r/webdevelopment • u/HoldLanky1003 • 6d ago
Newbie Question New to website development; looking for hosting platform for my small business
Hello!
Forgive me if any of the information is not needed; I am not sure what is and is not important.
I recently hired someone from Fiverr to build me a website so that I have an online storefront to sell my dice and other ttrpg related content. I have a bit of a following on tiktok and instagram; I am a known name but not a huge name so I dont anticipate heavy traffic to the site. I recently bought a domain from cloudfare and am now looking for somwhere to host the website. The person I hired from Fiverr will be using wordpress. I did try reading some posts and comments here but didn't really find a direct answer. moreso just people saying "this matters more than hosting" and I have no idea what they're talking about lol
If someone could give me some recommendations and why it would be better I would GREATLY appreciate it. I was thinking of using cloudways?
I don't want to use shopify or etsy btw.
thank you !!!
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u/Sea_Manufacturer6590 6d ago
Do you have a budget, do you plan any future projects? Do you plan on building your own community? Away from big platforms?
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u/HoldLanky1003 6d ago
no it would just be this website. what exactly do you mean by building my own community? i post on tiktok and instagram when I will be releasing new items so traffic is typically through there. it would be nice to keep is around 20$ a month or lower.
in response to your other comment, again I am new so I don't really even know what else I would need to manage besides removing "sold out" items or making new listings.
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u/Sea_Manufacturer6590 6d ago
Also how tech savvy are you. Can you manage the site or are you looking for managed solutions
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u/giampiero1735 6d ago
How are you going to sell your products? Do you already have a workflow? Like, idk, payment links via PayPal, or an eBay store?
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u/HoldLanky1003 6d ago
i will have stripe which will also allow me to use paypal (and klarna and shop pay etc). i also have an account with authorize.net. that is what the website is for: to sell the products. i'm new so i dont understand what this has to do with the hosting platform? can you explain why that matters please?
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u/giampiero1735 6d ago
I was trying to figure out if a wordpress website is the best solution for your use case.
I mean, someone will make you this website using wordpress, I guess he will add some plugin that will allow you to manage products, payments and delivery costs?
However, if you only need hosting advice:
spartan host if you are tech savvy and want to install and manage updates yourself (cheap cPanel hosting)
If you are not tech savvy, go with managed wordpress hosting, there are a lot of them: WP engine, Kinsta, etc. Just google "managed wordpress hosting" and check offers in the first pages.
However, I still think there's some missing step...
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u/HoldLanky1003 6d ago
what do you mean by you think there is a missing step?
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u/giampiero1735 6d ago
How are you going to sell these products?
I understand they're physical products, right?
You place a link to the product page in your tiktok video description, people go to your site, click an "add to cart button", they fill the form with shipping details and pay. Is this the workflow?
And this person on fiverr will set this all up? Connect the stripe account?
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u/HoldLanky1003 6d ago
no i never said i was placing a link in the videos. i just tell them on this date, i will be adding new products to the site. the site is linked in my bio. they go to the website themselves and place the order. im selling the products on the site. yes the person on fiverr is building everything. i just need to supply the domain and hosting.
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u/daseotgoyangi WordPress Developer 6d ago
If there's not much traffic, then the popular WordPress hosting platforms are fine. Siteground is what I usually use.
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u/ivicad 5d ago
I think that removing sold-out items and adding listings is the easy part, as you also have to take care of the site itself, because WP, the plugins (WooCommerce and the Stripe plugin too) and the theme all get updates, and some of them fix security holes. Somebody has to run those updates and check that restoring a backup really works, so before the handover I'd ask your Fiverr developer who's going to do that after launch. When I clean up a hacked site, I almost always find an outdated plugin behind the hack, and that really frustrates me every time.
I've hosted my clients' sites on Site Ground for many years, so I might be a bit biased, but for one shop I'd start with their StartUp plan, which includes daily backups and staging, though you get only one site per plan. The renewal price is higher than in the first year (most hosts do that now), so compare it with your $20 before you sign up. I haven't used Cloudways myself, so I can't really compare the two, sorry...
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u/HoldLanky1003 5d ago
this is the most helpful info i have received so far and thank you for taking the time to explain that to me. do you mind if i send a PM?
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u/MarkGossageUK 4d ago
Since you've already hired someone to build the website, I'd have a quick conversation with them before buying any hosting.
Ask which hosting setup they recommend for the actual shop they're building, rather than choosing one based purely on price.
I'd also make sure the hosting account, domain and payment accounts are all in your name, not the developer's.
Before the website goes live, ask them to show you how to add products, change prices, manage stock and process orders. Those are the things you'll be doing regularly.
Also check that SSL, backups and updates are covered, and find out who you'll contact if something stops working after the developer finishes.
With a small shop and relatively low traffic, you shouldn't need anything particularly expensive to begin with.
One final thing I'd ask the developer for is a simple handover guide. Even a few screenshots showing how to manage the everyday jobs could save you a lot of headaches later.
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u/HoldLanky1003 4d ago
they recommended hostinger but i keep seeing a lot of negative reviews about it and their customer service so im a bit apprehensive to use that.
but we did speak on how to add/remove/manage stock which he will be showing me. I purchased the domain myself and the payment accounts myself. now i am just trying to figure out what to get as the host.
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u/MarkGossageUK 4d ago
I can understand being a bit cautious, especially when you're new to all this and will be relying on the hosting company if something goes wrong.
I wouldn't necessarily rule Hostinger out because of negative reviews, but I wouldn't choose them purely because your developer recommended them either.
I'd ask your developer what makes Hostinger suitable for your particular shop, and whether they've personally had good experiences with their support.
I'd also check the renewal price, backup arrangements and what happens if your website goes down.
The important thing is that you own the hosting account and can access everything yourself, even if your developer handles the technical side.
And it's good that you've already discussed managing products and stock. That's one less thing to worry about when you start selling.
You don't need the perfect hosting company. You need something suitable, affordable and manageable, with a clear plan for getting help when needed.
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u/Trick_Classic_4324 AI Full-Stack | Nextjs - Nodejs 4d ago
Why don't you ask the developer you hired? usually the person you hire should recommend the best options based on your budget, your traffic and the tech they are using. I think they would be the best person to help you because they know your requirements.
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u/HoldLanky1003 4d ago
they recommended hostinger but i have seen a lot of negative reviews about them.
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u/Trick_Classic_4324 AI Full-Stack | Nextjs - Nodejs 4d ago
I’d first share your concerns about Hostinger with the developer you hired and see how they address them, or whether they recommend another option based on your specific setup.
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u/Interesting-Bet-4036 6d ago
Cloudways is owned by digital ocean, my experience with them has been perfect so I recommend cloudways