Which Web Hosting Service is better as a Beginner

Introduction

Let’s explore some basics of webhosting from getting a domain to creating a site, further we look at the types of webhosting available, and finally we will see which webhosting providers are the best that I will recommend, since, I have experience with all so I can confidently say all of them are worth the try.

• Basics
• What is Your Goal
• Types of Webhosting & Differences
• Which Webhosting is Better.

Let’s Start..

Basics

Today as consumers look online for information that will assist them to make the right decisions while purchasing. This behavior emphasizes the importance of your website if you operate an online business. It is the first point of contact with your audience.

In order for you to own and build on a website, you’re going to need at least a couple of things. You’ll need a domain name, you’ll need a tool to get or transfer files from your computer to your website and from your website to your company and you’re going to need what is called webhosting.

Webhosting is what allows individuals and organizations to make their websites accessible to others via the internet.

What is Your Goal

Now, before you purchase what you need, you should think a little bit about what you want. What is your end-goal here for your website? Now, I know that there will be some changes as your site evolves but in order for you to get started in the right direction, you should at least have a bit of a plan laid out first.

For example, ask yourself these questions, grab your pen and paper and write them down, what is my budget for getting things started? How long will that budget last without any income? Will I need a bunch of traffic just to break even? Will I sell things, and if so, what can I sell, digital goods, physical goods, or both? Will you be hosting large file downloads? Will you have videos on your site? Will I need a secure connection in order to accept credit cards? These are just some of the questions you should write down and refer back to as you do the research for the hosting service you’re looking for.

Types of Web Hosting and the Differences

No two web hosting services are alike. Free web hosting is a great concept, but it’s really only designed for the novice web designer, or someone who just wants to have their own little niche on the web. Free web hosting sites are usually bombarded with pop up ads, banner ads, and other advertisements, which are all usually a turn off for visitors. If you’re creating a website to make money, it’s a good idea to steer clear of free web hosting services, since they will most likely cause you to lose sales. Most people see websites with tons of ads on them and click away to something else, since their first instinct is that the website must be a scam.

Shared Web Hosting

Shared web hosting is one of the more common forms of hosting, but it’s also not quite as effective as some others. Shared hosting basically means that the website is on a shared server that “shares” space with other sites. While this is effective for more simple sites, it might not work well for larger, database type websites or web pages with tons of visitors. Some more well known companies now sell server space for web hosting purposes, and make a good choice for people who want to set up a website but don’t have the resources or funds to do so on their own dedicated server. Shared server web hosting is a good starter hosting service to get your feet wet.

Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting has everything a shared hosting plan has, but it’s only major difference is that as a reseller plan account holder can sell web space, as if they are their own web hosting company. Another major difference is that a reseller plan allows unlimited domains. A reseller is able to create accounts for them sites or their customers using the WHM (Web Host Manager).

VPS Hosting

A VPS, or virtual private server, is a different option for web hosting that allows each server to run on its own, with its own dedicated machine. If someone needs to perform some updates to one particular server, this can be done easily without interrupting any other servers. Most website owners also have much more detailed access to their interfaces, since on a VPS server, each one has its own operating system as well. This is also a great choice for web designers and webmasters who want to have a lot more security. Without having to share servers, the risk of information getting into the wrong hands is definitely lessened.

Dedicated Server

Of course, the dedicated server option is by far the best, albeit in most cases the most expensive. A dedicated server means that the Webmaster owns and controls the server completely themselves. Any updates or changes are done “in house,” on site by the web designer or web designing and hosting team. Most of the time the server is stored at a data center or what is known as a collocation center. The reason for this is that servers run hot, and must be kept clean and cool. These data centers help to ensure that the servers are being stored and used at optimum temperature. The web designer or server controller can gain access to the data centers and the servers are usually kept under lock and key.

Dedicated servers can handle much larger amounts of bandwidth, which means that the website can handle more traffic and the flow of information back and forth from the end user to the server. A dedicated server usually has intrusion detection and other serious methods to help maintain the security of the server and the information it handles. Programmers can change or tweak just about anything they wish, giving the website much more power and ability to function in a large web environment.

Which Web Hosting Service is better for You

Web hosting service provider plays a pivotal role in the efficiency and reliability of your website or blog. When it’s time to find hosting for your website Bluehost, Namecheap and Siteground are the household names. These web hosting services have comparable features and functionalities. Even so, a combination of several subtle differences between these three could mean a lot for your business. Let’s explore each one in detail.

What is Bluehost?

This is the website hosting company that is owned by the Endurance International Group. It’s among the twenty largest website hosts, hosting more than two million domains.

Bluehost utilizes open source software allowing for innovation in terms of modern hosting options. The services Bluehost offers include WordPress hosting, shared hosting, VPS hosting, cloud hosting, dedicated hosting and WooCommerce hosting. The key features of Bluehost include:

• Free domain registration
• Free site builder
• Customized cPanel
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth
• Unlimited subdomains
• Unlimited email accounts

Bluehost WordPress Hosting

WordPress is among the best ways to build your website or blog since it doesn’t require any programming knowledge. Below are the simple steps to hosting your website using WordPress:

1. Choose your domain name

Your domain name is the web address or URL on which your site will run. Try and relate your domain name to your business name. If your business name is “Petes Treats”, your domain name should likely be petestreats.com.

Ensure your domain name is SEO-friendly. You can include a keyword that users might search to find your business. Lastly, keep the name simple.

2. Purchase your Bluehost account

Bluehost will store your web content on their servers and avail the site to web users. Bluehost connects easily to WordPress. If you are starting out, a shared hosting plan is ideal. Here you have three packages “Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro”:

• Basic: 36-month ($3.95), 24-month ($4.95) and 12-month term ($5.95). You get 1 domain/25 subdomain, 50GB storage, 5 email accounts, cPanel access, and 20 MySQL databases.
• Plus: 36-month ($5.95), 24-month ($6.95) and 12-month term ($7.95). You get unlimited websites, domains, website storage, and MySQL databases.
• Choice Plus: Pricing is similar to the Plus plan above but with increased prices after renewal. You get similar offerings plus domain privacy and CodeGuard.
• Pro: 36-month ($13.95), 24-month ($12.95) and 12-month term ($16.95). You get unlimited websites, domains, storage, MySQL databases as well as CodeGuard, domain privacy, premium positive SSL certificate

3. Install WordPress

WordPress is the content management system that will enable you to publish, edit and modify web content from a central interface. Below are the steps to installing WordPress on Bluehost:

• Login to your Bluehost account and click the hosting tab to get into your cPanel
• Navigate to the Website Builder part on the panel and click “€œInstall WordPress”€
• You will be directed to the Mojo Marketplace. Click the install button
• Choose the domain that you seek to install WordPress then click “€œCheck Domain”€
• Click the “Show Advanced Options”€ tab. This allows you to change the website name, username, and password.
• Check the “Automatically create a new database”€ box and “Terms and Conditions” then click “Install Now”€
• Confirm the installation and click “View Credentials”€. It will highlight your credentials, login URL, username and password.
• Click on the URL and input your username and password to test if it’s working
• You can now use WordPress features to design, edit and launch your website.

Also Read: What are Sales Pages and Marketing Funnels

The Pros and Cons of Bluehost

Pros

• Free domain and relatively low monthly prices
• Money back guarantee
• Customized cPanel
• Easy WordPress installation
• Fast speed
• High server performance (uptime 99.9%)
• Each plan includes advertising credits

Cons

• Great customer support but long hold times
• Takes time to get used to cPanel

The Takeaway:

Overall, Bluehost offers an impressive array of features and incredible service for the right price. With an accessible control panel, fast speeds, high uptime, and security features, this web host can help you set up and run your website without hiccups. Whether you are starting out, or you plan on expanding your online business, Bluehost offers plans and options that you wi€™ll need.

Now let’s explore Namecheap

Whats is Namecheap?

Over the years, Namecheap has carved out a reputation as the go-to domain name registrar. Clients include bloggers and serious multimillion-dollar websites with e-commerce capabilities. This provider is also a well-known web hosting service provider. So, that means you can get both your domain name and hosting services on the same platform. The Namecheap hosting plans are branded a “secure, reliable, and high-performing.”

Namecheap has been around since 2000. It is among the industry pioneers in the hosting business. Those that navigate to this web hosting service provider do so because of consistency and performance.

Now that you are plugged-in on the introductory details, let’s dive further into the differences. These exist in the type of plans, interface, support, and other small details that can be a big deal for a smooth internet experience.

Domain search

Namecheap has personalized domain search services for individuals, businesses, and resellers. You can use the site to search your domain name then start hosting your website in the same place or get managed WordPress services. You can also transfer your domain name from your existing registrar to Namecheap for better hosting.

Unlike its biggest competitors, including Bluehost, Namechap’s domain search service is comprehensive. It is not limited to .com searches. Also, this web hosting platform offers free migration services, an aspect that sets it apart from the rest in the market.

Hosting types

Namecheap has versatile hosting plans. These include tailored hosting for beginners, a category that provides for bloggers and portfolio sites for young professionals. Another category is for small businesses and solopreneurs that are just beginning to transfer operations online. The third hosting plan is for large companies that need 100% uptime and high performance. Its competitors, including Bluehost’s hosting plans, are not customized for individuals, small businesses, or large businesses.

Hosting plans

Shared hosting: shared hosting is ideal if you want to share servers with other websites. This is ideal for small businesses and portfolio websites. Namecheap’s shared hosting plan features unmetered bandwidth, resource protection, a free website boulder, and automatic SSLi installation.

VPS hosting: Here, you get a virtual private server that is independent, dedicated, and gives you greater control. Namecheap provides VPS hosting for businesses or bloggers that need high-speed SDD, managed services for updates and patches, full root access, file management, OS selection, control, and security. It is also free to transfer existing websites and VPS to Namecheap.

Dedicated hosting:

This plan is tailored for high performing sites, including eCommerce sites. You get a fully dedicated server that you can easily configure with your security controls, operating systems, or load balancers.

Features of Namecheap’s dedicated server services include security, control, same-day setup, free migration, and 99.9% uptime. There are different pricing options from Entry Level to Advanced Level, each with a C panel interface.

Reseller hosting:

If you need to rent hard drive space and bandwidth to other businesses, this is the plan for you. At Namecheap, the plan includes unmetered bandwidth, security, and a free C panel. Many of the other web hosting service providers in the market, including Bluehost do not offer this plan.

Other services by Namecheap include:

• Easy WordPress Hosting
• Email Hosting
• Email Migration
• WordPress Migration
• VPN
• ID Validation
• Free WHOIS Guard with Domain Purchase

Bluehost does not have a reseller hosting service.

Namecheap Pros and Cons

• Free migration and unlimited bandwidth
• They have an email support
• Live chat
• They provide SEO tools
• An uncluttered interface
• Variety of hosting plans
• Website builder

Cons

• No phone support

Pricing

Namecheap has the cheapest hosting plans. The shared hosting plan costs as low as $1.16/month while VPS hosting starts from $7.88 per month. Bluehost’s shared hosting plan starts from $3.95/ month, while VPS hosting starts from 19.99/month but with additional options.

Conclusion

Namecheap is a worthwhile consideration for users that need versatile hosting plans, detailed domain search, and migration services. The provider caters to both small websites and heavy e-commerce sites that need speed and control. And there is free migration, meaning that you can save significantly when you switch from your existing registrar.

Let’s explore our last but not least webhosting option.

What is Siteground?

SiteGround is a hosting provider that offers its clients numerous distinctive hosting options. They support Cloud Hosting, WordPress Hosting, and dedicated servers.

SiteGround hosting is one of the highest-ranking of all web hosting providers for uptime (99.99%) and speed (673ms). The customer service is proficient, quick, and reliable. All plans have features such as the SSL certificate, CDN, and email accounts.

Here is the full scoop on SiteGround

SiteGround is a Bulgarian hosting company that started in 2004. It currently employs 500 workers and hosts over 2 million domains.

Their customer team is available 24-7-365.

SiteGround Prices

Currently SiteGround is offering special price for their shared hosting plans. They offer different hosting plans for cloud hosting and dedicated servers.

· The StartUp plan (1 site) – $6.99 a month for 10GB of storage

· The GrowBig plan – $9.99 per month for 20 GB of storage & backup options

· The GoGeek plan – $14.99 per month for 40 GB of storage and advanced features such as GIT repository

What to Expect with SiteGround Plans

SiteGround offers three hosting plans, which, much of the time, conform to most clients’ requirements.

All SiteGround shared plans have the following in common:

Free traffic: Whether you choose StartUp, GrowBig, or GoGeek plan, you get unlimited traffic to your site. The StartUp service plan gets you 10 000 unlimited site visitors per month while that number is 25 000 for GrowBig and 100 000 for GoGeek.

Databases and unlimited email accounts: All three SiteGround plans get unlimited databases and email accounts. The StartUp plan has a 500 MB max database provision, 750MB for GrowBig, and 1000 MB for GoGeek.

An unlimited number of websites: Except for the StartUp plan, which allows only one site, GrowBig and GoGeek, allow an unlimited number of client websites.

Domains and FTP accounts: Unlimited all across the three plans.

30-day money-back guarantee: Every type of client qualifies for this refund policy.

24-hour phone and email support: True for all the three SiteGround plans.

The clear cut differences in SiteGround shared hosting plans:

By now, you have a hint that not all SiteGround plans are equivalent. Here are the other differences between the three plans:

Caching: The StartUp plan facilitates the caching of static content, while both GrowBig and GoGeek support the caching of static content along with dynamic data and DB queries at the same time.

Email accounts: Email accounts are unlimited for both three plans, but the mailbox sizes differ. They are 2 GB, 4GB, and 6 GB for StarUp, GrowBig and GoGeek, respectively.

Backup restore: SiteGround account holders are guaranteed free back up across all plans. For the GrowBig and GoGeek plans, the service includes backup/restore on demand.

SiteGround Pros and Cons

The advantages

Uptime

SiteGround has the absolute best availability (almost 100%)

Speed

Because of the SSD disks they use and their SG Optimizer and HTTP/2 software solutions, customers can expect comparatively fast speed hosting.

Usability

The system is easy to utilize, and the features are well coordinated.

Customer support

SiteGround offers exceptionally comprehensive client care. They also have tutorials and how-to guides that can shorten the learning curve.

Server location

The hosting provider has servers across America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. You can take advantage of that to deliver consistency and seamless site performance for your customer in these regions.

Advanced features

SiteGround offers numerous services that other providers don’t have. These include GIT Repositories, caching, and SSL encryption.

Unlimited traffic

The provider doesn’t restrict the amount of your site’s traffic.

The drawbacks

Costs

SiteGround hosting plans are not cheap. Plus, when you choose the StartUp plan, you can only get one website hosted. This can be very limiting.

Site migration

If you’d like a SiteGround specialist to handle your site migration, you will have to pay $30. There is a free WordPress plug-in that you can utilize.

Limited disk space

Storage space is limited across all three plans.

Who Can Use Site Ground?

SiteGround offers amazing services for all kinds of websites. If you need more storage or managed to host services down the line, you can move up to one of its premium plans. The three plans can be used by anyone, including:

· Ecommerce stores

· Professional bloggers

· WordPress websites

· Big enterprise sites

· Developers and engineers

SiteGround Backend

In 2019 the provider moved away from a cPanel to a modernized approach. The current SiteGround panel is intuitive and improves usability.

Sites are managed separately. This implies that each site will have its different admin panel, making things simpler if you have several sites ventures facilitated on SiteGround.

Adding Users to a SiteGround Hosting Account

It’s easy to add users to your administrator pane and delegate them to different roles or sites. This is a distinct advantage for large enterprises as they will have the option to offer client access.

SiteGround Backups

Backups, together with support and performance, are the most critical aspects of woocomerce hosting. If you lose static or dynamic data, some of that may be irreplaceable.

Thankfully, SiteGround offers weekly backups. If your standard backup systems fail, they have got your back. The WordPress hosting provider performs regular backups of client websites, making it easy to retrieve data if a mishap happens on your end.

The StartUp plan gives you free backup copies every day. The GrowBig and GoGek service plans offer both backup and restoration services.

The advantage

· You can manage backups with a one-click tool

· You can create backups and restore them easily

· You can experiment with different website designs and updates knowing you are protected from data loss

Backups for every domain are managed independently. You can backup and restore a single site without the action affecting your other hosted sites.

The on-demand backup and restore services can be a godsend when pushing system updates, plugins, or codes. You can restore changes with a single click.

SiteGround Uptime

When deciding between different web hosting service providers, uptime is a critical factor of consideration. You want to be able to be sure that your site won’t crash down on Black Friday or when you get mentioned on Fox News.

SiteGround has an uptime guarantee of 99.99%. That’s the highest you can get since it is statistically impracticable for a hosting provider to deliver 100% site availability.

SiteGround has employed monitoring solutions to ensure that they live up to their 99.9% availability promise. They get alerts if there are signs of an outage, and they work expediently to fix issues.

99.99 % availability means that the cumulative number of downtimes is a little under 8 hours in a year. In practice, that means that you may never have to worry about your site being unavailable because issues are identified and fixed in real-time.

SiteGround Load Times

The hosting company leverages diverse technologies to guarantee high speeds. These include Solid State Drives on the Google Cloud, web caching, NGINX web server technology, and content delivery networks. Your website will load fast.

Slow site speeds are a buzzkill for both users and search engine crawlers. They destroy all chances of ranking higher in search engine results. Marketers that look to capitalize on SEO can significantly benefit from the faster load times guaranteed by this provider.

Websites hosted by this provider have an average load time of 1.3 seconds per page. This is below the 3 seconds threshold, the average length of time a user is willing to wait for a site to hold. You are safe.

SiteGround WordPress Hosting

The provider takes care of all WordPress site migrations. The site migration is free using the Site Migrator plugin. However, for professional assistance with more than 1 WordPress website migration, you must pay a fee of $30 per site.

The paid service also applies to Joomla, Drupal, and other CMS platforms. HTML websites can also benefit from the assisted migration. Apart from facilitating easy migration, SiteGround has a module specifically dedicated to enhancing WordPress sites. It is like having 3 or 4 high performing plugins on your site. The solution helps in:

· Caching

· Combining CSS files

· Compressing code( HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and pictures

· GZIP Compression

SiteGround Cloud Hosting

Apart from WordPress hosting, SiteGround offers top-notch and highly customizable cloud hosting services designed for the needs of both small and large businesses.

The provider offers cloud hosting under four service plans:

Entry plan $80/month: Server Disk Space 40 GB, Data Transfer 5 TB, CPU 3 Cores, Memory 6 GB

Business plan $120/month: SSD Space 60 GB, Bandwidth 5 TB, CPU 4 Cores, Memory 8 GB

Business Plus plan $160/month: SSD Space 80 GB, Bandwidth 5 TB, CPU 5 Cores, Memory 10 GB

Super Power plan $240/month: SSD Space 120 GB, Bandwidth 5 TB, CPU 9 Cores, Memory 12 GB

You can also create a custom cloud hosting plan that better meets your specific cloud computing needs. The hosting provider has an auto-scale feature to facilitate that.

SiteGround WooCommerce Hosting

The SiteGround managed WooCommerce hosting service is designed to help small-time online sellers get the most with WordPress sites. The services include:

· Installation of WordPress and the WooCommerce plug-in

· Installation of the Storefront theme

· Security, backups, emails, databases, and content delivery networks

The provider’s WooCommerce hosting plans include:

StartUp at $ 6.99/ month: 1 Website, 10 GB Web Space, 10,000 Visits Monthly

GrowBig at $9.99/month: Unlimited Websites, 20 GB Web Space, 25,000 Visits Monthly

GoGeek at $14.99/month: Unlimited Websites, 40 GB Web Space, 100,000 Visits Monthly

SiteGround CDN

The hosting provider offers Cloudflare’s CDN for free in all the hosting plans. You can activate this in the cPanel in just one click. Upon activation of the Content Delivery Network, the provider caches and optimizes your site’s content. They then send it to the 23 data centers across the globe.

When someone clicks on your site, the content loads incredibly fast because it’s delivered from the data center closest to them. It saves bandwidth and reduces latency.

SiteGround Security

Thousands of cyber-attacks happen around the world every hour. Not a single business or website is immune, and security should be a top of mind consideration when choosing hosting platforms.

SiteGround offers some of the most advanced security features available. That, however, doesn’t mean that you should abdicate the responsibility of safeguarding your data. You must play your part.

The security features on SiteGround include:

· Site isolation – in case one site is breached, others won’t be affected.

· HTTP/2 technology – enables safer single connections to servers

· Web application firewall – WAF protects your web apps from data breaches, DOS, and DDOS attacks.

· Patch management – SiteGround regularly automatically updates its security controls.

The verdict

SiteGround is a decent web hosting platform for businesses and individuals that want better site performance, speed, uptime, and security. Account-holders get impressive technical features and excellent customer support, all at a moderate cost.

Disclosure: The owners of this website may be paid to recommend Bluehost, Namecheap or Other Companies. The content on this website, including any positive reviews of Bluehost/Namecheap and other reviews, may not be neutral or independent.