Are you looking for the best platform to host a WordPress website? Then, you should host WordPress on AWS cloud service.
Why?
WordPress has seen many changes since its initial release in 2003. Nowadays, it has become the most sought-after content management system that powers over 37% of the websites on the World Wide Web. It’s especially liked by people without any coding background who want to create a website.
In the same vein, Amazon Web Services is the world’s most popular cloud infrastructure platform. That’s why AWS for WordPress is one of the best hosting solutions you can find right now.
Sounds interesting? Then, keep reading to learn how to host WordPress on AWS using Cloudways in a matter of minutes.
Let’s get to it!
Table of Contents
What is Amazon Web Services (AWS)?
A quick introduction.
As I already mentioned, Amazon Web Services is a gigantic cloud platform. There are currently over 170 services available in AWS. Amazon has a tool for everyone – bloggers, entrepreneurs, government agencies, startups, and enterprises.
But today, let’s will focus on Amazon’s cloud hosting solutions and reasons why you’d want to choose to host WordPress on AWS over other platforms.
Benefits of Hosting WordPress on AWS
So, what makes AWS a cloud platform of choice for WordPress websites? Let’s take a closer look.
Improved performance
Amazon is among the world’s leading platforms in terms of global reach. It maintains millions of PoPs within 24 geographical regions–that’s about 76 availability zones and 245 countries!
In other words, by having a WordPress site on AWS, you will have benefits such as enhanced speed and extremely reliable uptime.
Better flexibility
Top cloud platforms allow users to scale the capacity to optimize performance and cost. And AWS is no exception!
With Amazon, users can pick out of a vast number of customizable plans (including a free tier). In addition to that, website owners can use the AWS Auto Scaling tool that automatically picks the optimal storage and traffic for maximal cost-efficiency.
Search engine optimization benefits
AWS offers an extensive network of CDN (content delivery network) PoPs that can boost your website’s speed for people located in various regions.
Now, speed remains one of the key factors for ranking in Google’s search engine. Moreover, with the rising popularity of mobile devices, page load time only becomes more crucial for SERP (search engine rankings position).
Consequently, AWS can significantly improve the SEO appeal of your WordPress website, which results in more popularity and conversions.
Easy WordPress migration
Already have a WordPress website you want to transfer to another platform? I have good news!
Migrating your pre-existing WordPress on AWS is a fairly straightforward process. You can do it without much effort using a WordPress and EC2 dashboards. Likewise, you are free to use a handy all-in-one WP migration plugin.
Miscellaneous
There are simply too many handy extra features Amazon has to offer. Remember, there are over 170 services in AWS.
Some of the other advantages you get by using AWS for WordPress include:
- World-class cybersecurity solutions (an ability to configure proxy authentication and set firewall rules)
- Traffic monitoring tools
- PaaS offerings (business data backup & recovery solutions, CDN, cloud storage, and infrastructure management – just to name a few)
- Various APIs for advanced customization and automation
- AWS free tier plans (so you can assess the majority of the Amazon’s services before you actually pay for them)
The other thing that deserves mention is an abundance of third-party software that eases up the configuration of WordPress on AWS
Cloudways – Simple Way to Install WordPress on AWS
Let’s imagine that you don’t have any coding background whatsoever. Then, you might face some difficulties as you bump into the AWS interface.
Don’t get me wrong. The user interface is comprehensible enough for an average website owner. But it’s not as easy for a person with little to no experience with cloud platforms.
Besides, my aim is to tell you how to host a WordPress website on AWS without any technological tinkering.
That’s why I recommend trying a service like Cloudways.
What is it? It is a platform that takes away most of the complexities associated with setting up and managing an AWS server. With Cloudways, you can avail of various useful utilities that make it possible to launch a WordPress site a few easy steps (7 steps to be exact).
So, let’s sum it up. If you choose to host a WordPress on AWS with Cloudways, you won’t have to:
- Tinker with Linux commands
- Delve into the complexities of configuring the server (that includes watching numerous tutorials and How-To videos)
- Dedicate hours upon hours on troubleshooting if something goes wrong
- Do any coding
Exploring the Interface of Cloudways for AWS
Before you see how to host your website on Amazon’s server, it’s important to get accustomed to the Cloudways interface.
The Cloudways’ AWS for WordPress dashboard comprises of the Server Management and Application Management sections.
The Server Management dashboard
- Master Credentials. Here you can find the master credentials, which include the Public IP. You can also create multiple SSH public keys or launch an SHH terminal inside your browser.
- Monitoring. This tab allows you to observe the incoming traffic, as well as disk, CPU, and RAM usage (this section also features a timeline of stats for up to the past six months).
- Manage Services. Here you can set up software that’s running on your server (for example, Varnish, Apache, MySQL, and other packages).
- Backup. Set up when to automate the data backups or do it manually.
- Security. In this tab, you can whitelist certain IPs for MySQL and SFTP.
The Application Management dashboard
- Domain Management. You can use this tab to map domains and subdomains. Also, here you can take your site live.
- Access Details. Here you will find direct URLs to your site and the WordPress admin dashboard.
- SSL Certificate. In addition to a free SSL certificate that comes with Cloudways, you can use this tab to upload custom certificates.
- Application Settings. Cloudways allows users to control permissions in various applications. For example, you can configure PHP FPM, SSH, and Varnish settings.
- WordPress Migration. I already touched on how to do it using the EC2 interface and all-in-one WP migration plugin. Cloudways further simplifies the process of migrating pre-existing WordPress on AWS with its own migrator utility.
Setting Up WordPress on AWS with Cloudways in 7 Easy Steps
So, you wish to learn how to set up a WP site on the Amazon cloud platform? It won’t take long.
Let me walk you through each step.
- Register on Cloudways
For starters, you need to create an account on Cloudways for free by following this link. Don’t worry – no upfront payment is required for signing up. Just put in your credentials and proceed to verify your email address.
After that, you can log in and click Launch.
- Pick a WordPress version
As you know, WordPress is full of plugins and optimized versions. So, now you should pick an appropriate WP version from the list (or you can choose a basic WordPress).
- Select the AWS server
Next, pick an appropriate option from a list of available IaaS. Nothing surprising here – choose AWS as your WordPress platform.
- Choose the serve’s size, bandwidth, and location
I have told you about the flexibility of Amazon serviced before. Now you can see it for yourself.
- First, choose the size of the server (there are 14 options available with different CPU and RAM volume).
- Secondly, select an estimated bandwidth usage.
- Then, you can pick the storage size for Database and App Web Files.
Important note: most of these options are scalable, meaning you can change them whenever you want after your site is live.
- Decide on a server location
Here you can see that Amazon offers many locations to choose from.
To get the most out of WordPress on AWS, I recommend picking a server that is located close to your site’s target audience.
As a side note, it’s possible to improve your website’s latency and page load time for people in different parts of the globe. To do that, you can make use of Amazon’s CDN.
- (Optional step) Migrating WordPress to Amazon
Now you can migrate your website to AWS (if you already have a WordPress site).
As I mentioned before, the process is pretty straightforward in and of itself. However, WP migration becomes even simpler with Cloudways and available plugins.
- Final step: Launching a WordPress on AWS
Your site is a few clicks away from going live!
- Now you can click Launch Now and wait before the server gets ready.
- Next, go to the Application Management dashboard.
- Then, press on the WordPress app.
- Navigate to the Admin Panel in Access Details tab and get your WP master credentials.
Congratulations! Your WordPress is now live on AWS!
Cloudways Alternatives for Hosting WordPress on AWS
The best thing about WordPress and Amazon cloud services is the abundance of alternatives solutions. Sure, Cloudways is an excellent service for newbies who want to harness the power of AWS for WordPress.
But, if for some reason Cloudways doesn’t suit you, there are other viable options for hosting.
Kinsta
Features:
- High-speed servers powered by Google’s Cloud Platform
- Almost 100% uptime
- A large number of utilities for resource monitoring
- Effortless WordPress migration
- Excellent customer service
- 4 subscription plans (starting from $30 per month)
Kinsta is one of the best WP hosting services out there. It has an almost 100% uptime with ultra-fast response time (clocking at under 400 ms). It uses Google as the Cloud Platform for WordPress hosting. If you want to migrate your pre-existing site–a team of experts can help you do that in no time.
As for the pricing, Kinsta offers scalable plans that start at a $30 monthly subscription (that’s for 1 WP installation and up to 20000 monthly visits).
Amazon Lightsail
Features:
- Built for hosting WordPress on Amazon’s cloud platform
- Windows and Linux/Unix servers with SSD-based storage
- Numerous servers in 13 regions of the world
- CDN load balancer
- 7 pricing plans (starting from $3.50 per month)
- 8 managed databases to choose from (starting from $15 per month)
Looking for another service to simplify WordPress hosting on AWS? Then, you should check out Amazon Lightsail.
It’s an affordable and straightforward service for setting up and incorporating a website on Amazon’s cloud platform. This tool is made for users who don’t want to clog their heads with command prompts and lines of code.
This service has an even lower entry barrier than Cloudways. That includes the pricing as well–the basic tariff starts at a mere $3.50 per month. And for that money, Amazon Lightsail can offer over 38 availability zones in over 13 regions (including the US, Europe, and Asia).
If you wish to get even more out of Amazon Lightsail, then you will find the load balancer service to your liking. It will distribute the incoming traffic across a large number of edge servers, maximizing your portal’s reliability even during surges in traffic.
WP Engine
Features:
- Lightning-fast servers backed by Cloudfare CDN and Evercache
- Over 99% uptime
- Genesis Framework (an excellent tool for building WordPress sites)
- Most of the features are available in all plans
- Over 35 premium themes
- 24×7 customer support
- 6 pricing tiers (starting to $20 monthly subscription)
WP Engine is another fantastic Cloudways alternative for managed WordPress hosting. Its servers are backed by multi-datacenter cluster infrastructure, which makes them extremely fast and reliable.
In case something goes awry, WP Engine’s support is available to you 24×7 via chat, phone, or email.
Just as Cloudways, this hosting solutions offer many pricing tiers. The best part – the majority of the essential features are available in every subscription model.
Conclusion
Hosting WordPress on AWS isn’t hard by all means. But to do it without any coding background – you’ll probably need the right tool. For instance, services like Cloudways or Kinsta allow you to take your WP website live in a matter of minutes.