Introduction: When you’re thinking of ways to improve your website, it can be hard to decide which provider is the best option. Should you go with a well-known and popular host? Or should you try out a new provider that has fewer reviews but higher quality? It can be tough to make the decision, but we’ve put together an expert guide about the Best Site for Website Hosting, best website hosting for small business, best web hosting for beginners, and best web hosting for wordpress. In short, we’ll help you figure out which service is right for your business—and save you time and money in the process.
Best Site for Website Hosting
What is a Website Hosting Account?
A website hosting account is a service that allows you to host a website on your own computer. This means that you don’t need to worry about the technical aspects of setting up and running a website, and instead can focus on developing and promoting your business. Website hosting accounts come in different flavors, but all share some common features.
What are the Benefits of Website Hosting
When you choose a website hosting account, you’re getting access to a number of benefits. These include:
– Free domain names
– Unlimited storage space
– Access to the latest technology and software
– 24/7 customer support
– Connection to global markets
How to Choose the Right Website Hosting Account
When it comes to choosing the right website hosting account for your business, there are a few things to consider. You should decide which type of account will best suit your needs – fast web hosting or premium web hosting? Will you need unlimited storage space or can you upgrade quickly? Do you want connection to global markets or do you only want access to certain countries? Are you looking for affordable or high-quality customer service? All of these factors should be considered when making this decision.
Best Web Hosting Providers
1. Hostinger
Hostinger(opens in new tab) sells itself on value, and two or three seconds into checking it out, the service specs reveal why. Its starter All-In-One package is only $2.99 billed annually ($8.99 on renewal), but gets you 100GB storage, unmetered traffic, free SSL, a free domain for year one, support for 100 websites, a choice of six data centers, automatic backups, managed WordPress, 1GB email storage, a virus scanner, spam filter and more.
Hostinger doesn’t bury a host of hidden catches in the small print, either. SSL won’t cost you extra after year one, for instance: it’s free for the lifetime of your account.
Hostinger’s WordPress support is a major highlight. If you’re just looking to run a small blog, the baseline account supports a single site, 30GB of storage, 100GB of monthly bandwidth and free SSL from as little as $1.99 a month on the four-year account (a bargain $95.52 up-front), rising to $3.99 on renewal.
Three further WordPress plans add more features, but even the business-friendly WordPress Pro account (with support for 300 websites, 200GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, daily backups, Cloudflare CDN and more) is still only $11.59 a month on the four-year plan, $19.99 on renewal.
Although, unlike Bluehost, Hostinger doesn’t offer dedicated hosting plans, which is perhaps an issue for business users who need the fastest possible speeds. But its cloud hosting plans give you dedicated system resources, which the company claims can deliver 4x times great speeds.
And a wide range of VPS plans get close to dedicated servers in power, with the $77.99 a month high-end plan offering an 8-core, 16GB RAM monster with an enterprise-level 12TB of monthly bandwidth. Our test proved this web host to be a top quality provider.
2. DreamHost
- UNLIMITED TRAFFIC AND FREE SITE MIGRATION
- MONTH-TO-MONTH PRICING STARTS AT $1.99
- RECOMMENDED BY WORDPRESS
- FREE SSL CERTIFICATE
DreamHost offers huge savings for their month-to-month pricing along with very solid hosting performance.
In fact, their month-to-month plans start at $1.99/month. This plan includes one website with unlimited traffic, unmetered bandwidth, and a free SSL Certificate—a great deal.
This is just the promotional pricing though. This price goes up after the first month. You’ll then be paying the current monthly rate, which is $7.99 per month. That’s still a lot lower than you’d be paying month-to-month compared to other top web hosting providers.
Of course, DreamHost also offers one-year and three-year contracts that start as low as $2.95 per month which allows you to save more money in the long run. Even though it’s not the lowest on this list (check out Hostinger for the lowest contract hosting plans), it’s still a good deal.
If you run a nonprofit, I highly recommend DreamHost. They offer one free unlimited shared hosting plan for 501(c)(3) organizations. That’s a deal you cannot beat.
It’s also a great option for WordPress hosting. DreamHost is one of three web hosts that is officially recommended by WordPress, and they also offer managed WordPress hosting called DreamPress. That is one of the most hassle-free ways to run a WordPress site.
Customer service is a little less traditional: email support is available 24/7, but live chat is only on during business hours. If you want technical support over the phone, you have to pay an additional $9.95.
However, if you spring for either the DreamPress Plus or Pro-managed WordPress plans, phone support is included along with other premium features.
3. Bluehost
Bluehost tops our web hosting provider scoreboard for its vast range of feature-packed plans, easy setup, reliable network and great live chat support to help keep your site running smoothly.
We tested its 10GB single-site shared hosting plan, which we recommend for hosting newbies as it costs $2.75 a month billed annually ($9.99 on renewal), and offers a website builder, WordPress integration, free CDN, and a free domain and SSL for the first year. Upgrading gets you unlimited sites and storage, automated backups and assorted other extras (depending on the plan.)
Bluehost’s starter WordPress plans are priced the same, but with important feature tweaks. WordPress comes preinstalled, so you can start right away. We used the Bluehost Marketplace to find gorgeous themes, feature-packed plugins and more. We were able to manage multiple WordPress sites from an easy-to-use web dashboard, although the expert live chat support agents were not the fastest to respond, we got the help we needed once they were active. Another downside to note is that Bluehost has no monthly billing options and you can only commit to a minimum of one year for its hosting plans.
If you’re looking for something a little simpler, Bluehost’s Website Builder (priced from $2.95 a month billed annually) enables building good-looking sites by little more than dragging and dropping. It’s super-easy to use, yet so powerful that the top plans ($24.95 a month billed annually) can even build feature-packed web stores.
There’s plenty to like here for experts, too, from value VPS and configurable dedicated hosting, to hosted WooCommerce plans, business-friendly Google Workspace hosting, domain registration, and even migration support to easily move an existing site to your Bluehost account.
4. HostGator
- NORMALLY $8.95/MONTH
- MONTH-TO-MONTH AT $10.95
- FREE DOMAIN AND SSL CERTIFICATE
- 45-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE
HostGator offers all the hosting essentials you need at a great price, plus comes with a 45-day money-back guarantee. If you don’t need a complex website, go with HostGator.
I’m talking about the standard business info website with products, services, “our story”, and so on. If you want people to be able to find you, see your portfolio, or sign contact forms, HostGator makes it as easy as possible.
HostGator offers an extensive list of how-to guides for technical support. If you don’t find the answers you need, you can turn to phone, live chat, and email support.
Unlike some hosts, HostGator does include support in all its plans. If you want a hosting plan that’s cheap and includes support, this is the host for you.
If you want to get your hands dirty, there is a bit of a learning curve to taking advantage of their advanced options.
HostGator does offer Windows hosting in addition to Linux, as well as a variety of options to upgrade, including cloud hosting, VPS hosting, managed WordPress, and a dedicated server. Shared hosting plans start at $2.64/month with a three-year contract.
5. GoDaddy
US-based GoDaddy is a web hosting giant with an absolutely huge range of products. There’s shared, VPS and dedicated hosting; WordPress support covering everything from simple personal blogs to full-featured WooCommerce-powered web stores; an easy-to-use website builder, email and Microsoft 365 hosting, digital marketing tools, domain registration, payment processing, point-of-sale systems, and the list goes on (and on, and on.)
GoDaddy has a decent range of four shared hosting plans. All include a choice of data centers in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific; daily backups, and unusual extras such as free Microsoft 365 mailboxes for the first year. But they look a little underpowered in other areas: the lower two plans have no free SSL, and the cheapest paid SSL certificate is $94.99 a year.
Shared hosting prices are higher than most, too, with the single site 100GB Economy plan costing $5.99 a month on the three-year plan, $8.99 on renewal. But GoDaddy’s billing is surprisingly flexible, and if you’re confident you’ll like the service, you can lock in those savings with a five and even a ten-year plan. We found the shared hosting has below-par server response times, which was not the best experience during our tests because it took longer to solve the hosting issue we encountered.
We found GoDaddy delivers a high quality service for your money, too. The well-designed web dashboard is easy to use; an automated installer sets up WordPress and 150+ other top web apps in a click or two; and the industry-standard cPanel has every tool you’ll need to manage your web space.
This all worked well for us, but if you do need help, GoDaddy more than delivers with its detailed knowledge base, and multilingual live chat and phone support available in a very impressive 15+ languages.
Best Website Hosting For Small Business
1. HostGator: Best for tech-heavy businesses
If you need more from your site than just a place for customers to find you online, you might be looking at dedicated server hosting as your preferred method of managing and storing your website data. Should this sound like your situation, HostGator might be the best website hosting company for your small business.
For those who don’t know, dedicated server hosting means getting your own server within a company’s existing network. Instead of sharing server space with other websites, you’ll get your own dedicated server, as well as the software and customer service tools required to keep things running smoothly.
HostGator also offers more introductory-level hosting options as well, which are on par with other providers in terms of pricing and services.
Here’s what HostGator offers:
- Dedicated server plans: There are three tiers, each using Intel Xeon-D CPU servers. Plans also come with eight, 16 and 30 GB RAM options. All dedicated servers also include three dedicated IPv4 IPs, DDOS protection, unlimited databases, fully redundant network and 24/7/365 live support. Prices start at $118.99 per month.
- Shared web hosting business plan: Less intense and expensive than HostGator’s dedicated servers, which makes it a better fit for businesses with lighter needs for their websites. This plan includes unlimited domains, unmetered bandwidth, free SSL certificates, SEO tools and even a free business domain name. Prices start at $5.95 per month.
2. Bluehost
While HostGator tops the charts, Bluehost certainly makes a compelling case in second.
Bluehost has remained consistent, with its score staying at 4.6 out of 5 since our pre-2022 research. However, in that time, Bluehost has dropped into second place from its previous position at the top of the list. That being said, in our market analysis testing, Bluehost remains victorious with an impressive 4.9 out of 5, making it our most trusted hosting provider with users. With comprehensive features, excellent customer service, and affordable shared hosting plans, it continues to be a solid choice for small businesses.
3. Namecheap: Best for technical support
If you’re a newcomer to managing your website, the best web hosting for your small business might be the one that provides you with round-the-clock technical support, and is willing to go the extra mile to make sure your site is up and running just the way you want it.
Namecheap goes above and beyond in this department, offering 24/7 support through chat — no question is too big or too small for Namecheap’s team of technical support specialists, who are even willing to step in and make changes for their customers if they don’t have the technical savvy to do it themselves. And as the name implies, their web hosting prices are pretty competitive as well.
There are several Namecheap hosting tiers:
- Stellar Business: Provides unmetered bandwidth so your site never slows down during high-traffic periods. Comes with free automatic backups as well, and is PCI compliant and e-commerce friendly. Costs $4.44 per month for the first year, then goes up to $8.88 per month.
- EasyWP Turbo: Inexpensive hosting for WordPress sites with up to 250,000 visitors per month and 50 gigabytes of storage included. Costs $7.88 per month, with the first month for $2.
- Qasar: Full VPS hosting with Linux-based servers, allowing companies that need a total command of their networks the flexibility to run their digital presence as they see fit. Costs $24.88 per month, with a new signup promotion of $19.88 per month.
- Xeon E3-1240 v3: A physical server solution for businesses that need to go the extra mile for their websites and digital environments. Costs $74.88 per month, with the first month for $36.88.
Best Web Hosting For Beginners
1. SiteGround
SiteGround is one of the most popular web hosts with a first-class reputation stretching far and wide, from Canada to Singapore. You know why? They tick all the boxes. Not only do they offer a custom-built beginner-friendly dashboard, but also an easy onboarding process, and excellent support.
Maybe that’s why SiteGround is a little pricier than Bluehost, but they make up for that with some of the best support in the hosting industry.
Top features for beginners
- Website setup wizard – after you sign up, SiteGround offers a simple wizard to help you launch your website.
- User-friendly custom dashboard – SiteGround built its own user-friendly hosting dashboard that makes it easy to manage your website(s) and access key tools.
- Free email hosting – SiteGround makes it easy to create your own branded email address.
- Automatic WordPress updates – if you’re using WordPress, SiteGround automatically updates the software for you.
- Automatic backups – SiteGround automatically backs up your data on all plans to keep for peace of mind.
- Excellent 24/7 support – SiteGround offers 24/7 support via phone, live chat, online tickets, and has top-rated support according to the 800+ users who participated in our WordPress hosting survey.
Pricing
SiteGround offers three hosting plans:
- StartUp – $2.99 per month for a single website.
- GrowBig – $4.99 per month for unlimited websites.
- GoGeek – $7.99 per month for unlimited websites with more resources and priority support.
For most beginners, we recommend the GrowBig plan because it gives you the ability to host unlimited websites and adds new features that speed up your site and help you more conveniently manage your site.
Note – as with Bluehost, you’ll get a special discount for your first billing cycle (up to three years). After that, the prices jump back to the regular price, which is a big difference. If possible, we recommend paying for three years upfront to lock in the cheap promo prices.
2. Hostinger
| Features | Free SSL, weekly backups, SSD storage, LiteSpeed web server |
| Uptime | 100% |
| Speed | 511ms |
| Best for | Cheap performance-focused hosting for beginners |
Hostinger dominates as one of the best web hosting providers for beginners not only for its simplicity but also because of its affordability. This combination of being inexpensive and easy to use makes Hostinger one of the best providers for virtually any purpose. What’s more, it doesn’t scrimp on excellent features and performance despite its pocket-friendly price tag.
Here are Hostinger’s highlights for beginners:
- Hostinger has its own custom control panel called hPanel. It’s powerful and functional without being intimidating – perfect panel for beginners! You will get to enjoy 1-click installations and a dedicated WordPress management tool.
- There’s an impressive variety of customer support options available: 24/7 live chat, email, a ticketing system, and a comprehensive knowledge base. Based on personal experience, their agents are particularly skilled and very friendly.
- The host uses the latest tech to ensure fast and reliable performance results. LiteSpeed web server technology, caching, and the latest PHP are just some examples of the performance-boosting features it offers.
Hostinger ticks all the most important boxes: price, ease of use, customer service, and performance. I’ll admit that while I was a bit sceptical at first, the results quelled my doubts.
3. Bluehost
Bluehost is a popular web host that makes a great option for beginners thanks to its affordable pricing and beginner-friendly onboarding process.
Once you sign up for Bluehost, the Bluehost website wizard will guide you through setting up your website in just a few minutes. Bluehost also has built their own custom hosting dashboard on top of the “standard” cPanel dashboard that makes it a lot easier to manage important parts of your hosting account, like creating your own custom email address.
Top features for beginners
- Simple setup wizard – Bluehost has built a super simple onboarding process that helps you quickly get up and running with your first site.
- One-click installers – Bluehost also includes a one-click installer if you want to create additional sites after you go through the initial onboarding.
- Custom hosting dashboard – Bluehost built their own custom dashboard (on top of cPanel) that makes it easy for beginners to perform key actions.
- Automatic WordPress updates – if you’re using WordPress, Bluehost automatically updates the software for you to keep you up to date.
- Free email hosting – Bluehost makes it easy to create your own email account at no extra cost.
- 24/7 support – get help whenever you need it via phone or live chat.
Pricing
Bluehost offers affordable plans, especially if you’re willing to pay for multiple years upfront.
- Basic – from $2.75 per month for a single website.
- Plus – from $5.45 per month for unlimited websites.
- Choice Plus – from $5.45 per month for unlimited websites with added features like CodeGuard backups.
Most beginners looking for a simple web hosting solution should go with at least the Plus plan because it gives you the flexibility to create multiple websites. The Choice Plus is also a good option because it adds automatic backups, which will keep your data safe.
You’ll also get a free domain name for your first year, which is a nice benefit.
Note – you’ll get a special discount for your first billing cycle (up to three years), which are the prices listed above. Once you renew, you’ll need to pay the full price, which is listed by “Normally…” on the pricing page.
Best Web Hosting For WordPress
1. Bluehost (www.bluehost.com)
- From: $2.75 / month
- Traffic allowed: unmetered
- Uptime: 99.97%
- Load time: 1.1s
- Overall: / 5
Another host that’s ready for WordPress – and officially recommended by WordPress.org – Bluehost is a good choice for most users.
Recently, Bluehost introduced their revamped user panel, which makes working with your hosting setup easier, especially if you want to launch your site using WordPress, which Bluehost will install for you.
It’s cheap and also packs a cool extra perk – a free domain name for the first year.
2. SiteGround (www.SiteGround.com)
Best overall WordPress host ($2.99/mo)
No list of best WordPress hosting could be complete without SiteGround playing a prominent role. The company has been making a name for themselves in the WordPress community for a while now. And not without a reason. Their hosting platform is strong when it comes to for-WordPress optimized servers, plus they offer managed WordPress hosting at price points that are unheard of (read: you won’t find a cheaper managed host of the same quality anywhere else).
What’s also worth pointing out is that SiteGround is one of the few officially recommended hosts by WordPress.org.
For the tests, we went for the StartUp package. Although for a generally more WordPress-optimized package, we’d recommend the GrowBig or GoGeek plan. They are a tad more expensive, but come with additional perks such as advanced caching (custom-built by SiteGround), staging, premium wildcard SSL certificates, and free PCI compliance – should you want to run an e-commerce store.
3. DreamHost (www.dreamhost.com)
- From $2.59 / month
- Traffic allowed: unmetered
- Uptime: 99.84%
- Load time: 1.97s
- Overall: / 5
DreamHost has been a solid option among the best hosting services for years now. They have good reviews, offer okay performance, and have been one of the few companies endorsed by WordPress.org – something that should be important to you if you’re planning to build your website on WordPress.
DreamHost gives you access to a 24/7 support that’s a US-based team of professionals. However, since the team is US-based, the live chat support is available from 5:30 am to 9:30 pm Pacific only, but you can submit online support tickets whenever you want to.
DreamHost also offers an overall friendly user panel with one-click instant WordPress installation.
Conclusion
Setting up and running a website can be a great way to start your business. However, it’s important to follow some basic steps before you can get started. By choosing the right website hosting service and setting up your website properly, you can enjoy good web hosting success. Additionally, viewing your website statistics can help you track your progress and make necessary adjustments. With these tips in mind, success is assured!