5 Common WordPress Hosting Mistakes + Smart Fixes & Pro Tips

A general estimation indicates that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new WordPress websites come online annually.

Do you know what that means? It simply means that the new website owners find themselves in the intricacies of hosting and technical configurations of WordPress. 

WordPress users, old or new, always tend to have some issues, ranging from slow loading speeds and downtimes to inadequate backend management layouts. In a busy space like the internet, if a site does not seem to function as intended, it is probably not their UI/UX design trends or plugins; there’s a good amount of change that needs to be done with the hosting services being used.

Selecting a hosting platform might seem simple, but for a WordPress website, it is one of the integral components. Everything hosted on the website, including its speed, security, and backups, can be altered simply by choosing a different WordPress hosting provider. If the hosting provider selected is poor, it can lead to high bounce rates, decreased revenue, and lower SERP rankings. However, a good web hosting service quickly boosts the performance of the site and ensures that there is room for growth.

This blog will discuss the top five errors that new WordPress users make about hosting services and some easy tips to overcome these errors. Ready to unlock the full potential of your WordPress site? Let’s explore how you can take it to the next level.

Top 5 New User Mistakes in WordPress Hosting

Mistake #1: Choosing the Cheapest Hosting Option

It’s understandable that new users are often drawn to the cheapest WordPress hosting plans inadvertently leading them to make common mistakes in their hosting choices. Sign-up bonuses, low rates, and luring offers are extremely enticing, especially when you’re on a tight budget. Another reason beginners choose very cheap web hosting is they don’t fully understand what hosting is and what it involves.

Slow-loading pages, overused servers, terrible uptime, and dreadful performance (especially when demand surges) are all cons associated with cheap hosting. All are caused by budget hosting and the excessive latency associated with shared server resources. 

Budget hosting or free hosting for WordPress websites typically means shared server resources, where your site competes for bandwidth and processing power alongside dozens—or even hundreds—of other websites. Thus, you have severe restrictions on storage, the number of websites allowed to host, cost, and much more. 

Then there’s the matter of limited features and scalability. As your sites become more popular, helpful customer support also becomes essential. Furthermore, the security of your website should also be your concern. Weak or lackluster security protocols may make your website vulnerable to malware, DDoS attacks, or even hacking attempts—threats that no website owner ever wants to deal with. Hence, it is essential to choose the unbeatable WordPress hosting price with top-notch features.

How to Fix WordPress Hosting Problems: Budget Consideration

As an entrepreneur, it’s more effective to view web hosting as an investment rather than an expense. A good host will cover everything from speed, support, and security, which your website requires to operate efficiently. 

Don’t limit your focus to the introductory price. Consider renewal prices, including tools, security measures, and the quality of support. Expending a little more per month can boost performance, uptime, and reliability, which provides immense value.

Related Read: Top 10 WordPress Hosting Providers In India

Mistake #2: Not Understanding Hosting Types

One of the missteps a new WordPress user makes is jumping into a hosting plan without comprehending what they are signing up for. Avoiding hosting errors in WordPress starts with analyzing the perfect plan for your site. Here’s a simple explanation of the main kinds of WordPress hosting, using comparisons to help you understand them better:

Types of WordPress Hosting Plans

• Shared Hosting: In a shared server, users share the overall resources and features within the server with other websites, meaning their resource consumption can impact your website’s performance and vice versa.
  • Pros: Primarily used for shared resources, low cost, beginner-friendly, and minimal setup.
  • Cons: Limitations in performance and scalability.
• Managed WordPress Hosting: Tailored for WordPress users, it’s like hiring a full-time building manager for your condo. You get automatic updates, optimized performance, and expert support.
  • Pros: hassle-free, secure, fast, and optimized for WordPress.
  • Cons: Slightly more expensive, less flexibility for custom server setups.
• Unmanaged WordPress Hosting: As the name itself states, this kind of hosting comes with an unmanaged server. In simple terms, users have to manage the overall maintenance of their servers, updates, security, and much more. It is best for the users who want complete control of their WordPress hosting site.
  • Pros: Cheaper than managed WordPress hosting servers, offering dedicated control.
  • Cons: Need more technical expertise and time to handle the server configurations.

A Quick Comparison to Fix WordPress Hosting Problems: Plan-Related

How to Choose What Fits Your WordPress Hosting Needs? 

To pick the right type of hosting, assess your current needs and plans. Get answers to some simple questions, and you will already be closer to getting an ideal hosting plan with improved WordPress hosting performance.

• How much traffic do you expect?
• Are you comfortable managing technical tasks?
• What’s your budget?
• What change in the volume of visitors did you expect? 
• Can you handle technical management of your website and its server? 
• What is your set amount? 

Assess your current needs along with the hosting services you intend to use in the future. Read reviews, assess and compare offered features of each hosting service, and check the company’s customer service. Understanding your options for the types of WordPress hosting gives you control, avoids WordPress hosting pitfalls, and positions your site to succeed in the long run.

Mistake #3: Ignoring Security Features

Website security is likely not at the forefront of your thoughts when setting up a WordPress site, and thus it is the most common WordPress hosting mistake beginners make. As a popular and widely used CMS on a website, WordPress is a big target for hackers to scrape user data and exploit the site. 

With no security arrangements, you risk attacks, data bleeding, and prolonged system halts, which can severely impact your reputation and SEO. WordPress security plugins provide some level of defense but cannot replace server-level protection. This is why your cheap WordPress hosting provider becomes significantly important. A secure host functions as the primary defense against attacks and vulnerabilities, creating a secure layer for common website hosting problems.

Important Security Aspects to Take Note:

1. SSL Certificate: Crucial in building trust with users logging into your site, it encrypts data transmission to and from your site; hence, it is a prerequisite for HTTPS.
2. Firewall Protection: This will cut out dangerous traffic before it can access your site resources.
3. Regular Backups: Easier restore with daily or weekly backups if some issues arise while operating the site.
4. Malware Scanning and Removal: Essential for detecting rogue code or files and removing them.
5. DDoS Protection: Prevention from overburdening server traffic enables shielding your site, which can provoke a server crash.

The gaps left by plugins can be observed when relying on them exclusively. Not all the free WordPress plugins shield your hosting environment, where many attacks happen. This reinforces the fact that server security is crucial for any organization.

Don’t settle for any random service provider, as finding a secure host saves your WordPress site from issues.

Mistake #4: Underestimating Resource Needs

When starting a WordPress site, avoid the WordPress hosting pitfall of resource assumption. As a beginner, it is pretty simple to forget the back-end technical details. It is also very common to overlook hosting resources such as storage, RAM, CPU, and bandwidth. However, these factors are crucial for your site’s performance. Having a hosting plan that does not match your resource requirements will lead to slow load speeds and unexplained glitches or crashes as traffic surges.

Manage Your Resources:

1. Storage determines the volume of content your site can accommodate, including videos, images, and plugins.
2. The amount of data that can be transferred to and from the users and the site is referred to as bandwidth.
3. RAM and CPU are responsible for how effectively your site services data and the number of users accessing it at the same time.
4. A consistent surge in demand while not having enough of the hosting plan readily available would cause 500 internal server errors, lags, and downtime.

Estimate Your Needs Precisely:

• Begin with evaluating the kind of website you want to create: blog, portfolio, or eCommerce. 
• Consider your anticipated site traffic and the downloading speed for your site. 
• Always take into account the active plugins for the website, as they may add strain on server resources. 

Think of the Future: Scalability Is Everything:

• Pick a hosting plan that allows you to scale. It should be easy to expand your content or visitors and not require migrating to different hosting providers, which should happen seamlessly. 
• Always track performance indicators like load time and resource consumption. If you have noticed slow speeds on your website combined with high resource usage while monitoring, it might be time to consider changing your hosting plan. No matter the growth of your website, it should remain easy to use and quick to respond with proper hosting planning. 

Mistake #5: Ignoring Customer Support

For new WordPress users, reliable customer support is absolutely essential. While avoiding hosting errors in WordPress, newbies are bound to encounter problems as they try to get started with their website, whether it be help needed with installing WordPress, setting up email, or plugin conflicts. Without help, tiny problems can lead to dire consequences in the smooth functioning of your website. 

Related Read: How to Install WordPress on Ubuntu: A Step-by-Step Guide

Support Channels New WordPress Users Need:

• Live chat for quick queries
• Email or ticket systems for more detailed concerns
• Phone support for immediate, voice-assisted help
• Knowledge bases or forums for self-service troubleshooting

But not all support is created equal. Responsiveness and expertise matter just as much as availability. If a provider takes too long to respond or provides vague answers, it’s a red flag—especially when you’re relying on them during a critical moment.

How to Evaluate Support Before Committing

• Read reviews and testimonials to gauge user satisfaction.
• Check if they offer WordPress-specific support, which is invaluable for platform-related issues.
• Try reaching out with a pre-sales question to test their response time and helpfulness.

If you’re already with a host and experiencing poor support, don’t hesitate to switch. Your hosting provider should feel like a partner in your website’s growth—not a barrier to it. Some providers offer free migration with complete data security. Quality support can make your WordPress journey much smoother and far less stressful.

New WordPress Users Choice: How MilesWeb Outranks Competitors?

1. Managed WordPress Hosting Benefits

MilesWeb’s fastest WordPress hosting services include expert support, automatic updates, and regular maintenance, thus alleviating the burden of managing your site so you can concentrate on your site. This alone depicts how managed WordPress hosting can add a lot of value and improvement to your WordPress website’s security and performance.

2. Efficiency With Built-In Website Builders

Operating a website may necessitate some technical skills, such as coding, which, if you are not familiar with them, do not translate to effortless website navigation. With MilesWeb’s innovative drag-and-drop interface builder (AI website builder tool), making a website is effortless, even for amateurs.This is one of the most important reasons why startups choose MilesWeb for their Indian business. 

Give Preference to Premium CDN

In addition to outperforming your targets, the CDN guarantees faster load speeds for your website because it provides content and data from global server locations. Performance is further enhanced with MilesWeb’s hosting packages as they integrate premium CDN services.

Scheduled & On-Demand Backup Features

Restoring data after an unintentional deletion, error, or even an attack can be quite a hassle if one does not have a backup. To assist in keeping data safe, MilesWeb offers scheduled and on-demand backup features to have alternatives to fall back on in the case of data loss.

Always Go For Tough Security

WordPress hosting does not mean all security levels can depend on the plugins. The security focus has to begin right after making the first click. Like all hosted sites, MilesWeb offers even more server-side protections that go beyond the WordPress plugin’s security.