Hosting for WordPress has gained popularity over the last 18 months. With companies like Rack Space Cloud and Media Temple climbing the ranks for Cloud Computing and the Power of WordPress it’s no surprise a lot of WordPress users are starting to switch. The question is, Is it the right move? Or should you stick with shared hosting? Lets look into cloud computing a little more and why it’s so popular.

Cloud Hosting provides something shared hosting can’t, instant scalability. Instant scalability is a websites ability to handle sudden spikes in web traffic without slowing down or worse, crashing. This is done through clusters of servers all connected to a cloud network. Why is this important for WordPress users? WordPress has grown to become the most popular CMS online today. Companies like Mashable.com are powered by WP and need the ability to sustain large amounts of web traffic. On top of the abilities of cloud hosting though scalability the offer apps you can’t find on shared hosting networks. The most popular app (extension) is CDN or “content delivery network”. With cloud you can add a CDN to host all attachments and images separately so your site loads much faster. It’s a fact – slow sites lose readers and the faster you make you WordPress site the better. The downside for some WP users is the cost. Although not really expensive for some other are used to shared hosting prices so making the switch can seem pricey. Cloud hosting is a good choice for those wanting high power, scalability, exclusive apps, and intelligent programs all for about $20 a month.

Shared Hosting Has been around for many years now. These hosting networks have provided WP users with exceptional hosting applications, one click installers, inexpensive pricing, and for the most part, good customer service. Shared hosting is a good hosting choice for those looking to host one to five WordPress sites with very little to moderate traffic, simple applications, small email accounts all for about $5 a month. Shared hosting works by using a cluster of static servers inside one facility. Shared hosting also includes webmasters sharing IP address with Servers. Some people consider this a bad thing because of who you might share servers or IP address with. This is easy to avoid when using Cloud Computing.

WordPress Hosting can be handled by either cloud or shared hosting. It really depends on what type of site your hosting, what you predict as traffic and visitor engagement, the content you are publishing, and how you plan on maintaining your site. If you plan on a lot of traffic, complex code and applications, in depth user engagement then cloud hosting is the right choice for you. If you plan on establishing an small personal online portfolio, a small blog, or light weight corporate site then shared hosting is for you. One other aspect I recommend. If you plan on working very hard on your SEO, I would suggest using cloud because of the speed and CDN tools .