So, let’s cut to the chase here…
If you’re here, you know you need web hosting (or you’re thinking of switching). You’ve likely seen a ton of people talk about how to choose it. And, you’re probably a bit jaded about it because most people seem to just write this stuff in order to make affiliate commissions for referring you to hosting.
We both know how this stuff works. 🙂
So, here’s what we’re going to do here…
I want to give you the no-bullshit guide on how to choose solid web hosting that is suitable to grow a blog-based business on.
I will make 2 promises to you:
- 1I will not blow smoke by complicating it. Honestly, web hosts are a dime a dozen and we don’t need to act like they’re radically different.
- 2This is not going to be some big affiliate link drop. Yes, I will make a recommendation to you. I’ll back it up. But, I don’t do it just for commissions. I think that’ll be clear as we proceed.
OK, let’s get rollin’…
What You Need In A Web Host (The Straight Scoop)
So, let’s keep this simple.
You need a web hosting account that will start small and scale with you. The reason is because you want to keep your startup costs small in the beginning.
It needs to work well with Wordpress.
They need to do backups for you. You shouldn’t need some stupid plugin for that.
They need to provide solid support, not outsource to some overseas support staff who just parrots off their templated answers at you and treats you like an ignorant nuisance.
It’d be convenient if they did things like provide easy staging sites. Essentially, this means you can click a button and clone your whole site over to a private area so you can test things, break things and not affect the live site. This isn’t a requirement, but it sure is nice to have.
You need the hosting environment to be secure so you’re not getting hacked.
Those are the main requirements here. There’s really not much need to get into the weeds with things like disk space, or bandwidth quotas, or the number of email accounts. Most of the time, they give you way more than you’ll need.
The Different Types of Hosting (And Which You Need)
This post isn’t going to get geeky. This isn’t about being a glossary. However, this is useful to know…
There are, shall we say, different levels of hosting. Roughly, they are:
- Shared Hosting. This is the most common and means that your website is one of hundreds using the same server.
- Virtual Private Servers (VPS). This uses a virtual machine to mimic having your own dedicated server. Basically, it is a software layer that is totally self-contained and has a pre-defined portion of the server resources dedicated to it. It usually provides more power and more security for your site.
- Dedicated Server. Essentially, it is a whole server and it’s your’s to do with what you want and configure as you please (within what the host allows, of course).
Think of shared hosting like living in a communal situation with a bunch of different people all sharing the same resources. All using the same kitchen, the same bathroom, etc.
A VPS is like having an apartment. You’re sharing the building with others, however within your apartment, you make the rules.
And dedicated server? You own the building.
In almost all cases, you will begin with shared hosting. It is the most economical and works just fine for startups, blogs, etc. You should consider a VPS if you will be running an ecommerce store, need a more secure environment, or expect higher amounts of traffic. And, when the time comes that your business is just crankin’ and sees a ton of traffic, you can spring for a dedicated.
How To Shop For Hosting (Without Getting Screwed)
Truth is, it is the wild wild west if you’re out there looking for solid hosting. There are 2 main reasons for this:
- It is hard to trust recommendations because there’s such a HUGE economy around affiliate commissions. So, people are saying things just for the money in a lot of cases.
- Reviews are all over the board because, truth is, no company is perfect. With any company, you’re going to hear good reviews… and bad ones. There are always people not happy with something.
So, it can be confusing if you’re expecting a cut-and-dry answer.
Generally, I would not recommend looking at web hosting review sites, or articles which rank the “best” hosting. In almost all cases, those articles are written for the commissions and every link is an affiliate link. They are literally incentivized not to say something bad.
I would find the people you trust and ask for their experience. Expect them to back it up and tell you WHY they recommend a certain option.
Be Aware Of The Resellers And Conglomerates
Hosting is big business, so there’s a couple things to be aware of here so that you’re a smart consumer.
A lot of the names in hosting out there are, essentially, middlemen or subsidiaries.
First off, there are a lot of small time companies who offer web hosting, but in reality they are just a reseller for another company. Sometimes you’ll see web service companies (like designers, SEO, etc.) offer web hosting. But, they don’t own the server in some cases. They’re just managing your site on a common server that they themselves pay for with a larger company.
This isn’t necessarily bad. You just need to look at the real value of what you’re getting. If they are providing real service over and above the hosting, then it can be worth it. For instance, if a web developer is hosting your site, there’s nothing wrong with that as long as they are providing actual service to manage your site. If they’re not, then all they’re doing is charging you a premium over their own bill and hooking you in so that it is hard to get out of it.
Next up… the conglomerate.
This is where you have a whole bunch of what appears to be different web hosting companies, but in reality they are all owned by the same umbrella.
One of the super big ones is Endurance International Group, or EIG. EIG owns and operates over 60 companies.
EIG Companies
Now, being an EIG company doesn’t make it bad. There are some differences in some of these companies despite being commonly owned. However, I have observed (through others and, in one case, myself) a drop in quality when EIG takes over a company. EIG is very much a bulk operation and I personally think it is run accordingly.
In my case, I had an experience with Bluehost. Bluehost is a good company and has long been popular among bloggers. It was acquired by EIG in 2011. I had an experience where I had a site get hacked on their environment and the support I got it from was actually pretty pitiful. It was clear to me that I was dealing with a guy who didn’t really understand tech stuff very well and was giving me templated answers. You can read the whole story below…
FURTHER READING
- Why So Many Bloggers Recommend Bluehost or Hostgator Hosting (And Why I Don’t)
- Why I Can No Longer Recommend Bluehost Web Hosting (I Owe An Explanation)
EIG is such a numbers game that it means they can afford to offer compelling commission rates to people who recommend them. This, in turn, means that a lot of bloggers recommend them. I think a lot of “blogging gurus” recommend Bluehost primarily because of the commissions.
In other words, while Bluehost is OK hosting, they aren’t the best. However, many gurus will continue to recommend them because the commissions are good.
Who Hosts This Very Site?
People wonder. So, I’ll tell you. 🙂 But, to be clear, I am not going to recommend necessarily that you use the same company I do. And I’ll tell you why.
This site is hosted with WPX Hosting.
WPX Hosting is Wordpress-specific hosting. In my case, this is mostly great. The tradeoff is that if you’re running something that isn’t sitting on top of Wordpress, then you can’t use it at WPX.
WPX Hosting is very, VERY fast. They have all the options that make Wordpress hosting easy. One-click installs, backups, staging sites, all of it. They also have their own custom CDN called WPX Cloud that will really speed up your site across the planet since it caches parts of your site around the world and serves up to your visitor from the location closest to them.
It isn’t just site speed that is fast, however. Their customer support is the fastest I have ever experienced – and I’ve used a lot of hosts in my 20 years in this business.
I kid you not… I usually have a first response via live chat support within about 30 seconds.
I switched from WP Engine to WPX Hosting and I’m very happy with the switch. Check out the post where I discuss the switch.
WPX is very affordable. That said, I also know that I have readers who are more budget-sensitive. So, I have another recommendation for you…
The Host That I Personally Recommend (And Why)
I believe that it is important that a hosting recommendation is backed up by a strong why. And that why must be bigger than the affiliate commission.
If WPX Hosting seems a bit much for you right now, then the host that I personally recommend is Siteground.
Yes, that’s an affiliate link. But, to be clear, I took a big hit in my commissions when I began recommending Siteground. Bluehost paid more, but I couldn’t honestly recommend them after my hacking experience with them.
Here’s why I personally recommend Siteground:
- They are an independent company and not part of a conglomerate.
- Their support is great and in-house, not some outsourced call center.
- Their starting prices are very friendly for startups, yet Siteground can scale with you as your business grows.
- They have a very FAST, optimized server environment.
- If you want Wordpress hosting with staging sites and all that, they’ve got it.
I have personally used Siteground as well. While I no longer use it (see above), I know their system well. They have solid support. And it is an independent company, not EIG.
Oh, and if you are switching to Siteground from another host, Siteground’s support will actually move your site for you for free. You don’t even have to do it yourself (unless you really want to).
So, what I recommend for almost all of my new students and readers is…
Start with their entry-level “Startup” Plan. It starts at $3.95/month and you can lock that rate in for either 12, 24 or 36 months by pre-paying upfront. After that, it runs $11.95/month. This is a bit more expensive than some other companies, but honestly, it is totally worth it. Plus, if you build your business on the account, it is absolute child’s play to be profitable with such a small hosting bill.
If you need more than one site, bump up to the “GrowBig” plan. $5.95/mo intro rate, then $19.95/month.
One other option to consider, though…
If you want essentially the same options that WPX Hosting provides (including Wordpress support, staging, backups, etc.), Siteground offers that for a very compelling price. In fact, it’s the same.
Their “GrowBig” plan for Wordpress hosting is almost exactly what I have with WPX, but more affordable. Starts at just $5.95/month then moves to $19.95 after your intro term. Such a fantastic deal.
Siteground is not as fast as WPX. But, it gets close enough.
Lastly, you can buy your domain via Siteground, too. However, I wouldn’t do it. Buy your domain through something like Namecheap. Siteground does charge more money for the domain and I think it is unnecessary.
Final Words On Choosing Hosting
I’ve used a lot of different hosting companies. I’ve been in this business for a long time (20+ years). I take the solutions I recommend seriously. And I hope it is clear I don’t recommend anything just for commissions.
I hope this guide didn’t bore you with the same old things everybody else says. My goal here was just to give you the straight scoop.
Truth is, in most cases, almost any web host out there will work out fine for you. Most sites are fairly non-demanding and anybody can host you. But, I think it is important to understand the underbelly of web hosting. To know that there are a lot of incentives for people to “review” companies favorably and it can skew what you read out there.
The companies I use are after a lot of trial of others. I’ve used VPS… I’ve used dedicated. I’ve used it all. In this article, I’ve told you who I use now – and why.
Siteground is the company I feel totally comfortable recommending to my students.
And it’s important to me that I can stand behind such a thing, because otherwise my students wouldn’t trust my advice.
And trust me, if anything ever changed on this, I’ll be the first to tell you.
Got A Question? Need Some Assistance?
Have a question about this article? Need some help with this topic (or anything else)? Send it in and I’ll get back to you personally. If you’re OK with it, I might even use it as the basis of future content so I can make this site most useful.
