Did you decide to open an online store and start dropshipping, but you’re not sure what’s the best hosting plan for your online business? Or why should you get a hosting plan in the first place?
Well, you landed on the right page, as this article is about hosting plans and how the best one can make or break your WooCommerce dropshipping store. Having fast and secure website hosting is crucial for the success of your online store.
But first thing first, let’s talk a bit about choosing the right ecommerce platform for your dropshipping business. And, if you didn’t know this already, the most popular ecommerce platforms for dropshipping are Shopify and WordPress + WooCommerce. Now, the biggest mistake you can do is not choosing the right platform for your dropshipping store.
Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce platform that already has all the tools and features you need to setup your online store from zero. So, with Shopify, you have everything you need for your store within the platform, from web hosting to security, for example. The downside is that it can get quite expensive, as you will need to pay for all these extra tools.
This is why most newcomers choose WordPress + WooCommerce. WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that was purposely built for those users that want to change their WordPress website into an ecommerce store. As it’s an open-source Content Management System (CMS), everyone can just install it for free and therefore apply ecommerce functions and features to their existing website.
Read this great guide on Shopify vs. WooCommerce
As you can imagine, WooCommerce does require some setup and for you to have a bit of an ecommerce and website-building experience, but we believe it’s worth it in the long run.
So, for these reasons, in the next article, we will cover everything you need to know about WooCommerce hosting, from its importance to the factors to consider when choosing a hosting provider.
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What is WooCommerce hosting?
WooCommerce runs on WordPress, which means you absolutely need a hosting provider that supports WordPress. As with any online store or website, you will also need a domain name (such as mystore.com) and an SSL Certificate to accept online payments.
More than that, the back-end servers will also need to be optimized for WooCommerce if you want your store to perform at its best. And, as your online store grows, it will be great to choose a hosting provider that can easily scale up for more traffic and no downtime.
Well, a WooCommerce hosting plan will help with all of these and more. This is in fact a web hosting service designed specifically for online stores that use the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress. In other words, this is a hosting environment optimized for the performance, security, and functionality of WooCommerce-powered ecommerce stores.
Just think of this as a platform specifically built for your ecommerce store with an army of hosting specialists in the background ready to support you at all times.
Another important reason to choose a WooCommerce hosting plan is that you will get your online store up and running in no time. And this translates into more time and freedom to focus on growing your dropshipping business.
When choosing a WooCommerce hosting provider, it’s essential to consider factors such as performance, security, support, and scalability, as well as your budget and your business needs. We will talk more about these in the next chapters.
Pros and cons of choosing WooCommerce hosting
Now, we know WooCommerce hosting sounds amazing, and it really is, but it does come with its pros and cons.
So, before making any decision, take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of WooCommerce hosting.
Advantages of WooCommerce hosting
As we said already, the most important benefit of going for WooCommerce hosting is that you have a team of specialists to handle all your online store’s basic maintenance, setup, and security.
This gives you lots of time to focus on the part that matters the most – growing your dropshipping store.
So, here are the main benefits of WooCommerce hosting:
- WooCommerce online store ready: Most WooCommerce hosting companies will pre-install WooCommerce and deliver it with a ready-to-use design, so you can start right away on your store.
- Optimized for WooCommerce: These hosting plans are optimized specifically for running WooCommerce stores, improving the performance and security of your store. Features like caching, fast servers, SSL certificates, etc., are included.
- Performance: Hosting platforms built specifically for WooCommerce offer faster loading times. And, website loading speed is not only important for user experience or ecommerce transactions but also for SEO.
- Increased security and daily backups: WooCommerce hosting plans come with an SSL certificate, which is an added security layer around the data coming from the customer’s browser to your store. Plus most hosting providers offer daily backups and DDoS protection, so your data is always protected.
- WooCommerce support: WooCommerce hosting plans include dedicated 24/7 support for WooCommerce and have a team ready to help you with issues specifically related to running a WooCommerce store.
- Cost and time saving: Some WooCommerce hosting plans can be very affordable, especially if you’re just now starting and you need a basic online store. The optimization and support that comes with this type of hosting can save you money and time in the long term versus a regular hosting plan.
Disadvantages of WooCommerce hosting
Now, of course, there are a few disadvantages too, but it all comes down to the specific needs of your online business, and if your store is small or not.
- Limited to WooCommerce: As this is made only for WooCommerce stores, then is really only suitable if you want to own a store built on this platform. Now, in case you want to run stores on other platforms, then maybe a general hosting plan is better.
- Pre-Installed Software: If you are an advanced user and have some experience with online stores, you may want to install WooCommerce on your own. Also, if you have UX or web design experience, you may not like that WooCommerce hosting comes with store-ready designs.
- Maintenance: Some WooCommerce hosting plans don’t offer automatic updates and backups, so you will still need to set these up yourself.
- No advanced features: Some basic WooCommerce hosting plans don’t have many advanced features that are great if you own a big store, like VPS hosting or dedicated servers.
- Migration challenges: If you already have a store on another platform, make sure the hosting plan you choose includes free migrations. Also, things can get complicated when and if you want to switch to a different platform or another hosting.
So now that we looked at the advantages and disadvantages of WooCommerce hosting, here are some of the factors you need to consider when choosing this type of hosting provider.
Key factors to consider when selecting your hosting provider
Choosing the best WooCommerce hosting for your dropshipping store is essential for optimal performance, security, and scalability.
So, here are the key factors you should consider when selecting a hosting provider for your online store.
WooCommerce compatibility
The hosting provider you choose has to be fully compatible with WooCommerce and should also offer easy installation and configuration. There are a few hosting providers that even offer WooCommerce-specific plans with pre-installed tools and performance optimization for WooCommerce stores.
Performance
Speed and uptime are crucial for your ecommerce store, so make sure you choose a hosting provider that can offer loading times of under 2 seconds and has at least 99.5% uptime. Some key metrics you need to take into account include Time to First Byte (TTFB), page load times, and server uptime. A Content Delivery Network (CDN) should also be provided to ensure fast global delivery of your store’s content.
Scalability
If you’re now just starting, you will need to start small and upgrade as your store evolves. Of course, the aim is to grow your dropshipping store, so with that in mind, you’ll need a hosting provider that can easily scale your plan for increased traffic and resources. This means you should go for a hosting that includes features like auto-scaling, flexible pricing plans, and the ability to upgrade server resources easily.
Additional resources and features
As with all dropshipping stores, you will probably need to add lots of products, images, categories, etc. This means a hosting plan that provides enough storage space, bandwidth, CPU cores, and memory. For example, you should at least have 30-50GB SSD storage, 100Mbps bandwidth, 4 CPU cores and 8-16GB RAM. Also, additional features like free SSL, backups, CDN, etc., are an added advantage.
Security
You will handle sensitive customer data, so it’s essential that your hosting provider offers features like SSL certificates, daily backups, DDoS protection or malware scanning. Also, your hosting provider needs to have a strong expertise in preventing and mitigating all types of cyber security breaches.
Support
You will face issues, so having reliable and responsive customer support is essential for the success of your online store. So, look for a hosting provider with 24/7 support through multiple channels like live chat, email, and phone.
Easy to use
Choose a provider that makes it easy for you to manage your hosting account via a user-friendly interface and easy-to-follow documentation. Their team should also install and configure WooCommerce for you, and give you access to tools like cPanel or Plesk. This can save you time and effort.
Reviews
Look for reviews from other WooCommerce store owners or dropshippers. This will give you valuable insights into the performance, reliability, and support of a hosting provider so that you can decide which one is best for your store.
Ultimately, the best WooCommerce hosting provider for you will depend on your specific niche, store and budget. So, make sure you do your research and compare different providers before making a decision.
Ready to build your WooCommerce store?
As you can see, choosing the best hosting provider for your WooCommerce store is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your dropshipping business.
Haar WooCommerce hosting solutions can help you build a high-performance, fully managed, optimized and SEO-ready WooCommerce store.
They also have a special discount for you if you choose one of their Hosting Plans. Make your choice, use promotion code 50-DISCOUNT and you get 50% OFF.
