Which webhosting should I use for my WordPress website? media temple grid serviceA common question asked via twitter and directly from my clientsI get asked this question all of the time. So here is why I recommend, demand, suggest, beg anyone I talk to to use mediatemple.net   I use specifically the Grid service which can have up to 100 websites on the same plan and is built to take traffic spikes. Here is the direct link to the grid service hosting I use http://mediatemple.net/webhosting/gs/


They have REAL tech support 24/7 365 days per year.

By that I mean when I have called at 11PM on new years eve I can still get someone who actually know how to fix a technical issue. Most other companies I have dealt with have a phone operator with less knowledge than me about WordPress and web servers and after wasting 15mins of my time types up an email and send it to the real tech support who only work business hours and take days to respond and rarely get the issue fixed in one email.   3. Global phone numbers to call. These guys are based in California but still provide Australian phone numbers to call for support. Here the link to that page: http://mediatemple.net/company/contact.php eg: Sydney 02 801 49326

mediatemple

mediattemple contact information

Built with server settings that are correctly setup for WordPress

As wordPress.or says:

the vast majority of which meet the WordPress minimum requirements,

The problem is that’s not enough.   I constantly see WordPress sites on other web hosting that:

  • get installed and then won’t upgrade with one click
  • have issues after adding a handful of plugins
  • constantly ask for ftp passwords for every plugin install

That’s not how it’s supposed to work, it should be effortless to do these things. It is effortless on mediatemple hosting.

4. Professional user interface

The interface is well structured and is very well laid out and works well. You can do things easily like change a DNS zone file to set up a google apps email from example. Often a painful task in regular hosting companies.   mediatemple account center Most hosting companies use the

It’s NOT $9.95/year for webhosting

It’s $USD20/month or $USD200 per year. I get very concerned when a client tells me they are paying less than $10 per month for web hosting.   If web hosting is less than $10/month:

  • they could be sharing the same server as a LOT of other websites. This means that during peak times your website will be slower or even crash completely when you need it the most.
  • higher probability of being on the same server as a spam site that will eventually get the server blacklisted. Which can effect emails not being received and a host of other nasty side effects.
  • the tech support will be run on a shoestring and annoying at best

If they get knocked down they get back up again quickly and learn from it.

Most hosting companies get attacked at some point. Mediatemple got attacked some time ago and there was some code added to the WordPress databases including mine. Their engineers worked around the clock to advise how to remove the code and even cleaned out any sites that hadn’t done so over the course of a few weeks after the attack.   I do not know of any of my clients who have any issues since that attack and all are running well since it was sorted out.

Over to you

If anyone wants to ask any questions about mediatemple web hosting  respond to comments or emails on the subject. I use it all the time with my websites and my clients websites so I may be able to help you out.