Best Web Hosting Providers (Definitive Review 2019)
Pros, Cons, {DISCOUNTS}, and Comparisons.
There’s so many web hosting providers out there so it can seem a very complicated thing to understand. What features do you need to look for? Who can you trust?
Web hosting is relatively simple and needn’t be complicated or expensive. Our experts at EntrepreneursGateway.com are here to help you to find out who the best web hosting providers are for your business.
The first step is to understand initially what web hosting is and then work out what service you require from your web host provider.
Many of the packages out there include so many features such as:
- Control Panel
- Website Builders
- Being able to create online stores
- Mailing lists
- Varying levels of support, etc.,
All of which will be covered in this article, to ensure that your website runs smoothly, and more importantly, it’s a real success.
Deciding which of the many web host providers is going to be best for your needs, doesn’t need to be taxing! If you get this right at the beginning, you will get yourself a reliable, high-performing host provider that you can trust. It’s important to understand that without a reliable host provider your site may be exposed to frequent crashes, low site speed loading times and many other issues.
But how do you know which web hosting provider to choose – after all, there are loads out there? How do you know if you need to have shared hosting or cloud hosting? What about the RAM, CDN usage, disk space, the bandwidth and other resources you are going to need?
But, don’t worry, help is at hand…
To save you the time and effort I have reviewed the top x Best Web Hosting Providers out there in the market today and have highlighted both the good and bad points to help you make the right choice for both you and your business.
If you know all about hosting and want to click straight to the reviews, then click here.
So What Exactly is website hosting, and why do you need it?
In this section, we’ll help you to understand what exactly website hosting is and more importantly, why you need it.
Choosing the right web hosting provider will help you increase your profits, boost your SEO rankings and protect your website from harmful attacks.
So, what is Web Hosting – Web Hosting Definition
To enable your website to be viewed online by people, you need to host it somewhere. This is what a web host or hosting provider company offers. They provide these services and technologies that your website needs so that it can be accessible over the internet. They have servers, which is a special computer, and this is where your website will be hosted.
When someone chooses to visit your website, they will type in your website address This then connects them to your server, which in turn delivers your webpages to them through the browser.
The majority of hosting companies request that you own your own domain. If this is something that you don’t currently have, then they will be able to help you purchase one.
Dependent upon the requirements of your website depends upon the type of web hosting service you need.
In many situations, business owners can make the wrong choice when choosing a web hosting provider because they don’t evaluate all of their needs properly.
OK…..
So, what can happen if I were to make the wrong Web hosting choice?
We’re all in business to make money right? Well, by choosing the wrong web hosting provider, CAN mean it having a huge impact on your profits….. quite scary right?
Below, are just a few things that can happen to your business if you don’t do your research:
- Loss of revenue – What were to happen if your website was to go down? Any potential customers won’t be able to find you. Say you had an online store, think about how many potential sales you could lose. This happened to Amazon not so long ago, and they lost out on approximately $5 million in sales. OK, well your loss might not nearly be that much, but it’s still going to lose you revenue if your site was to go down.
- Having a negative effect with your SEO Ranking – You want to rank high when people search for something you offer, right? Well, if your site continuously has downtime, then you will get penalized from search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo, and this will affect your rankings. Speed also has an effect on your SEO ranking, all of which can be affected if you were to choose the wrong hosting provider.
- Security against attacks – No-one has found a perfect solution when it comes to keeping your website 100% secure…..BUT, any web hosting provider that’s got anything about them will have systems in place to ensure your data is backed up, via a remote server. This gives you as the customer, complete peace of mind, knowing that if a security alert happens and your site is hacked, they will easily be able to restore your site.
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Is my website going to be a static or dynamic website?
If your website is not going to be regularly updated, then it could be that you choose to have a ‘static’ website. This means that the website is built initially on your computer and then afterward, it’s uploaded to your website host’s server using software knows as an FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
The advantage of having a static website is that, not only are they quick and cheap to develop, but this also helps to keep your web hosting costs to a minimum.
The disadvantages of having a static website are that you will need a web developer to update the site. It’s not perhaps as, and you take the risk that your content could become stagnant.
For ‘Dynamic’ websites, these are more expensive for both the development and the hosting, but there are many advantages because it gives you the ability to update the website yourself.
The dynamic features of a website are the content management system (CMS), e-commerce system (should you wish to sell products on your site), discussion boards and blogs, etc.
Although most web applications are easy to use, if you do get a good web hosting company, they will be able to offer you technical support as and when you need it.
Understand what sort of website hosting you need
It is important to understand the type of website hosting service that your website will need. This will affect your compatibility with certain website hosting providers and are broken down into the size, security of your site, the reliability and price. Plan your site and get an idea of size, scope, and your website’s content. Most website hosting companies let you upgrade your package whenever you want, so it’s sensible to start with a lower package, and as your site gets bigger, you can then re-evaluate.
There is more than one type of website hosting. What is the difference?
There are several types of website hosting services available on the internet. The most common ones are:
1 - Shared Hosting
With shared hosting, your website is hosted on a server, along with several other customers’ websites. This is a very simple, uncomplicated and by far, the most economical way to host your website. This option is very common for people who are just starting out.
Just starting out in business and wanting to set up a website? Check out #EntrepreneursGateway.com’s definitive #webhosting #review to make sure you know which web hosting option is best for you!
There are however pitfalls with shared hosting. As the resources of the server are shared with potentially hundreds or thousands of other customers, your overall website performance can suffer, just like your laptop would suffer if you were to run too many programs all at the same time.
Say, one of the other customers who is sharing your server ended up hogging most of the processing power (perhaps because they were offering a sale, and traffic increased to their site all of a sudden!). You would be left trying to compete, which would ultimately result in downtime (not good for your customers, your SEO rankings, your profits, etc.,)
It’s like having a ‘bad neighbor’ and is a risk you take.
BUT….that being said:
The biggest benefit for people that choose ‘shared hosting’ is cost. It’s just so cheap, so is a great option if you have a limited budget. It’s also very straightforward in terms of the setup as there’s not much that needs configuring, leaving you to be able to concentrate on getting your website built.
And, it’s a perfect solution for your needs if your site doesn’t get a lot of traffic….yet! So, if you have a brochure site (static site), or you’re looking to set up a development or test site, or simply wanting a personal website, then uptime isn’t an issue.
Some of the best-known web hosting providers offer shared hosting for its customers, and we'll discuss this further in this review.
2 - VPS Hosting
Virtual Private Server (VPS) is when the website hosts server is divided into virtual machines. The virtual machines then act as stand-alone servers, giving the customers greater control. This option is undoubtedly renowned for being the most well-balanced of all the web hosting options.
A VPS server’s environment is also shared, but it’s very different to shared servers in the way it’s set up.
You have one physical server with VPS; however, within the server, you get multiple virtual machines which are separate.
Make sense so far!
Making it a great choice between shared hosting to that of having your own dedicated server.
Most VPS hosts offer storage, managed services for when your software needs to be updated, as well as security, and is much more reliable than shared hosting.
You will normally find that each server has a maximum limitation of 20 websites which ensures there is less demand on the server.
The real benefit is that you don’t get the ‘bad neighbor’ effect so no need to compete and keeps your downtime to a minimum. BUT…if you do hit the limit that you’ve been set, your site could go down…just a little tip there!
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Using the VPS option ensures that you have greater flexibility for your website as it grows as well as being able to customize your hosting environment. You can’t do this with ‘shared hosting’ as it would alter everybody else’s set up too!
With VPS hosting, there aren’t really any downsides, except when it comes to price, but should your website need this type of hosting; then you’ll probably making more than enough in sales/profits to cover this.
The only other thing to note with VPS hosting is the configuration issue. You need to know what you’re doing, and for someone that doesn’t, you could easily delete certain files and not know you’ve done so. It’s a big responsibility, so it’s best to make sure you get some training.
Overall, though, this option is by far better than ‘shared hosting,’ but always make sure you check for hidden fees before committing. You will need to consider any setup fees as some hosting providers charge extra. Other factors to consider are the bandwidth, CPU power, storage space, and memory, all of which can add up if they are extras!
3 - Dedicated Server Hosting
Yes, you’ve guessed it….. As the name suggests… you get a server that’s dedicated just for you.
There are a great many benefits of having your own server; however, it does come with a few negatives…
Let’s start with the positives….
Dedicated hosting guarantees you won’t have any bad neighbor issues. You don’t get any neighbors!
Therefore, no one can steal any of your resources, become a security risk or cause any other problems.
And…..
Because you have it all to yourself, most hosting providers allow you to customize it how you want.
You get all the features; such as automatic migrations, backups, security patches, a choice of operating system and your own dedicated IP addresses.
Now to the not so good points about dedicated servers:
Well, of course, it does come with a cost, and it’s not cheap. Prices can start from approx. $60 USD per month and can go up to over $350 per month. Although, from a point where your business requires its own server, cost shouldn’t really be an issue.
You also will need to understand the jargon when it comes to computers and servers. Although some hosting providers offer managed dedicated hosting options, you will still need to do quite a bit yourself.
For me, the biggest downside to having a dedicated server is that what to do if the hardware fails. Quite simply, your site will go out. Other hosting options offer the choice of other modules being able to take over or automatically replaced. If you are managing the servers yourself, it could take some time to get this fixed.
Personally, with the way hosting is going, and the upward trend in cloud VPS hosting (that’s the next option we’ll cover,) the need to have your own dedicated server is definitely in its decline.
It can definitely offer more than standard VPS hosting, but when it comes to scalability, cloud hosting is a definite leader.
Just don’t be fooled when you think this option is more advanced. That’s not the case. The only time I would recommend a dedicated server option is if your hardware needs are highly specialized and are dealing with lots of data with strict confidentiality.
4 - Cloud Hosting
Well, this is pretty much the same as VPS hosting. It offers the same flexibility except you have your site on a virtual machine.
Instead of having one physical server; however, your website becomes part of a huge network of computers, getting all the power it needs.
Cloud hosting is becoming more popular.
So, what are the advantages of having your website hosted on the cloud?
Well, the biggest one is scalability. With traditional VPS hosting, you can have scalability, but only to an extent, as it’s limited, depending upon the capacity of the hardware.
For example…
If your server has 32GB of RAM, you won’t ever be able to access 64GB.
This isn’t an issue for cloud hosting. However many resources your website needs is how much it will get.
Why’s that, I hear you ask?
Instead of separating one computer into several virtual machines, the cloud combines a magnitude of computers to create a powerful virtual server. Pretty impressive don’t you think?
Another great thing about cloud hosting is that you only pay for what you use. This is especially great as you may not use the whole capacity. If you were to choose a dedicated server option, you would pay a fixed price, even if you didn’t use all your resources.
Having cloud hosting also minimizes security risks. Because it’s in the cloud, you are able to spread any risks amongst the many different computers. By doing this, it mitigates the effect a lot better than just one single server.
For me, the only downside with cloud hosting is the unpredictability of costs. So, it’s just something to keep in mind if you are thinking of going with cloud hosting. Most providers tend to mix their pricing with both fixed and pay-as-you-go.
Should your site to experience spikes in traffic, your costs could considerably go up.
5 - WordPress Hosting
What is #WordPress #Hosting and which one is best for your business? Find out in our Best #WordPress #Web #Hosting Review here!
Put simply, WordPress hosting means that your hosting has been optimized in a way that best compliments the performance of WordPress.
WordPress hosting also includes a simple one-click option when it comes to installation. Some web hosting providers also update your WordPress software automatically as and when it’s needed which ensures your website is secure.
There are two types of WordPress hosting.
- Shared WordPress
- Managed WordPress
Shared WordPress Hosting
This is normally the cheaper of the two options as your website is shared with other websites. Your website will still be performance optimized for WordPress, but as it’s shared, you won’t have it all to yourself.
Managed WordPress Hosting
As well as the benefits of shared WordPress Hosting provides, you will get faster speeds, better security, server-side caching, regular malware scans and intruder detection. Many hosts offer staging sites which allow you to make changes before they go live.
At EntrepreneursGateway.com, we recommend Managed WordPress Hosting, which although is more expensive, it saves you so much time and is stress-free as you don’t have to worry about anything.
For those who are still with me….
Hopefully, now, you understand why choosing the right Web Hosting Provider is key to your website and your business.
After all, it can make all the difference to your website security, your SEO and most importantly your PROFITS!
So, for this review, I have drilled it down to the best 6 Web Hosting Providers on the market today.
So, let’s dive straight in and have a look at what our top 6 Web hosting providers have to offer.
Top 6 Web Hosting 2018 providers on the Market TODAY
As promised, to help YOU to make the right decision, I’ll be taking an in-depth look at the 6 Top Best Web Hosting providers and will be highlighting what works and what doesn’t.
So, without further ado, let’s crack on….
1&1 Hosting
1&1 Internet was founded in 1988 and is a web hosting company that’s owned by United Internet, a German Internet Company. Its CEO is Eric Tholome. 1&1 is one of the worlds largest web hosting providers, employing over 7,000 people, with offices in 10 countries and with data centers in Europe and the US.
The company offers domain registration, cloud, VPS and dedicated servers. They offer shared hosting on both Linux and Windows platforms, as well as offering a drag and drop template product.
WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting is part of K Media Tech Ltd. It’s founder and CEO is Terry Kyle, an Australian entrepreneur living in Eastern Europe. WPX Hosting is the only hosting company recommended by Thrive Themes. They boast to be the first hosting company to offer free SSL Certificates and be able to install them in seconds!
Kinsta
Kinsta was founded in December 2013 and has been growing like crazy ever since. With their desire to create the best WordPress hosting platform in their world, they have a team of WordPress developers. They have offices in Los Angeles, London, and Budapest.
They market themselves as ‘Better, faster, stronger managed WordPress hosting,’ who uses Google’s Cloud Platform so it can provide fast speeds from the web giants reliable and secure data centers.
InMotion
Founded in 2001, InMotion Hosting is a privately held provider of web hosting services worldwide. Co-founded by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson, InMotion Hosting has over 300 employees, three offices in Los Angeles, CA, Virginia Beach, VA and Denver, CO, and thousands and thousands of servers in their Los Angeles, CA and Ashburn, VA data centers.
BlueHost
HostGator
Founded by Brent Oxley in 2002, HostGator continues to grow with headquarters in Houston, Austin, and Brazil and has become a global provider for web hosting and other related services.
In 2012, HostGator was acquired by EIG (Endurance International Group). EIG is an international company that also owns Bluehost, Constant Contact and many other web hosting and online businesses.
Web Hosting Providers ‘Must Haves’
So, now that we have shortlisted our 6 best Web Hosting providers let’s have a look at how well they provide our ‘must haves.’ Of course, every penny counts, so it’s crucial to keep a close eye on your expenditure, income and of course customers, so you can figure out exactly how much money is going out and more importantly coming in.
But, what are the all-important ‘must haves’? Well keep reading and see what they are AND what our star ratings were for each one…
#1. Performance
What would happen if you were to sign up with a hosting provider and then find that your website is excruciatingly slow and more than not it disappears?
Discover how they all perform so that your website loads with ease, you aren’t leaving your customers not being able to view your website, and most importantly NOT having to switch web hosting providers at the 11th hour!
This will cost you more money in the long run, let alone a headache!!
So, let’s see how these top 6 web hosting providers did:
1&1 Hosting
Your website sometimes requires a lot more performance than it has. 1&1 understand this and therefore offer Scalable Performance. With a few clicks, it’s possible to increase the performance of your server. A deserving 3 stars!
WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting doesn’t disappoint when it comes to performance. Their load time came in at an impressive 1.97 seconds and is definitely up there with the best! An impressive 4 stars WPX!
Kinsta
As Kinsta uses the Google Cloud Platform who has a fantastic reputation for reliability and Uptime. For performance, They have one of the most sophisticated infrastructures you can find for your website. An excellent 5 stars Kinsta!
InMotion
InMotion has invested a lot into its Data Centres and are both operated by several Tier 1 Internet Service Providers as well as being backed by several layers of redundancy. This ensures the data centers can deal with both reliable and fast services which you can rely on. A super 4 stars.
Bluehost
Because Bluehost carries the ‘Recommended by WordPress’ tag, it’s fair to say that we would expect excellence from them when it comes to both performance and reliability. Their average loading time was 2 seconds. A deserving 4 stars Bluehost
HostGator
Thanks to these world-class data centers and their strategic locations, HostGator provides reliable, quality performance that never disappoints. HostGator remains at 99.9% at most times according to a majority of users. Well done HostGator, 4 stars.
#2. Usability
For a novice, web hosting may seem very confusing to begin with, especially when they offer additional features. A web hosting provider is simply the road for your website; everything else is extra. Making sure the setup and maintenance of your site is easy to use is an essential factor to consider.
You don’t want to be spending months learning how to use a new piece of software!
With WordPress websites, it’s essential that they offer you a one-click install, especially if you don’t have any coding experience. This will save you a lot of bother!
Another area where it can get confusing is with email. Look for a hosting provider that integrates email into other platforms such as Outlook and Gmail.
Ease of use will be something that you won’t honestly know until you sign up, but we’ve given a quick summary of our findings. Just a quick tip though, if the web hosting’s website’s navigation is a nightmare, then their platform is probably the same!
Let’s see how our web hosting providers performed…
1&1 Hosting
1&1 offers low-cost hosting together with easy email setup, website building, and domain transfers. Just watch out for the upsells…there’s hundreds of them. It can get quite confusing. Only 3 stars!
WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting, at present, is the most widely talked about managed dedicated hosts. Its superb efficiency is able to provide you with one of the fastest and easily accessible websites. An impressive 4 stars WPX!
Kinsta
Kinsta has taken it to the next level with developing their own custom solution dashboard which is easier to use and enables you easy access to the features Kinsta offer such as important details/metrics. It’s by far the most robust analytics platform you will see from any web host. An excellent 5 stars Kinsta!
InMotion
InMotion’s Account Management Panel offers a very straightforward and user-friendly interface where you can easily manage your account. A well-deserved 4 stars.
BlueHost
Bluehost does provide a control panel that is user-friendly. It has a clean design, and everything is very easy to find. A deserving 4 stars Bluehost
HostGator
HostGator is very easy to use. They have a tool ‘QuickInstall’ which is accessed through cPanel, which makes the installation very quick and simple. A great control panel with a ton of features ranging from a web-based file manager to more advanced features such as image manager, error logs, and apache handlers. Well done HostGator, 4 stars.
#3. Security
Unfortunately, nowadays, your website is always at risk from attackers, and it doesn’t matter how big or small your website is, web hosting providers deal with endless attacks.
In the world of web hosting, a DDoS attack is the worst of all as it causes the bandwidth of the server to shut down.
You need to check which security measures have been put in place with web hosting providers. It’s not just a DDoS attack; the firewall is an important feature, as well as security updates and how consistent these updates are.
Look out for hosting providers that offer back-ups, just in case something was to go wrong.
You may need to pay a little more for this, but it will be worth it.
So, how secure are our top 6 web hosting providers?
1&1 Hosting
SSL certificates are available, but not free for everyone. SiteLock is offered on all packages to protect from hackers etc., and by displaying this to your visitors, verifies the site’s security. Only 3 stars!
WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting offers free SSL certificates and activation is ultra-fast. They offer Sucuri protections for free and includes; HTTP/HTTPS security coverage, hack removal, malware scanning and of course DDoS protection
An impressive 5 stars WPX!
Kinsta
Kinsta offers SSL certificates for free to everyone and offers one-click setup and automated backups. A well-deserved 4 stars.
InMotion
They have taken various steps which ensure that all user accounts are safe. There are free security plugins you can use which will scan for security risks such as malware. It does have some limitations though. 3 stars InMotion.
BlueHost
Bluehost provides three layers for both your website and your emails: Spam Expert; Spam Hammer and Apache Spam Assassin. You also get the option to blacklist certain IP addresses. A deserving 4 stars Bluehost
HostGator
HostGator takes measures to protect your website from outside attack. The company performs weekly malware scans to ensure that there are no malicious programs embedded in your website. Backups are only carried out weekly, and there is a charge if you want your site restored from a backup. Only 3 stars.
#4. Support
Things do sometimes go wrong which is why support is one of the most important things to check out with your web hosting provider. A few minutes of your site being down is just too much.
Putting it simply, your fate lies in the hands of your web hosting providers. Your site will be down if their servers aren’t working. Your emails also won’t be working if their email servers are failing.
Ok, so it’s not a matter of life or death, but you want to be assured that they are doing their best should this happen.
I think email or live chat is essential support and if they don’t provide either of these, I would ask yourself why?
Another great support system has a strong community, so check out to see if they have support forums, YouTube channels as well as FAQ’s. Sometimes this is the easiest way to solve your problems.
So, let’s take a look at what support is available from our top 6 web hosting providers…
1&1 Hosting
1&1 offers 24/7 telephone and email support; they don’t, however, offer Live Chat. A good 4 stars!
WPX Hosting
It offers a 27/7 live text chat service, 365 days a year as well as a help desk ticketing system and also their ‘online knowledge base’ which is great. An impressive 4 stars WPX!
Kinsta
Well, they’re WordPress developers, so their support is excellent because they are so knowledgeable. Don’t be put off that they don’t offer telephone support; live chat is just as effective. It’s also synced with your email which is great. An excellent 5 stars.
InMotion
InMotion provides all the support channels. They also have an education channel with lots of helpful articles, videos, and tutorials. A great 4 stars InMotion.
BlueHost
Bluehost provides all the usual support channels. Because they carry the ‘WordPress’ tag, they have WordPress experts there too Be aware of the pop-ups though, and their 24/7 support is only available if it’s a technical issue. A good 3 stars Bluehost
HostGator
HostGator really do look after their customers. They have won awards for their customer support. What more can I say! Well done HostGator, 5 stars.
#5. Bonus & Extras
This area of consideration comes down to the following question – What makes this hosting company special? What extra incentive do they provide to make hosting your site with them just a touch more attractive? Whether it’s multiple data centers, energy-saving practices, or additional features such as regular data backups or free domain privacy, hosting companies often offer more than just servers. If you see one that offers something you need or finds important, that can be a good indicator that you should look into using that company.
You will find that the majority of web hosting providers will go that extra mile to win your custom by way of providing added value.
So, let’s take a look at what support is available from our top 6….
1&1 Hosting
1&1 don’t offer all that many extras, but that’s probably because of their pricing structure. If you want added features, then it will cost you. You can’t have it all! So only 2 stars!
WPX Hosting
WPX offer a host of extra features so you can be sure you’ll be looked after. A few are WordPress multisite support, Free SSL certificates, Free migration service and much more. An impressive 3 stars WPX!
Kinsta
Again, Kinsta doesn’t disappoint. They offer an array of features including free site migrations, Google Cloud Platform, multisite support, Free CDN, Free SSL certificates, white labeled cache plugin and lots more. An excellent 4 stars.
InMotion
InMotion offers great little extras when signing up, including free site transfers, free website builders, $250 voucher, easy integration with Google Apps. Nice touch InMotion – 3 stars.
BlueHost
Bluehost dashboard is packed with applications which enables you to integrate services such as Google Apps and Cloudflare. A good 3 stars Bluehost
HostGator
HostGator offers lots of extra features and offers freebies such as their website builder, website building tools, unlimited bandwidth and disk space, over 4,000 templates, free domain transfers and lots more! Amazing HostGator, 5 stars.
So, now I’ve covered the 6 Best Web Hosting Providers’ ‘must-haves,’ hopefully, you will now have a better overview of what is crunching the numbers and what, well, is just crunching!!
How do these Top 6 compare on our checklist criteria?
To make things easier, I’ve displayed the results in the table below and have marked them out of 5:
The results do help to paint a clearer picture, but the most important factor is which web hosting provider is the best for YOU and your BUSINESS?
Still not sure where to go?
Well, there is still one huge feature that could have an enormous impact on your decision….
PRICE !!
Some users see keeping the costs low as their priority and therefore opt for a lower priced tool that still ticks all the right boxes. Others, however, see their priority as ensuring that they have access to the best possible tools to get the job done – whatever the price.
Note: Not all of the web hosting providers offer all hosting options, but I’ve listed them below, so you can see who offers what and how they compare:
Shared Web Hosting Plans
WordPress Cloud Hosting
Cloud Hosting
Dedicated Server
VPS Server
So, this is how the prices worked out, but let’s have a look at who ranked as the best x for y for…
My Top Recommendations
Best Web Host for Shared Hosting
HostGator
As mentioned at the beginning of this review, shared hosting is really a great option if you are starting out and have a new website. HostGator’s shared hosting plans all include unlimited bandwidth and storage, email addresses, plus they also provide support for one domain as well as third-party applications like e-commerce and content management systems.
If you are starting out, they also provide a lot of features/bonuses which you can also benefit from such as their Weebly site-building software tool.
The reason for me choosing HostGator is that I think they offer slightly more for your buck than the other shared hosting providers on the market. They also include the SSL certification as well as a toll-free VOIP number.
It’s because of this, HostGator is our choice for shared hosting services.
Best Web Host for Cloud Hosting
BlueHost
BlueHost is EntrepreneursGateway.com first choice when it comes to their cloud hosting. This is a relatively new offering which is provided by BlueHost but offers their customers unlimited websites, bandwidth, storage as well as email, not to mention the scalability that’s found with cloud hosting.
I really believe that BlueHost has reinvented their infrastructure which makes it’s a lot faster, simpler and safer. Their management interface means that as a customer, you can view usage trends as well as being able to manage resources.
So, if you’ve outgrown your shared hosting option, I strongly recommend BlueHost’s Cloud Hosting platform. Their reputation for usability and affordability is what’s most appealing to me.
Having recently re-vamped their user experience, you can’t go wrong!
Best Web Host for VPS Hosting
BlueHost
the table. Not only are they competitively priced, but they also have great support channels available as well as amazing uptime when you compare it to other web hosting providers out there.
Their virtual servers come with so many benefits of which are: speed and security.
If you are new to VPS hosting then it’s fair to say, you might not necessarily know what is required. Well, BlueHost has it covers, and if you need advice, they are there to assist when you need it.
Best Web Host for Dedicated Servers
EntrepreneursGateway Award for the Best WordPress Web Hosting Provider goes to...
So, make sure this is what you need. If it’s a personal blog or a small business website you have, then dedicated servers are not the way forward.
HostGator is EntrepreneusGateway.com’s choice when it comes to dedicated servers as they come in both Windows and Linux flavors. In fact, HostGator is one of the few web hosting providers who offer Windows operating systems
They offer you a great set of features and can customize their servers with unlimited data transfers every month as well as 3GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.
The EntrepreneursGateway.com Best Web Hosting Service Award Goes To...
Who is the...
WINNER ?
Find out who our winner is for the best Email Marketing Software tool.
Best Web Hosting Providers 2018 (Short Reviews)
Now that I have compared the various web hosting providers, based on various factors, I will conclude with a brief summary of each. Remember, there are full reviews available, and these are merely ‘mini’ ones that reflect the findings from the roundup post together with my own analysis.
Short review for 1&1
1&1 offers low-cost hosting together with easy email setup, website building, and domain transfers. However, keeping this in mind, my opinion is that some of their features could benefit from a little more flexibility and the uptime could be improved. For those who are looking for the crème de la crème of website building tools and customers service, then I fear that you may have to look elsewhere.
My feeling is that for newbies starting their first website or launching a new business venture then 1&1 would be a great choice. It’s ideal for both beginners and those who are expecting their data needs to grow, and by paying a little extra, the MyWebsite site builder will make your life so much easier.
For full-on developers, I don’t think that 1&1 will be the right choice as they probably won’t offer all the features that would be needed – especially daily backups.
With that said though, 1&1 is an affordable and rock-solid web hosting service, with plans packed full of helpful features including superb security options.
Pros
- Unlimited band with
- Free domain
- 90-day money back guarantee
- 24/7 phone and e-mail support
- Amazing budget prices
- All of the company’ web hosting contracts are scalable.
Cons
- Control panel can be difficult to navigate
- Custom control panel
- Lack of automatic daily website back-ups
Short review for WPX Hosting
WPX Hosting might not have been in the market as long as some of the other hosting providers, however, the services that they offer certainly are worthy of appreciation.
Their secure and high-speed servers, excellent support team, affordable price plans, daily backup and facility for site migration is second to none. These features are what set them apart from their competitors and which makes them the best WP Engine alternative on today’s market.
If you’re looking for secure, fast and dedicated managed WordPress hosting at an affordable price, then I suggest that you stop what you’re doing (when you’ve finished reading this of course !!) and start using WPX Hosting.
WPX Hosting is straightforward to use and even if you want to upgrade your websites hosting provisions or simply begin a new project; then this is the Hosting option for you.
Costing is kept simple with the 3 pricing plans and starting a new WordPress site couldn’t be any easier, plus for anyone with an existing WordPress website that is hosted elsewhere the FREE migration service will be a much-needed bonus.
In comparison with entry-level shared web hosting, generally, WPX Hosting and managed WordPress hosting may come in slightly pricier. But with prices starting from $24-99 per month, including the ability of hosting up to 5 WordPress websites, it definitely is one of the more affordable options.
Faster websites both convert and rank higher as well as deliver the best user experience, this alone means that it is worth investing in the correct web hosting service. It is proven that WPX Hosting websites are much faster than others and if that isn’t enough, you also have access to unparalleled expert help every hour and day of the week. With FREE SSL certificates, you can be sure to get higher rankings on Google and less abandoned carts.
Pros
- Faster server, dedicated RAM and SSD servers enabling quick loading of WordPress websites.
- Extremely responsive and fast customer support in dealing with customer problems and queries.
- Two FREE full weeks of daily backups.
- An email can be created for ANY domain.
- No restrictions when installing WP plugins plus WPX Hosting supports several installations per plan.
- Hassle-free site migration from one platform to another, ALL within 24 hours.
- WPX is a protected and secure web hosting platform which offers FREE email spam and virus filtering.
Cons
- Beginners may find the pricing a bit high, however, for a dedicated pricing plan, it is justifiable.
Short review for Kinsta
Kinsta takes care of absolutely everything that’s website related. They have top-of-the-range services and technology and takes their customer support very seriously. Their technical team are WordPress developers, so rest assured you’re in safe hands.
If you think that hosting your website as well as scaling it is hard, check out Kinsta’s dashboard! It’s so easy to use.
With clients such as Asos, Intuit, GE, and Ubisoft, they really have come along way since they launched just over 10 years ago.
They offer their customers the following:
- WordPress experts who are available 24/7
- Very easy and quick installation that even a beginner can do
- Their hosting solution is constantly monitoring your website’s health
- User-friendly CMS platform
Kinsta has a big advantage which is that they are the first host to use the biggest and fastest network in the world; the Google Cloud Platform. This is undoubtedly one of the most sophisticated infrastructures you can find on your website. Kinsta customers even have the option to choose where their data center is located (Europe, USA, Asia and Australia).
Pros
- Fast performance
- Powered by Google Cloud Platform
- Free SSL (Security Sockets Layer)
- Free CDN (Content Delivery Network)
- Staging sites on all plans
- The nicest and most helpful support you can imagine
- 100% Automated and on-demand backups (available on all plans)
- Excellent security
- Powerful Custom Admin Dashboard (complete with analytics and statistics)
- Site cloning (on most plans)
- Free site migrations (on most plans)
- Excellent price for what you get
Cons
- Kinsta exclusively offers premium WordPress hosting
- Let’s Encrypt still isn’t fully integrate
Short review InMotion
There’s in no doubt that InMotion has established themselves as being a trustworthy hosting company in the marketplace.
InMotion Hosting has been established since 2001 and is a very popular hosting choice for businesses wanting a reliable and secure experience. InMotion seems to have created a name for itself as the Best Web Hosting for small businesses and is based in the US, with a diverse team with technical abilities, it focuses on the most up-to-date technology to be able to provide its clients with a smooth experience. InMotion has two data centers in both Los Angeles and Virginia Beach. They are one of the few top hosting providers who are not owned by EIG (Endurance International Group).
InMotion has worked very hard to develop their brand and are well known for being the ‘nerds choice.’
All of their support staff undergo more than 160 hours of extensive training so that they are able to understand both technical/non-technical areas of the business. It is only when they have completed this, they are then allowed to speak to customers.
Pros
- Reliable Hosting with a guarantee of 99.97% uptime
- Fast Servers
- Secure hosting solutions
- Great Pricing
- Free Domain Name
- Generous 90-day Money Back Guarantee
- Free Site Transfers and backups
- Google Apps Integration
- Comprehensive options when it comes to customer service
- Never need to worry about having several logins and passwords as cPanel is included within the management dashboard.
Cons
- You have to sign up for 24 months to take advantage of the low advertised rate
- Delayed Verification Process which means that there is no instant signup, especially if you live outside of the US
- Some Plan Limitations
- Priority support tends only to be available to those with higher priced plans
- There isn't any support for servers that are Windows-based
- Basic web builder means it creates dated looking sites
- Separate logins are needed for all of your add-ons
Short review BlueHost
Established in 1996 by Danny Ashworth and Matt Heaton, Bluehost positions itself as offering the best web hosting for small businesses and start-ups. They are one of the official hosting providers recommended by WordPress. (Currently, there are only three hosting providers who have won this recommendation from WordPress).
Owned by Endurance International which is the biggest hosting company in the world, enabling them to employ the best of the best when it comes to network engineers, their customer service team, and executive teams. They currently employ 750 staff. Having this advantage of being so big also gives them the finances and capital to be able to make huge investments in their servers and network. They currently host over 2 million websites worldwide.
If you have a WordPress site, then Bluehost could well be on your shortlist. Especially as it carries the WordPress Tag.
With plenty of exciting extras and features, Bluehost plans offer flexibility for all budgets. The majority of its customers are happy, despite some feedback which is negative, so if you are looking for a hosting company that offers cheap, scalable plans, then Bluehost is a good choice.
Pros
- Very cheap web hosting starting at $2.95 per month
- Excellent for WordPress websites
- Has the official "WordPress' hosting tag
- Generous 30-day money back guarantee
- Good uptime
- Take security very seriously
- Helpful support through their user portal
- Offers an affiliate programme
- Various hosting options
- Quick starter plan (45-minute session with one-to-one training - $79.99)
- Generous extras
Cons
- Pricing can be confusing (some require you to sign up to 36 months)
- No FREE automatic backups
- Restriction on over-usage of resources
- Doesn't provide Windows hosting
- No uptime guarantee
- Slow load times
- Annoying pop-ups and alerts which appear offering countless upselling opportunities
- Slow customer service response times
- Expensive renewal rates
- Charge for site migrations
Short review for HostGator
HostGator is one of the largest and most well-known web host companies in the world.
HostGator offers robust web hosting. Being popular for offering many flexible price packages, HostGator is ideal for both entrepreneurs and individuals. Offering a dedicated hosting service, providing you with your own physical server which can be run on both Windows or Linux platforms. HostGator also offer plans to cater for companies wishing to have a more commercial website.
HostGator also gives you VPS web hosting, giving you the same functionality of a dedicated server, but at a much-reduced price. It is designed to work with WordPress and provides everything you need to keep your website running perfectly.
Having been in business for more than 15 years, HostGator can be seen as being one of the most recognized and trusted web hosting providers, excelling in many areas such as hosting flexibility, 99.9% uptime, shared hosting and customer support, plus many more!
With the company’s experience, the range of features and performance, HostGator could be a great choice for any business.
Pros
- Reliable Hosting with a guarantee of 99.99% uptime (they guarantee that if you experience any downtime that is below that, you get a month's credit)
- 45-day money back guarantee
- Free Migration
- Flexible billing periods
Cons
- No free domain
- Aggressive upselling
Now, over to you...
There it is, our definitive review of all the aspects you should look for when choosing a web hosting provider to ensure that your business goes from zero to hero status.
What’s your number 1 take away or maybe you’ve got a question.
Have you been party to the best web hosting providers that we have reviewed, if so, what can you share with us?
Either way, I would love to hear from you, and, will be personally responding to all comments.
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