Today was one of those days. As I got to the office, I received a notification that a server was down. Fixing this web server put a claim on all of my time that day, and even bit a chunk out of my free time as I got hime.
Web servers are complicated beasts. In principle, setting up your own hosting is very simple. You lease a server or VPS, install MySQL, PHP and Apache and get started. However, the devil is in the many details. You need to set up all those different modules, and so on. It’s like you are opening a puzzle box, and not all the pieces are marked properly.
In theory, I could setup my own web server. It sounds tempting: spend 10 to 20 dollars a month on a VPS, quickly setup LAMP and host as many sites as I want. Or, in reality, as many sites as my server can handle.
Because that’s the problem, isn’t it? It’s all simple in theory. But in reality, dealing with web servers is often a frustrating venture. You can run into all sorts of problems just to set them up. And when the time comes to keep your server secure, you need to spend the time updating the different parts and hoping that you don’t somehow break something in the process.
I admire the people that can setup their own server. They are probably saving money in the long run. However, if I were to follow their lead I’d have to invest a lot of time into the ordeal. Time that I’d rather use on things I’d rather be doing: writing blog posts, looking into interesting technology or making videos.
Why I benefit from shared hosting
For me, shared hosting is simply a better match. I pay roughly the same what I’d pay for a VPS, but I don’t need to invest any time in setting up the server. There is no need to do updates of the server. Maintenance wise, shared hosting couldn’t be easier for me.
There’s also a big set of tools that you can use that’ll make your life easier. Installers for WordPress and Joomla, setting up a new database with just a few clicks, monitoring tools built straight into Cpanel. When you want to dig deeper into your websites and start tuning and optimizing things, the options are there. But they’re strictly optional.
Of course, there is a dark side to shared hosting. You are sharing resources on a server. Depending on your hoster, this might lead to poor site performance.
Fortunately, the Joomla community pointed me into the way of Siteground. I had my doubts at first, but after using them for three years I can say that their shared hosting is top notch. Websites hosted on their server are fast, responsive and have an extremely good uptime. Combine that with the usual tools and some very cool WordPress and Joomla tools that the guys at Siteground have built themselves, and some features you don’t find in other shared hosting solutions and you’ve got a winning solution if, like me, you don’t want to host your sites yourself.
When using Siteground, even managing updates is taken out of your hand. Joomla and WordPress will be updated automatically for you, which means you’re always up to date. All you need to look after, are the plugins you’ve installed on your website.
Another upside of shared hosting, and using Siteground specifically, is the support. Now, I rarely need or use their support options. But on the rare occasion that I did, their support was fast, knowledgeable and more than willing to solve my problem.
The fact that I can just sit back and relax thanks to Siteground is a big reason why I prefer not to host my websites on myself. If you’re wondering ‘Should I host my own websites’, then the answer is ‘It depends’. Are you willing to commit the time, or are you more interested in taking care of your website yourself?
If you are looking for a hosting solution where they take the hard work out of your hands, then give Siteground a try.
Let’s help each other out
Are you looking to sign up for quality hosting? Cool! Consider giving Siteground a try. In the process, we can help each other out. If you sign up through my affiliate link, you
- Get an optional free site transfer
- Get a big discount on your 1st year of hosting
- Might be eligible for a discount, if you’re coming from another hosting company.
Of course, there’s also something in it for me. If you sign up, I get up to three months of hosting for free. That’d be an awesome gift, allowing me to focus on my writing.
You can sign up for this deal right here!
Or, if you want to check out what Siteground has in store first, you can click the banner below and decide later.
So you ended up going back to letting WordPress.com host your content?
Hey there! To be honest this blog has always been hosted here and I never saw a reason to change that because it works and is free.