Comments on: Most Hosting Recommendations for WordPress Suck. Here’s Why.

By: David Hayes

David Hayes — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 20:17:44 +0000

In reply to IS. That's a fair summary I think. It's a bit more complex than that, of course. The special deals for good affiliate, for example, gets left off of that version.

By: IS

IS — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 20:23:12 +0000

tl;dr – because of the affiliate payout

By: Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 17:21:48 +0000

In reply to Bob Dunn. Great to hear from you, Bob! I definitely agree that sharing your experience when you're liking your host is 100% valid, and it's something we do ourselves. The main thing we're hoping to encourage is that readers take some time to consider their sources, and that they flesh out those individual reviews with results from larger data sets when possible.

By: Bob Dunn

Bob Dunn — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 20:28:41 +0000

A very interesting article indeed, and something I can totally relate to. Over the years I have written a few reviews for various hosts, and those review simply shared what features the host provided. I obviously left a lot of the final decision in the hands of the readers.

At one point I decided not to do any posts on specific hosts, and some of the reasons I did this are reflected in this post as well. My most success with recommending hosts was when I was doing design vs. writing about them. Much more personal, could get more in-depth to the customers needs and weigh all the crazy variables that come with deciding on a host.

These days, I write only about the host I use myself. Although I agree that each individual experience isn’t always the best advice to take, because everyone does have different experiences. But when I’m having a great experience with my own host, I do like to share that.

But I let my readers decide for themselves and I certainly don’t spend any efforts trying to get those posts on the first page of Google for the sake of the dollar.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts in this post 🙂

By: Rod Austin

Rod Austin — Wed, 09 Jan 2019 15:50:38 +0000

Couldn’t agree more.

There’s no shortage of articles, reviews and directories on the web telling you what is the best at this or that, and WordPress hosting is no different. Searching Google for related terms will reveal a number of 3rd party and seemingly neutral purveyors of said information. But a closer look will expose the #1 corrupter of many of these lists: affiliate links.

You likely know how the affiliate game works: 3rd parties refer traffic to a company website, and if a sale occurs, the 3rd party gets a kick back.

But is that the best way to find a recommendation?

Is the opinion of a paid spokesperson the best source for unbiased information?

No, and hell no.

I’m not suggesting that all of these lists are biased, or that you should not take their opinion into account – just know the motivation behind the list and factor that into your decision. And not all affiliate relationships are transparent, so tread lightly.

By: Fred Meyer

Fred Meyer — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 16:33:40 +0000

In reply to Mike Johnston. Really appreciate it, Mike!

By: Mike Johnston

Mike Johnston — Sat, 22 Dec 2018 14:45:46 +0000

Thanks for your thorough coverage of this topic. I’ve read the “Finding the Best Web Hosting” article twice, and will use it as a reference when I make a renewal decision on hosting next year. Had the article been available 6 months ago, I would have made a very different decision when I set up my site. I chose BlueHost on the basis of price and recommendations from several bloggers I follow. (One is a former IT guy who now writes about finance, the other is blogging about writing – and I knew that both were getting affiliate commissions.) I have no complaints about BlueHost, but my site is very low-traffic and we don’t do ecommerce. It’s also a starting point for me to learn about WordPress, and so, for now, it is good enough.

I appreciate the technical detail and rigor you put into your articles, and continue to learn from them. Keep up the good work!

By: Manuel

Manuel — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 04:27:04 +0000

Gotta agree with Hedley.
a simple example: Siteground seems so good, but a LOT of people i know are moving away due to their “CPU” policy. I was spending something like 300+ $ and I had to fear that a post would go viral during the night, when i was not able to check and see the website taken down (happened twice)
i had less than 50K visitor per month, wp and a genesis template.
my rank dropped during the 3 year with site ground, to say the truth.

now i spend 84$. site more or less as fast as, and magically my site has no CPU problems.

Manuel

PS i m not telling my current host…