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Does WordPress host your website?
WordPress is a content management system (CMS). Meaning it creates the framework that you can build your website on.
WordPress.com, on the other hand, is the commercial part of WordPress and is owned by a company called Automattic.
The founders of Automattic were also the original developers of the WordPress CMS platform. They created WordPress as an open source platform so that anybody can basically build a website and have control over, not only its design and functionality, but even where and how it’s hosted.
WordPress.com though can still also host your WordPress website. They have different pricing plans to suit your website needs.
You can check out their prices here at WordPress.com.
WordPress as a content management system, also allows you to do things like create home pages, categories, posts and media, design custom headers and footers, design your posts and pages formatting etc.
You can even use what are called page builders to add even more functionality to your WordPress website.
These webpage builders can enhance your website with quotation boxes, all kinds of different tables, bullet points and numerous other things.
If you’re going to use a WordPress page builder I would recommend Elementor.
But for this post let’s focus more on WordPress and hosting. Here are some FAQs on using a WordPress host for your website.
Do you need a Web host for WordPress?
There are various ways to host a WordPress website. You do not necessarily need a web host for WordPress.
If you would like to create your WordPress website without a host, you can do so locally on your own computer.
If you would like to host your WordPress website yourself, you can do that too.
The best way, however, for most people to host a WordPress website would be to use a web hosting service provider.
Needless to say, there are various ways to host your WordPress website without an actual host.
Can Google sites host WordPress?
Google sites or Google Cloud Platform GCP can host WordPress. You can either host your WordPress site on Google Cloud Platform directly yourself or you can have your site hosted on Google via one of their recommended service providers.
It all depends on the type of server you may need as well as how much control you would like to have over your WordPress hosting needs.
Can I build a WordPress website without hosting?
You can build a WordPress website without hosting on your own Mac or PC.
You may want to do this, if you’re not quite ready to pay for hosting or you just want to learn the ins and outs of WordPress before making your site presentable to the world on the web.
You can even build your WordPress website for free on WordPress.com since they do offer a free plan.
What is the cheapest way to host a website?
The cheapest way to host a website is through WordPress.com’s free web hosting option.
However, you will be quite limited in what you can do with your WordPress website hosted on WordPress.com’s free plan.
But you can always start your WordPress site for free hosted on WordPress.com, while you build it and may decide to want more control over your WordPress website later on.
This is especially true when it comes to monetization, hosting speeds, data storage as well as a number of other options. So when it’s time to take our WordPress site to the next level, various paid plans will be your best option.
If that’s the case you can simply start out a free WordPress website hosted on the free plan of WordPress.com then when you’re ready upgrade your hosting either with WordPress.com or through another web hosting service provider.
Is hosting your own website worth it?
In my opinion hosting your own WordPress website on your own servers out of your home is not worth it.
Not only the cost of having to buy servers yourself, but don’t forget you’re going to need to have excellent fiber optic connections in order to optimize the speed of your own servers out of your own house.
In addition, you will also be responsible for the maintenance of those servers as well. On top of that, you will also be responsible for the security of your WordPress website that is hosted on your own server too.
Normally security issues as well as hardware maintenance is performed by web hosting service providers.
So my opinion, hosting your own WordPress website on your own server in general is not worth it nowadays. Especially considering how low WordPress hosting prices have come down over the last 15 years.
How can I host my website for free on Google?
The only plan I’m aware of for hosting your own website for free on Google is through their Blogger.com platform.
Other than that, you normally can’t host a WordPress website for free on Google. By the way, Blogger and it’s platform are not WordPress platforms.
What is the difference between a web host and a domain?
A web host basically hosts your WordPress website on their servers.
If you are hosting your own WordPress website, you will also need servers of your own to host your WordPress website on.
A domain is the name of your website that usually ends in: .com, .org, .net, etc.
You will need to buy a domain name and register it with one of the various domain name carriers like Namecheap or GoDaddy.
What does it mean to host your own website?
To host your own website can literally mean that you have a server or servers in your own home.
You connect these servers to the internet through fiber optic cables that are usually provided by internet service providers in your area.
Is it easy to change web hosts?
One of the beauties of using WordPress is not only that it’s open source, but you can host it on any number of web hosting service providers.
Each has their positives and negatives, various server sizes, capacity as well as pricing, all with varying degrees of support.
However, with WordPress you have much more control over your website since it’s open source. You can move it to a new host literally anytime you wish.
Unlike other platforms such as Wix, Weebly and Squarespace who don’t provide you with such control.
These types of platforms are basically one stop shops, which in many ways can be quite convenient for someone who has limited use for their websites.
But with those three platforms you not only have to use their themes, but you also have to use their hosting platforms as well.
This can create issues especially when dealing with support, pricing increases etc. With WordPress if your service provider raises your hosting fees or you’re not satisfied with their support, you can simply pack up your WordPress site and move it to another host.
It’s fairly easy to do nowadays, especially with various migration plugins that you can add to your WordPress site. These migration plugins will basically zip up your WordPress theme, content, images, media, etc. and help you migrate it to a new host.
Although it’s not as easy as some would like it to be, compared to having a Wix website for example, WordPress more importantly, gives you the maximum amount of control you can have of a website, without having to buy hardware like servers and host it out of your house.
WordPress website hosting conclusions.
As you can see, not only can you build a website with WordPress, but WordPress does offer to host your website as well with their various hosting plans.
However, your best options are usually not on WordPress.com, but on the many other high-quality, top notch web hosting providers, which offer a variety of servers and WordPress hosting plans as well as customer support.
If you want to create and host a WordPress website you can. It all depends on your budget as well as your needs.
In addition, if you really want to geek out and go old school, you can buy your own server and host WordPress out of your own home, without the need for a WordPress hosting provider.
However, why go through all the trouble of not only buying a server and maintaining that server, when you can easily host your WordPress website on a number of great web hosting providers out there with a plan for every budget and a server for every size.
