Cloudways: Signing Up and Basic Setup
When a small team has to run a WordPress website, performance (speed, security and more) matters as much as server cost. Rather than simply being a cheap host, Cloudways is one of the few WordPress hosts that can start a virtuous cycle of speed, SEO and lower bounce rates from the very beginning.
Building a website with WordPress means choosing a host. I paid for Cloudways hosting myself to see whether it really takes much of the burden off administrators in terms of server cost and management.
Ⅰ. Signing Up for Cloudways
Some time ago, when I was too busy to manage a server myself, I used Cloudways for a short while, but I was not satisfied back then. Comparing hosts again after a long time to run a test site, I found that Cloudways had been updated a lot in every respect, including the interface.
The WordPress hosts I have used so far usually offered either LiteSpeed servers tailored to cPanel or hosting tailored to their own panel. As I remember it, the old Cloudways also offered only a service optimized for its own platform.
1️⃣ Choosing WordPress Hosting
This time, however, there is the optimized service, a plain WordPress that you set up entirely yourself, and even service options for users who want to start or migrate a WooCommerce store.
Here I start with the ‘optimized WordPress’ service, aimed at users who are just getting started with WordPress.
2️⃣ Lightning vs. Hybrid Stack
The site I already run is hosted on AWS Lightsail, and compared with the Cloudways stacks it works the same way as the Hybrid stack, so I chose the Hybrid stack.
Stack
├─ Lightning Stack
│ ├─ Fast and Simple Nginx Settings
│ ├─ Speed Enhanced through Caching and Built-in Security Features
│ └─ Nginx(h2)
│
│
└─ Hybrid Stack
├─ .htaccess Support
├─ Speed Enhanced through Caching and Built-in Security Features
└─ Nginx + Apache(h2)Stack
├─ Lightning Stack
│ ├─ Fast and simple Nginx configuration
│ ├─ Caching for speed optimization and built-in security features
│ └─ Nginx (h2)
│
│
└─ Hybrid Stack
├─ .htaccess support
├─ Caching for speed optimization and built-in security features
└─ Nginx + Apache (h2)Nginx does not support .htaccess settings, and running a website often calls for .htaccess, which is a reason to choose the Hybrid stack. Details on each stack are on the sign-up page — see the descriptions there.
3️⃣ Cloud Provider
For a new site you can pick DigitalOcean or Linode as the cloud provider, but neither offers a Seoul region for users in Korea. Google Cloud is expensive for a Seoul region and so is AWS, so if you want to start in Korea at an affordable price, a Vultr server is the best choice.
|
Provider |
Key Features |
Best for |
|---|---|---|
|
DigitalOcean |
Simplicity, great value, fast SSD |
New users who want balanced performance and price |
|
Vultr |
32 locations worldwide, high-frequency SSD |
When you need many regions and high bandwidth |
|
Linode |
Consistent stability, powerful SSD |
Developers and agencies who value high-quality performance |
|
AWS |
Unmatched scalability, global network |
Enterprise-grade needs and complex custom setups |
|
GoogleCloud |
Cutting-edge infrastructure, high-performance networking |
Data-heavy companies pursuing innovation |
🔲 Cloudways Server Regions
You can scroll through the table below to find a region, but if you are looking for, say, the Seoul region in Korea, type Seoul into the table's search box and you will see that clouds other than Vultr also have a Seoul region.
🔲 Database
For the database, MariaDB is often recommended, and I also use MariaDB, which comes free on my Lightsail server.
🔲 Server Size and Other Options
Hosts that let you freely customize price and performance are actually rare.
Even from a non-English-speaking country such as Korea, you can easily sign up using Chrome's built-in translation.
I already had an account; the video below shows the sign-up based on everything described above.
You can sign up on Cloudways' WordPress sign-up page.
Ⅱ. Getting Started and Setup
How to set up DNS servers and records if you bought your domain from Namecheap.
How to connect a domain on Cloudways.
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