When it comes to choosing the web hosting service for your website, you have a myriad of options at your disposal. However, it is important that you pick a hosting environment that has certain technical capabilities your site needs to grow. In addition to this, it must have adequate scripting capabilities so that your website can function properly. Well, PHP hosting is one of the hosting types that offer similar hosting environment.
PHP website hosting comes with the ability to read and execute the PHP programming language properly. In our today’s post, we will learn what PHP language actually is, its role in web hosting and advantages of choosing PHP hosting over other hosting options.
What is PHP?
Stands for PHP Hypertext Processor, PHP is a well-known scripting language that has been designed to create dynamic web pages. As it is a universal scripting language, the websites built in PHP are compatible with all types of devices.
Some of the popular content management systems that are written in PHP are WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Majority of website owners choose between these three platforms only to create a website because of their flexible nature.
Another advantage of choosing these CMS platforms is you can easily find themes and plugins for them and create a professional looking website with a few mouse clicks.
The interesting thing about this programming language is that it is an open source interpreter that means it can be interpreted in real-time.
People can recognize PHP files by their extension that is ‘.php’.
PHP & Web Hosting
It is important to understand that PHP is a server-side language. Therefore, front-end users don’t get access to the codes like they do with HTML websites. However, PHP websites can use snippets of CSS and HTML. And for that reason, PHP built websites are quite flexible. You can do a wide range of customization on them which is not possible in most static websites.
So, whenever you look for a web host, make sure it supports PHP.
When you opt for a PHP website hosting, you can perform a wide range of complex tasks like:
-You can display the best version of your website for any screen size.
-You can create interactive pages, forums, and blogs.
-You can receive and send cookies.
When You Need PHP hosting?
You should go for a web hosting provider that supports PHP if:
-You have created a website on a Content Management System such as WordPress.
-You want to protect your customer’s information and website’s code.
The installation and configuration of PHPÂ are usually done in cPanel offered by your host.
Advantages of PHP Hosting
If you have created your site using PHP and your hosting partner supports it, then your website will get a lot of benefits that you can’t get with other hosting environments. We have highlighted some of the well-known advantages of PHP hosting for you. Let’s have a glance at them.
PHP is a widely adopted programming language
As we said in the beginning, PHP is a universal scripting language. Therefore, sites written in PHP are compatible with almost every device, including iPads, iPhones, and Android devices. It means your website is going to look perfect no matter on which screen size it is being accessed or seen.
Since most of the people use their mobile device to access the internet it is crucial your site looks good on every screen size.
It is an affordable option
As PHP is open source and free to use, the hosting cost in a PHP hosting environment is quite affordable than that of a commercial programming language’s hosting environment.
PHP is user-friendly
PHP is quite simple to use therefore, most developers prefer to work with this language. The best part is that it can easily be integrated with CSS and HTML without making the use of any additional plugins or software. PHP website hosting can be a good choice for you if you are running your site on popular CMS platforms like Joomla, WordPress, and Drupal.
It is Lightening Fast
This scripting language is quite light on server resources. It simply means your PHP website will perform fast and will not put much strain on your hosting server. You can expect good loading time and overall performance for your website.
It can easily be integrated with databases
Today, it is hard to see a website without a database. Fortunately, it is quite easy to integrate a PHP website with databases like MySQL. PHP is a versatile programming language you can integrate with almost every database option.
Now you are aware of the advantages of PHP hosting. Now let’s have a look at top 3 PHP site hosting provider for 2018.
#1 SiteGround
With SiteGround, you can host websites built in any PHP versions. The provider lets you switch between PHP versions straight from the control panel.
Key Features
-Offers a wide range of PHP modules to work with.
-You can choose any available PHP versions.
-It lets you perform advanced PHP optimizations.
#2 HostPapa
It is one of the earliest hosting providers offering great hosting solutions for PHP-based blogs, websites, and eCommerce portals.
Key Features
-Free server monitoring and unlimited MySQL database.
-One-click installations for popular CMSs like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla.
-phpMyAdmin and cPanel are included.
#3 Bluehost
Bluehost is renowned for offering a user-friendly hosting environment for PHP based websites.
The host allows you to choose between different PHP versions available. You can also customize and configure PHP to meet your site’s requirements.
Key Features
-Offers support for MySQL and Ruby.
-You can customize your PHP version using PHP handlers.
-You can easily configure the PHP environment using php.ini.
