George Lerner – Website Tech

For coaches who want to create and sell online courses, but struggle with the technical aspects

Hosting Companies I Can Recommend

There are very few hosting companies that have adequate security against hackers, and excellent page speed, and good technical support.

You likely can’t identify the best ones yourself. So, use your local WordPress Meetup or other group where there are people who host websites for clients. These are people who have done technical support for a wide range of clients, with a wide range of WordPress expertise; they know more about the hosts they have tried than most people ever will.

My Favorites

I heard of most of these from my local WordPress Meetup which has many people hosting sites or developing sites for clients.

1

10WebSuperb page load times, excellent support

I’m hosting now with 10Web for superb page load speed, security, and support. They also have AI-based page builder that implements via free Elementor. Mobile PageSpeed score, with WooCommerce, Elementor & Pro, Astra & Pro, many other plugins: 90. Many hosts can’t get 90 for a Desktop score.

2

A2 HostingTalked to them at WordCamp 2024, knowledgeable about WordPress support and page speed

3

SiteGroundTalked to them at WordCamp years ago, very knowledgeable about WordPress support and page speed. As a technical support person, they were the first hosting company I hosted with that often solved problems before I could solve them. At a WordCamp I talked to the SiteGround person whose job was researching global web threat boards, and adding the security rules to their dedicated hardware that blocked hackers and malware, taking him about 20 hours each week; very few hosts do that.

4

WordPress Support Services – OnSiteWPSupport by one of the top leaders of AZ WordPress Meetup. Server and security expertise lead to top page speed.

5

SiteDistrictHosted with them, very knowledgeable about WordPress support and page speed. Runs an advanced WordPress-specific firewall embedded into their web servers. Specialize in websites that have few pages, that need highest page speed. (Not recommended for large ecommerce sites, their caching isn’t designed for many occasional-use pages).

6

WordPress.comThis is The Only free hosting to use

WordPress.com has excellent vetted plugins (can’t install other plugins from the WordPress Repository), superb security. You can pay to use a custom domain name or some other benefits. If you want truly free hosting, this is the only host you can use.

7

ClosteGreat for small, “just sits there” sites

One WPAZ expert about Closte: “Don’t be scared of their pricing model. I have a site that just sits there. Excellent performance, much faster than SiteGround, and 10x faster than Bluehost. About $4/month. https://closte.com/ I also like Closte because you can start with paying only $10 or so. Then see how your usage goes. No need to pay for a year or more. I found their control panel clean and very well-designed. One of the better ones out there. It could be a bit prettier, and could use a designers touch, but it’s functional, pretty well organized, and does the job.

Others I recommend from Other Experts recommending

Pagely one of the fast hosts

Hostinger looks low priced, full-featured for most people’s websites, proper attention to security, probably one of the hosting companies with fast page load speed.

Managed Vultr Cloud Hosting Platform on Cloudways, one of the fast hosts.

BlueHost is a local Phoenix host, so several people of the AZ WordPress Meetup work there, in support or development. Good for the price, not the fastest page speed, they do pay proper attention to security. Much better, I think, than GoDaddy (also a local Phoenix office).

8

GoDaddy (hosting or domains)Bad user interface keeps changing, push for upgrades you don’t need, charge for SSL

GoDaddy charges for SSL, so costs more than hosting companies that have LetsEncrypt SSL (and to not reveal your admin password at login, all WordPress sites need SSL). They keep changing their user interface, so I have to re-find how to do simple things (add an add-on domain, ssh key, ftp user, etc). Technical support is not nearly as good as SiteGround’s. I wouldn’t require clients leave GD, like I would for many hosting companies; they’re very good but not “the best” for hosting, so I suggest moving 1-2 months before their current contract expires. Cloudflare has domains, often less expensive than GoDaddy’s domains, and their user interface better than GoDaddy’s for managing lots of domains.

9

WPEngineToo expensive for what they offer, too corporate

Too many reports on AZ WordPress Slack channel about bad attitude towards customers, about poor user interface, and of course there is the lawsuit about promoting themselves as if they are WordPress.

How Not to Pick a Hosting Company

Don’t pick a host by price, nor by a recommendation from someone you don’t know on social media. There are too many mediocre or dangerous hosts out there.

Don’t host WordPress on a company that does not specialize in WordPress. There are many more attacks on a WordPress site, because it is so popular; and there are so many plugins that a user could install which could have security holes in them. Security on a WordPress host must be a priority.