WELCOME to The Online Genius, your one-stop-shop for everything business and tech-related. In this article, we will look at the best web hosting providers. We will dive into a brief evaluation of five of them so you can make the best decision possible! Let’s get straight to it!!
Table of Contents
What is web hosting?
Let’s keep this simple, web hosting is the heart of your website, it is a necessity for any website.
Simply put, web hosting is a service that gives individuals and organizations the opportunity to post a website or web page onto the Internet. The only way possible for a website to be visible on the internet is if it’s hosted by a great web hosting provider.
What is a web host or web hosting service provider?
A web host, or web hosting service provider, is a business that supplies the technologies and services needed for the website or webpage to be viewed on the Internet. Websites are hosted or stored, on special computers called servers.
When Internet users want to view your website, all they need to do is type your website address or domain into their browser. Their computer will then connect to your server and your web pages will be delivered to them through the browser. For more information on web hosting click here.
What should you expect from a good Web Hosting Provider?
There are two main things that you should expect from a good web hosting provider.
- WordPress Support – WordPress is one of the leading content management systems that allow you to create websites and blogs easily. WordPress manages over 25% of the websites on the internet. Crazy right? Well, the best hosting providers will tell you right away if their platforms are WordPress compatible.
- FTP Access – FTP is short for File Transfer Protocol. FTP allows you to upload files from your computer to a web server. This is STANDARD for all top web hosting providers.
Don’t worry, we have a list of providers who carry these two traits!
Why do I need a good Web Hosting Service?
Now there is a wide range of reasons why it is a smart idea to get a great web hosting providing and we have listed just a few of the reasons.
- They have spent years and money acquiring professionals who are in charge of maintenance and are great at what they do.
- They have their own servers.
- They have adequate space required to store their servers.
- The precautions necessary to protect the servers from overheating or inclement weather
- Enough bandwidth needed in order to keep the servers functioning quickly and on a consistent basis
How much does Web Hosting Cost?
The cost of web hosting ultimately depends on the web hosting provider that you choose. Don’t worry! We will be getting to the list of the top 5 web hosting providers very soon!
What Are The Best Web Hosting Platforms?
1) Bluehost
It’s only right that we start off the list with Bluehost. Why you may ask? Well, Bluehost has been rated the top web hosting platform by WordPress.org!!!! Yes, the top content management system in the world has rated Bluehost as the best web hosting platform! What are Bluehost’s best features? Well, it has:
- Free Domains!
- Woo-commerce Hosting
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Amazing 24/7 customer support
- WordPress compatibility
Bluehost plans begin at just $3.95 per month and they offer a 30-day Money Back Guarantee! It doesn’t get any better than this. Bluehost also offers a 1-click WordPress install which allows a hassle-free Word-press installation across all accounts.
Not to mention that Bluehost also gives you access to marketing services, tools and paid ad credits to boost your website’s overall reach.
For a more in-depth review on Bluehost, give our article “Is Bluehost really worth it in 2020” a read!
2) InMotion Hosting
Coming in a hot second place we have InMotion Hosting. With over 15 years of experience, InMotion Hosting is one of the fasting web hosting platforms available after all their slogan is “Powerful Website Hosting Made Easy”. Not taking our word for it? InMotion Hosting had over 25,500 customer compliments in 2018!
So what are InMotion Hosting best features?
- WordPress Compatibility
- 24/7 Customer Support
- Easy Set-up ( 1-click app installer and a free website builder)
- Secure Servers ( Free SSL, hack protection, custom firewall, and DDoS protection)
InMotion Hosting Plans begin at just $6.39 per month all depending on what plan you decide to take, not to mention that they also offer an astonishing 90-day money-back guarantee.
As an added bonus InMotion Hosting will build a WordPress Website for you in just 2 days for $99!
For a more in-depth review of InMotion Hosting, give our article on InMotion Hosting a read!
3) Dream Host
Moving on to what we think is the next best web hosting platform, we have DreamHost. Let’s start off by saying that Dream Host is PCMag’s “Editors’ Choice” Winner for 4 Years In a Row! This exceptional web hosting platform boasts of over 20 years of hosting experience with great focus on building successful sites for web designers, developers, bloggers, and online businesses.
What are DreamHost’s best features?
- 24/7 Expert Support
- 100% Uptime Guaranteed
- WordPress Compatible
- It’s Employee Owned
- Strong Anti-Spam Policy and free WHOIS privacy
DreamHost plans begin at just $2.95 per month! If you’re still worried about joining this hosting provider DreamHost provides an astonishing 97-day money-back guarantee. This makes it almost must try since there’s little to no risk involved.
For a more in-depth review give our article “The Best Dream Host Review” a read.
4) Flywheel
Our next web hosting provider is one that has been creeping out of the shadows. Some of you may have heard of it, some of you probably haven’t but it’s definitely worth a mention. However, it is key to note that Flywheel’s main focus is on managed WordPress hosting. Needless to say, they offer World-class WordPress hosting. Over the last couple of years, FlyWheel has generated over 70,000 creatives. Now, Flywheel may be on the more expensive side but it has some great features!
What are Flywheel’s Best Features?
- True Managed WordPress Hosting
- Free SSL certificate
- Google Cloud Partners
- 24/7 Support
- 99.9% uptime
FlyWheel’s plans begin at just $25 per month which is an amazing price for what they have to offer. I know I’m going to sound like a broken record but FlyWheel ONLY hosts WordPress sites. This means that they dedicate their time and energy to becoming professionals in the WordPress space, their servers are tuned for WordPress and their team is filled with WordPress experts.
For a more in-depth review give our article “Flywheel Review 2020 – Is It Really Worth It?” a read.
5) A2Hosting
The last hosting provider we will talk about is A2Hosting, it’s no secret that A2 Hosting is one of the best web hosting providers out there. Needless to say, 97% of their customers have said they would recommend A2 Hosting to a friend and NUMBERS DO NOT LIE! Their goal is to simply offer the best web host solutions and they have awards from WHTOP and Hosting Advice to back up these claims.
What are A2Hosting’s Best Features?
- Unlimited SSD Space & Transfer
- Free & Easy Site Migration
- Free Automatic Backups
- WordPress Optimised
- 99.9% Uptime
- 24/7 365 Customer Support
- Free SSL Certificate
A2 Hosting’s plans begin at just $2.96 with their Shared Hosting and get higher depending on what you want. For the icing on the top A2 Hosting offers an anytime money-back guarantee so you can try this high-speed hosting service completely RISK-FREE.
For a more in-depth review, give our article A2 Hosting Review a read.
What about free web hosting?
I know some of you may be saying, why not just go with a free web hosting platform. The only real advantage of free web hosting is in its name, it’s free! This may appeal to some of you that are looking for the most cost-effective option. Unfortunately, this is not the best option for commercial usage.
There are a number of disadvantages that come with free web hosting. These include :
- Advertisements – Having free web hosting comes with the disadvantage of having other individual’s advertisements being displayed on your website that are not your own.
- Poor Customer Support – With the free web hosting you can expect little to no customer support. So if you were to come across any problems you would be forced to find your own solutions with no technical help.
- No Main Domain – When it comes to the paid domains as mentioned earlier in this Article they come with their own main domain. With free web hosting, you will be given a subdomain that is under the free web hosting provider’s name.
Our Recommendation
We recommend that you go with one of the web hosting providers listed above. Give each one a check and choose the ones that best suit your needs and goals.
