In the Store Owner Tips private facebook community, we ran a poll recently asking what web hosts people are using for their e-commerce stores.
Not all our members run WooCommerce stores, but most of them do (as many are also Wholesale Suite or Advanced Coupons customers) so it was interesting to see the results.
I was actually shocked at the top answer and found it curious that more people weren’t running their own VPS servers.
Most Popular: SiteGround
The surprise winner was SiteGround. It was very popular among our respondents. Probably because they have a nice low-fuss WooCommerce optimized solution for a very affordable price.
Benefits:
- Great performance at low price
- Free SSL
- Free CDN
- Easy migration from other hosting services
- WooCommerce specific plans
- Unmetered traffic
Overall they are well-liked by the community. They are also one of only three hosts listed on the WordPress.org website as an official hosting partner.
Visit SiteGround via this link to get free SSL
Runner Up: WP Engine
Next was one that I thought would be in the top few, WP Engine. It was one of the first managed WordPress-specific web hosts on the market (founded in 2010) and they’ve continued to grow.
Benefits:
- Premium performance
- Free SSL
- One-click staging (for testing changes)
- 10 Premium themes
- Daily backups
- In-built caching (no need for plugins)
It’s a bit pricier than some hosts but one of their redeeming features is the ability to easily make a staging environment. This is important when downtime for a busy store can cost thousands per day.
Visit WP Engine via this link to get 3-months free
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is possibly the world’s most well-known web host due to its near-constant advertising. If you are going to use GoDaddy I suggest looking at their WordPress specific plans.
Digital Ocean
Digital Ocean is the host we use, but it’s not for everyone. It’s fast, but it’s a no-frills VPS provider. You’ll need some server configuration skills or access to someone who does.
You can literally spin up servers and takedown servers as much as you want and adjusting the server specs is easy via their interface. It’s all self-service. I particularly like that I have the whole server to myself.
Kinsta
One that I thought would be higher on the list is Kinsta who have a very good reputation as a provider in the WordPress space.
They’re a lightning-fast host based on the Google Cloud Platform. Fully managed, backups and all that. Basically all the benefits of running your site on Google’s infrastructure but with the creature comforts of a modern host.
Choosing A Host For Your WooCommerce Store
There’s no right or wrong or “best” host for a WooCommerce store. I believe it comes down to a few things:
- Your specific requirements
- Expected traffic demands
- Your level of server configuration expertise
- The host’s reputation and your trust in them to do a good job hosting your store
If you’re looking for a host for a new store or you’re considering changing, then it’s work looking at the ones above. Our community not only voted via the poll on our Store Owner Tips group, but they also voted with their wallets and gave money to these companies. That in itself demonstrates a level of trust too.
