SiteGround
SiteGround is very highly rated and created specifically for Managed WordPress websites, which is what we typically recommend for our clients needing a small business website. SiteGround is our go-to recommendation for web hosting if budget permits.
It’s a bit more expensive than others but the quality is far superior to GoDaddy. SiteGround’s servers are constantly improved for speed and security, and they offer free daily backups of your website, free setup and transfer, a free domain name, and easy one-click installs. We’ve found their support team to be excellent, and website uptime and speed to be great.
All web hosting packages at SiteGround come with a free SSL security certificate (that can cost up to $80/year at GoDaddy), so that’s a nice perk. They also offer a professional website transfer service with one of their hosting plans, this can come in handy if you’re needing to move your website from one web host over to SiteGround.
GoDaddy
As web hosts go, GoDaddy is among the most popular; a large number of our clients use GoDaddy for hosting.
GoDaddy is good for small businesses, sole proprietorships and individuals who need a web presence without paying an arm and a leg. They offer more robust products and services for larger companies who need heavier technology, too. By phone, GoDaddy has (in our experience) very good customer service based in Arizona and you can speak to an English speaking human being 24/7 when you call in for technical support.
Their online technical support chat is less than desirable because the operators are located overseas and as a result, the experience isn’t as quickly resolved as it would be if you picked up the phone.
GoDaddy’s cheap prices of years ago are a thing of the past, but in most common products they are fairly comparable to the other big hosts. They offer occasional promo codes and a large variety of products all on one roof. Their variety of products and tools will provide everything the typical small business will need to get started on the web, including:
- Domain Name Registration
- WordPress Hosting
- SSL Security Certificates
- Microsoft Office 365 Email
BlueHost
Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting providers in the industry and there are plenty of reasons why. They offer lots of great features such as a free domain, unlimited disk storage, the ability to host as many domains as you like on one account, 24/7 network monitoring, access to a free content delivery network (CDN) and regular backups. Prices are very comparable to other big hosts and they offer special discounts for your first year of service.
WP Engine
WP Engine is a highly rated premium WordPress web host, more expensive than most but they offer excellent service. WP Engine offers its customers high-performance servers, serious security and fantastic customer support. For the price paid monthly, they include free daily backups and malware scanning which are normally extra expenses. That being said, the monthly price is quite a bit more than other hosts, so if budget is a concern, this one may not be a great fit.
Web hosts to avoid
The three names that instantly come to mind when we’re asked “What web hosting companies should I avoid?” are the following. In our experience, we’ve had tremendous difficulty working with these hosts – everything from terrible or barely-existent technical support, to pricing that’s way off base, to products that just plain don’t work.
- Network Solutions
- Fast Web Host
- Fat Cow