor Hosting is praised by individuals building personal websites and agency owners alike.

Check out the positive Elementor Hosting reviews received on Trustpilot, and you’ll be instantly convinced.

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Final thoughts

Overall, I think Elementor Hosting is a great choice that will work well for various types of websites that web designers, business owners, bloggers, e-commerce entrepreneurs, or simply someone with a passion for web design are trying to build.

It simplifies the entire website-building process by eliminating the need to purchase hosting separately. At the same time, you also get great pricing that comes included with Elementor Pro at no extra cost. Furthermore, the performance and speed optimizations tailored for WordPress and Elementor ensure that websites hosted on this platform look great and deliver an exceptional user experience.

In a world where being online has become crucial, Elementor Hosting can help users create their web designs with ease, style, and comfort.

Keep reading the article at WP Mayor. The article was originally written by Osheen Jain on 2024-04-01 07:00:00.

The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.



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