There are a plethora of shared hosting plans to be found online, some great, others mediocre and some downright bad. This makes choosing a host for your Joomla website something of a headache, if you’ve never done it before, as there are just so many options.
However, we’ve had a look around for some of the well-known and respected hosts that specialise in Joomla to help take the hard work out of finding one.
Planning is essential
Before you go ahead, plan your site out – is it going to be a hobby or blogging site or are you looking for something commercial? If you’re looking to use the site for a business, it’s not recommended that you go with shared hosting as it’s likely you’ll need a premium plan.
For hobbies and bloggers, who just want a basic platform on which to share their passions with the world, it’s possible to get free or shared hosting that costs a negligible amount.
Decent free hosting for a Joomla website is rare, and if you’re going to go down that route then the only real advantage you will have is the opportunity to use your own domain name.
Shared hosting, on the hand, is ideal for many people who don’t want to pay the earth as they share a server and its resources with others. Shared hosting tends to cost in the region of $4-20 and should include the following:
- Reliability is vital if you want your site to be live at all times – ask for speed and uptime percentage before going ahead
- Size is important! Ensure that there is enough disk space to suit your needs, especially for photographers and video enthusiasts
- Security is also worth considering, ensure that server builds are secure and webmail etc is protected
- Tech support is vital for the user who is not especially au fait with internet technology, look for reviews that promise a fast, reliable and friendly support service
Our Picks:
- CloudAccess: They are very specialized in Joomla hosting. They manage your joomla setup and plans start from $19.95.
- Siteground: These have an excellent reputation for providing outstanding uptime and security, as well as super-fast data transfer rates. Prices start at $3.95 and include a free domain name.
- Rochen: They are the official Joomla hoster of joomla.org, start at $8.95.
Hopefully, this should give you a good starting point when it comes to choosing a host. There are plenty more hosting companies out there which are just as good as those mentioned, but this will give you some kind of benchmark to work from.
Happy hunting!