Finally, you took the plunge and opened your own business.
You purchased the perfect domain name. Now, you’re thinking about building a website. But, you can’t decide on what web hosting provider to use. So, here are 5 web hosting services every aspiring entrepreneur should consider in 2020.
Choosing the right web hosting provider is probably one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a business owner. Depending on hosting needs, budget, and level of technical expertise, finding the right fit for your business needs can be challenging.
There are literally hundreds of web hosting services available for purchase. All of them provide different levels of service options, ease of use, performance, and pricing.
To clarify, these are tools I used to scale my business and build an online presence. I may receive affiliate compensation for content links in this article at no cost to you. My biggest thrills in life doesn’t come from money but rather when I’m lucky enough to meet someone new and teach them something that may change their life.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting services provide websites a digital home a place where the site’s information is properly “docked” and displayed to consumers online.
Websites are stored on special computers called servers. When your customers go online and want to view your website, all they need to do is type your website address (your new flashy domain) into their browser.
Computers will then connect to a server (your site’s home). Webpages are seamlessly delivered to customers through a browser, allowing them to view all your products and services.
So, let’s dive right in and explore the 5 best hosting services I think will help meet and exceed your business needs in 2020.
Here are my picks for best Web Hosting providers:
for a complete list of providers click here.
1. BLUEHOST
BLUEHOST IS THE “OFFICIAL” WORDPRESS.ORG RECOMMENDED WEB HOSTING PLATFORM
Bluehost provides web hosting services to over 2 million websites worldwide.
Bluehost is my #1 pick for web hosting providers, and I’ll tell you why. Since their inception in 2003, Bluehost has continually innovated new ways to deliver on their mission: “To empower people to fully harness the web”.
All my websites are hosted on the Bluehost platform.
Based in Orem, Utah, Bluehost provides comprehensive tools to millions of users throughout the world so anyone, novice or pro, can get on the web and thrive with their web hosting packages.
One of the most significant selling points for me was their partnership with WordPress.
For the last decade, Bluehost dedicated full-time engineers to WordPress CORE development, building one of the best customer support teams in the web hosting segment.
No one powers WordPress better or understands it more than Bluehost. What that means to you is a website that will operate smoothly and with fewer kinks than you might experience with another platform.
With a development team experienced in optimizing over 80 open source platforms, Bluehost is the world’s leading solution for open source implementation and development.
Moreover, they are an affordable web hosting company that offers the best services for your web hosting needs. Bluehost is among the most reliable web hosting companies on the market.
Furthermore, they also provide a special intro offer and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Plus, you get:
- FREE Domain Name for the 1st year
- FREE SSL Certificate Included in your purchase
- 1-Click WordPress Install
- 24/7 support
Their plans start at $3.95/month. It’s always best to assess your website hosting objectives and business needs prior to committing to a specific plan.
Follow these simple steps to get started:
- Go to Bluehost.com and click Get Started.
- Choose the plan you want. ($3.95/month is cheapest)
- Enter a domain name or select one your already own.
- Enter your account information, account plan, and billing information.
- I recommend uncheck the add-ons (sitelock security and codeguard Basic). You can always add them later.
- Click submit and you’re ready to go!
I recommend you start with the basic web hosting plan. You can always upgrade depending on your hosting needs.
GET STARTED WITH BLUEHOST
2. GREENGEEKS
EVERY ASPECT OF GREENGEEKS HOSTING PLATFORM IS BUILT TO BE AS ENERGY EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE.
They’re an interesting choice if you’re looking for an environmentally-conscious web hosting service. GreenGeeks hosting platform has been designed with a maximum use, no waste of resources mindset.
In addition to this, for every amperage GreenGeeks pulls from the grid, the company invest three times that amount in the form of renewable energy via Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
Your website will be “carbon-reducing” when hosted on their platform. You can feel good that you’re helping make a difference by hosting on a platform that is eco-friendly.
They boast both a 99.95 percent uninterrupted service and feature load times under 500ms.
They have data centers in the U.S., Canada, and the Netherlands specifically Chicago, Phoenix, Toronto, Montreal, and Amsterdam, which is a strong international setup.
Your hosting account is placed on GreenGeeks scalable hosting platform, which allows for seamless computing resource upgrades when you actually need them. They eliminate the need for much higher cost upgrades to Virtual Private Servers (VPS). In addition, they create complexities such as server security, maintenance, and other management responsibilities that fall on you.
Further, GreenGeeks also utilizes a container based approach; accounts are provisioned with their own dedicated computing resources and secured virtual file system (Secure vFS). This ensures no single user can impact another regardless of site traffic or computing resource demands.
Utilizing kernel level file tracking, GreenGeeks systems can identify changed files and scan them for known malware signatures in real-time.
Finally, thanks to GreenGeeks Secure vFS framework, security threats can be immediately isolated to protect malware from spreading.
GET STARTED WITH GREENGEEKS
3. WP ENGINE
WP Engine describes itself as “your catalyst for creating and delivering breakthrough digital experiences on WordPress that drive your business forward faster.”
To my knowledge, they are the best in professional and enterprise hosting.
WP Engine is a managed hosting company based in Austin, Texas. They primarily focus on speed, security, and scalability. The platform’s managed hosting is specifically built for WordPress sites and comes at a higher price. It’s not precisely hosting, but dedicated services to keep your WordPress site live.
Further, WP Engine is the managed WordPress host trusted by more than 90,000 customers. They provide easy migration, SSL, DDoS mitigation, dev stools, staging, SSH, backups, CDN, 27/7 support, PHP 7, Cloud Hosting, Performance Analytics, and 24/7 customer support.
They provide all the features you need to innovate and get to market faster.
Their strategic partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platforms provide customers a range of affordable, enterprise-grade solutions that deliver fast, scalable, and secure experiences.
In addition, WP Engine optimized AWS and GCP for WordPress, so you don’t have to. Instead, you gain time back to focus on building your business.
It’s noteworthy to mention they perform daily backups of your site to give you peace of mind in case you run into any site issues.
Furthermore, they handle all major updates automatically to ensure your sites stay up to date, and test minor updates before recommending them to you.
In the unlikely event your site is compromised, WP Engine has a dedicated team of expert recovery technicians ready to assist.
In summary, if you’re looking for one of the best premium managed web hosting companies, I recommend giving them a try!
GET STARTED WITH WP ENGINE
Get 3 months free when you sign up for WP Engine
4. HOSTGATOR
HostGator is a leading provider of web hosting and related services.
The company was started in a dorm room in my home state at Florida Atlantic University in 2002.
They are now headquartered in Houston and Austin, Texas, with several international offices worldwide and are a subsidiary of the Endurance International Group.
HostGator provides a full range of web hosting services, including domain registrations and web design, to a customer base that runs the gamut from hobbyists all they way through Fortune 500 companies.
HostGator web hosting provides a vast array of tools to take your business online. From site building tools and templates, to one-click application installer, you’ll find everything you need to host and launch your new website.
If you have questions, their 24/7 Live Support Team is ready to help.
HostGator offers three main plans, including Hatchling, Baby, and Business. The higher-tier plans include dedicated IP addresses and SEO tools to grow your online presence.
Additionally, they have a 45-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with your purchase.
With HostGator quickInstall tools, available on all Web Hosting plans, you can create any type of website: blog, forum, CMS, wiki, photo gallery, E-commerce store, and so much more.
Since HostGator runs on Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP, thousands of existing applications and software are compatible with their platform.
Simple steps to get started:
- Visit HostGator.com and click Get Started.
- Choose the plan you want. (Hatchling, Baby, or Business)
- Enter a domain name or select one you already own.
- Enter your account information, account plan, and billing information.
- Click submit and you’re ready to go!
Overall, HostGator is one of the best web hosting sites on the market, coming in at #4 on my list.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOSTGATOR
5. SITEGROUND
Trusted by the owners of 2 million domains
SiteGround focuses its efforts on hiring and developing top talent. Employees are what makes SiteGround unique.
Their company motto is, “We hire the best people and train them to become top experts.” Smart, open-minded, hard-working, friendly people with an eagerness to overcome challenges that’s the type of people who work at SiteGround and service your website.
Thus, they hire employees carefully
Because being able to count on and learn from co-workers is important. Every new SiteGrounder goes through an extensive training and the company believes this is the best investment in the future of SiteGround.
The company believes when you put the right people together in a team, you always get top results.
What does this mean for you? This awesome mix of great people spikes technical innovation, boosts the level of expertise, and guarantees a high quality of service.
Furthermore, the company invests in technical and human power to make their support desk efficient and fast.
SitGround implemented in-house systems for fast issue tracking and load balancing of incoming requests for all their agents allowing for fast support.
Aside from providing an easy and hassle-free CMS installation and free migration, they also help you with popular script extensions, plugins, templates, and they investigate and fix application-related issues and requests that other hosts turn down as beyond their scope.
Finally, SiteGround has offered hosting software since 2014. They pride themselves on fantastic customer support. SiteGround responds to phone calls in seconds. They reply to support tickets within 10 minutes on average. Their staff is available 24/7 via chat. SiteGround’s 2018 98 percent client satisfaction rate makes them a top competitor in the market.
GET STARTED WITH SITEGROUND
Conclusion
You have literally hundreds of web hosting services to choose from. Deciding on the right web hosting provider is probably one of the most important – and somewhat difficult decisions you’ll make as a business owner. Thats why I want to give you the help you need to make the right choice for you and your business.
When choosing a hosting provider, I recommend focusing on security, reliability, speed, and technical support. Ultimately, a host provides site speed, security, and ease of use, allowing you to focus on growing your business.
Finally, once you sign up with your hosting service, check out all the entrepreneurial resources you can leverage on to grow your business. I hope this article gave you some context about which hosting companies fit your exact business needs. If you have further questions feel free to contact me. For a complete list of the best web hosting services to energize your business click here.
Happy hosting!