2017 RANKINGS & WEB HOSTING REVIEWS
Where to Take Your Website – Best Web Hosting Reviews
The internet is unmatched in its ability to reach the masses. The internet makes content more accessible than anything else in history.
It would naturally follow that more and more people are looking to climb aboard the internet ship. But who will host the site? What is the best web hosting service?
You are likely familiar with the term hosting as it relates to websites. Whether you’ve come across web hosting reviews or the best web hosting lists, you’ve been exposed to the term. Just in case you don’t know what it means, let’s go over a quick definition.
Hosting a website essentially means providing two things: access and storage space. As you’ll see in our list of best web hosting services, the great companies will provide you with much more than that.
Because of the demand for websites, plenty of web hosting companies have popped up. We will provide you with some best web hosting reviews to help you make a more informed decision. Not all hosts are created equal, and not all hosts can make it on our list of best hosting reviews.
Award Emblem: Top 5 Web Hosting Services
While price is a factor worth considering, only looking for cheap web hosting reviews could take you down a frustrating path. Whether you’re a small business owner looking to get your offerings on the internet or a blogger looking to make some waves on the web, we have companies for you in our best web hosting review.
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List of the Top 5 Best Web Hosting Companies
List is sorted alphabetically (click any of the names below to go directly to the detailed review section for that startup):
Image source: Bigstock
Breaking Down the Lingo
There are terms that pop up over and over in all the best web hosting reviews. You will also find a number of these terms in the details on the best web hosting websites.
- Shared Hosting: A web server’s computing power, storage, and other resources are shared by multiple websites. This is typically the most cost-effective method and is best-suited for websites with lower traffic and fewer security concerns.
- Dedicated Hosting: A web server is leased or rented by a single entity (such as a company). This typically means better performance, because the web server’s resources are not being shared with any other websites outside of the single renter’s. Reserving the entire web server also means increased security options (such as custom firewalls).
- Cloud Hosting: Unlike the prior two hosting options, cloud hosting spans multiple web servers. The cloud lets multiple separate machines link up and function as a single unit. A benefit of this type of hosting lies in that multi-system link. If one web server failed, your website wouldn’t go down. Because of other web servers, connected via the cloud, your site would stay live.
- Malware: Viruses and spyware are two examples of malware, but they do not form an exhaustive list. Malware is any code or software used to steal information, corrupt files, damage a computer from the inside, or do any other malicious actions to a computer.
- WordPress: This open source tool is one of the most popular, powerful, and easy-to-use website creation tools available. Many of the best web hosting services boast built-in WordPress functionality.
- Parked Domains: These domains are hosted on your account and can focus as redirects to your primary domain; for example, AHQ.net and AHQ.com could direct users to the same website.
- Subdomains: These domains exist in the same family of your primary domain; they just have a prefix in the domain name that typically denotes the page’s purpose: info.AHQ.com or wiki.AHQ.com could be sub domains to the AHQ primary domain.
Selection Methodology
Now that you know all the terms, you may be wondering what methodology AdvisoryHQ uses in selecting and finalizing the firms, services, and products that are ranked on its various top rated lists.
Please click here “AdvisoryHQ’s Ranking Methodologies” for a detailed review of AdvisoryHQ’s selection methodologies for ranking top rated firms, products, and services.
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Top 5 Best Web Hosting Services
| Service | Website |
| Bluehost | https://www.bluehost.com/ |
| eHost.com | https://www.ehost.com/ |
| Hostgator | http://www.hostgator.com/ |
| inmotion hosting | http://www.inmotionhosting.com/ |
| Siteground | https://www.siteground.com/ |
(List is sorted alphabetically)
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Detailed Review – Top Ranking Best Web Hosting Services
Below, please find the detailed review of each firm on our list of best web hosting reviews. We have highlighted some of the factors that allowed these best web hosting services to score so highly in our selection ranking.
Bluehost Review
Bluehost was founded in 2003 by Matt Heaton and Danny Ashworth. In 2010, Bluehost was picked up by Endurance International Group.
Bluehost has grown considerably since its early days and now hosts over 2 million websites worldwide. As if that staggering figure alone wasn’t enough to warrant a spot in this best web hosting review, wait until you see the service offerings. The employee count at Bluehost is over 750 people. The web hosting service is built on open source, and Bluehost has been partnered with and supporting WordPress for over 10 years.
Key Factors that Enabled This Service to Rank as One of the Best Web Hosting Services
Below are primary reasons we selected Bluehost to receive one of the best web hosting reviews.
Shared Hosting Plans
Bluehost offers a number of services and plans at competitive rates. It offers three shared hosting plans:
- Basic plan for $3.49 per month (down from $7.99)
- Plus plan for $5.95 per month (down from $10.99)
- Business Pro plan for $13.95 per month (down from $23.99)
The price increase denotes additional features added to the package. With the Basic plan, one website is all you’ll get. For the Plus plan and the Business Pro plan, you’ll be able to create an unlimited number of websites. Plus and Business Pro plans also receive unlimited parked domains and subdomains, while the basic plan only receives five parked domains and 25 sub domains.
When it comes to email, the Basic plan has a five email account cap, while the other two plans have unlimited accounts and unlimited storage. SpamExperts, the Bluehost anti-spam service, is available in Plus and Business Pro plans. Site Backup Pro is only available in the Business Pro plan.
Other Deals
Bluehost does offer cloud hosting plans starting at $5.95 per month. In addition, it offers other services:
- Site Doctor
- Migration Services
- 1-on-1 Training
Site Doctor costs $249.99 and does what the name implies. The site doctor will scan your account, looking for any malware traces. If malware is detected, Bluehost will remove it. It will double check to make sure all the latest software is downloaded from a security standpoint. Bluehost will also discuss the perceived vulnerabilities of your account and will help offer preventative tips and tactics to fortify web security. The website is backed up prior to every change, meaning you can easily restore a version of the site prior to the site doctor’s meddling. Bluehost also offers a clean site 30-day guarantee; any issue that arises in that time frame is tackled at no cost to you.
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Bluehost’s migration services run for $149.99. Five websites and 20 email accounts can be moved from your current host to Bluehost for that price. This service is a “priority task” for Bluehost, meaning it should happen seamlessly and quickly. Bluehost does not support migration for the following:
- Reseller
- VPS (Virtual Private Server)
- Dedicated Server Accounts
The 1-on-1 training option is a 45-minute walkthrough, where you actually speak with a Bluehost training representative. The price tag for this service is $79.99. This service includes walkthroughs and advice on an abundance of topics:
- WordPress and other site builders
- Thematic selections: text, layout, images, etc.
- Widget and plugin selections
- Site content suggestions
- Email creation
- Spam-prevention advice
Bluehost offers a few other services to fill in the gaps. Here are some of the more notable of those:
- Dedicated IP for $5.99 per month
- Spam filter for $2.99 per month
- Site backups for $35.88 per month
- SSL Certificates for $49.99 per month (allows for secure connections from server to browser)
eHost.com Review
eHost.com is another participant in the best web hosting reviews that has been acquired by Endurance International Group. EHost’s platform hosts over 1 million sites. That’s another impressive figure, even for a best web hosting review. With only one apparent plan to choose from, eHost makes launching a website very straightforward. You know exactly what you’re getting from the plan, and exactly what you’re paying for.
Key Factors that Enabled This Service to Rank as One of the Best Web Hosting Services
Below are some key features we used to rate eHost.com as one of this year’s best web hosting services.
Price and Features
The regular price of the standard eHost.com plan is $5.50, but their current promotional price is $2.75 per month. This comes with a wealth of standard features:
- Free domain name (with plan purchase)
- Free email address
- Free marketing tools
- Drag and drop site builder
- 1000s of templates to choose from
- Unlimited domains
- Ad credit for Google, Bing, and Yahoo in the amount of $200
EHost.com offers other features too, for spam protection and virus checking. Building a site can be harder than it sounds, which is where the support team at eHost.com comes in.
Support
Support at eHost.com is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Calls are claimed to be answered within two minutes. A technical issue can have a big impact on a couple hours of business. Making sure you’ll have access to answers when you need them is a huge weight off your shoulders. In addition to that expedient service, there is a 45-day money back guarantee.
EHost.com has an expansive online help center. Aside from basic FAQs, it also includes an archive of step-by-step tutorials. The support and accessibility of eHost.com helped earn it a spot in the best web service reviews.
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Hostgator Review
HostGator was founded in 2002 at Florida Atlantic University by then-student Brent Oxley. This is yet another best web hosting service provider to be owned by Endurance International Group.
Under Brent Oxley’s guidance, Hostgator decided to invest in going green. They’ve worked to invest in wind energy in an effort to offset their own emissions from the servers. Whether from going green or providing a superior product, Hostgator has managed to accumulate and host over 9 million domains. It might not be declared the definitive best web hosting service, but it is certainly one of the most popular.
Key Factors that Enabled This Service to Rank as One of the Best Web Hosting Services
Below are some of the elements we found compelling enough about HostGator to name it one of this year’s best web hosting companies.
Pricing
Hostgator offers three different plans based on what you’re looking for from the best web hosting services. If you aren’t sold just from their cheap web hosting, the reviews might convince you.
- Hatchling plan for $3.95 per month (43% off normal price)
- Baby plan for $5.95 per month (40% off normal price)
- Business plan for $5.95 per month (60% off normal price)
In the case of all three plans, your bandwidth is unmetered. However, consistently high overages will result in contact from Hostgator, asking you to tone down your usage. The Hatchling plan comes with a single domain, whereas the other plans offer unlimited domains. The Business plan comes with a private SSL and IP. It even offers a free VoIP phone service.
Support
Hostgator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee. The servers are monitored around the clock. Support is also available 24/7. The support section on the website contains over 500 video tutorials and over 680 help articles.
Free, weekly backups of data are performed off-site automatically. SpamAssassin is the email spam prevention software included in all of the plans. Hostgator mentions increased support for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento.
Site Building
HostGator uses Weebly as their site builder and creation toolset. It also has an archive of over 4,500 free templates to choose from. HostGator makes it easy to create a highly customizable website in a short amount of time.
InMotion Hosting Review
InMotion Hosting was founded by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson back in 2001. It is privately held and one of the best web hosting services. Since 2001, InMotion has grown to a team of over 200 employees. The team has two offices, one in Virginia Beach, VA, and the other in Los Angeles, CA. They have two data centers, each with thousands of servers. One of those centers is in Los Angeles, the other is in Ashburn, Virginia.
Image source: Bigstock
Top10Reviews.com has named InMotion hosting its 2016 Gold Award Recipient for excellent web hosting services. Their mantra, “to exceed expectations,” has been earning them awards for their customer service and web hosting services for years. Because of their dual-coast data centers, you can pick which server location is closer to your audience, meaning faster load times for those closer to the data centers.
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Key Factors that Enabled This Service to Rank as One of the Best Web Hosting Services
Below we’ve compiled a list of some of our most compelling reasons InMotion Hosting has made our list of best web hosting reviews.
Pricing
InMotion has three shared business hosting plans to choose from:
- Launch plan for $3.49 per month (down from $7.99)
- Power plan for $4.49 per month (down from $9.99)
- Pro plan for $7.49 per month (down from $15.99)
The Launch plan allows you to have two websites, 6 parked domains, and 25 subdomains. The Power plan allows you to have up to 50 websites, 26 parked domains, and 100 subdomains.
In addition to an increase in all those capacities, your websites are also e-commerce ready. The Pro plan allows you to have unlimited websites, unlimited parked domains, and unlimited sub domains. Your sites are also ready to receive e-commerce adaptations. They have a 99.9% uptime guarantee in place for pro users. If downtime exceeds that 0.1%, they will credit your account for free hosting.
Performance and Convenience
InMotion Hosting offers free solid state drive services, which can be up to 20x faster than spinning drives. In addition to that potential speed increase, they offer the max speed zone service. This lets you pick either the east coast or west coast data center.
InMotion Hosting has also designed a 3-step setup wizard to get Google Apps up and running on your site faster than ever. Free site transfers are available for 3 or less existing web pages with less than 5GB of storage between them. Outside of those parameters, InMotion Hosting will charge a fee.
Support
InMotion Hosting provides automatic backup services every 24 to 36 hours. SPAM safe is their real-time spam filtering software for website-related email accounts, which they include in all of their plans. They offer the longest money back guarantee out of all the best web hosting reviews — a full 90 days. Twenty-four hours a day and 365 days of the year, InMotion Hosting offers customer support.
SiteGround Review
A handful of University friends founded SiteGround in 2004 from the comfort of their dorm rooms. Now, the SiteGround team has grown to employ over 320 people. Currently, this best web hosting service hosts over 500,000 domains.
SiteGround boasts an extremely fast website setup — 3 clicks to set up a new site. Not only that, they will actually call you to guide you through the process. This kind of dedication helped earn it a spot among the best web hosting reviews. Once set up, the drag-and-drop format of their website builder makes web design a little more accessible to first-timers.
Key Factors that Enabled This Service to Rank as One of the Best Web Hosting Services
Below are some of the most significant reasons we selected SiteGround as one of the year’s top best web hosting in review.
Features
SiteGround has broken their features into three categories: essential, premium, and geeky.
Essential features include:
- Free drag-and-drop website builder
- Solid State Drive storage
- Unlimited emails
- Free domain name
- HTTP/2 enabled servers
- cPanel and SSH access
Premium features include:
- Your questions are answered with priority
- Supercacher access, meaning your website is faster
- Up to 30 backup copies of your website
- Free Wildcard SSL certificate
- Joomla and WordPress optimization through caching
Geeky features include:
- Web server resources shared among fewer users (more power!)
- PCI compliance for e-commerce, helping you meet safety regulations
- One-click staging options for WordPress and Joomla
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Pricing
As is the dominant trend, SiteGround has adopted the three-plan approach to shared hosting offerings.
- Startup plan for $3.95 (down from $9.95)
- GrowBig plan for $7.95 (down from $14.95)
- GoGeek plan for $14.95 (down from $29.95)
The Startup plan includes one website, 10GB of web space, and all the essential features. SiteGround recommends this option if you have 10,000 or fewer monthly visits. The GrowBig plan includes multiple websites and 20GB of web space. This plan includes the essential features and the premium features and works well if you have 25,000 or fewer monthly visitors. The GoGeek plan includes multiple websites, 30 GB of web space, and all three feature packages. This is the plan for you if you have around 100,000 monthly visitors hitting your websites.
Support
SiteGround offers a fairly standard 30-day money back guarantee. Where they shine is in offering a free daily backup. They also offer technical support 24/7.
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Conclusion – Top Five Best Web Hosting Services
When it comes to the best web hosting reviews, where are the real deciding factors? Typically, you want to look for more than cheap web hosting reviews. After all, you want the most value for the price, not just the lowest price. For example, every site in our top web hosting review offers 24-hour support seven days a week. Still, some companies say they will answer in two minutes, others say ten, and others still make no mention of how long it will take.
Not every site offers free backups. And those that do might not offer as many websites or as much web storage space. There are always feature trade-offs. These are the nuanced differences of the best web hosting services.
What is the very best web hosting service? The best service is the one that excels at whatever you need the web host to do. Does the best web hosting mean someone answers the phone in two minutes when you need tech help? Try eHost.com. Does the best web hosting mean unlimited bandwidth? Try Hostgator. Web hosting company reviews only benefit you if you know what you need.
There’s a number of reasons why these service providers make it onto several of the best web hosting reviews. Whether you are an inexperienced blogger looking for intuitive website building or a tenured small business owner looking to expand her offerings on the internet, you’ll want to take advantage of the best web hosting services.
While picking the best web hosting service for you is important, reading “best web hosting reviews” instead of building your site will only get you so far. Year-long promotional rates and many free site migration services mean you aren’t locked into one service for life. Experience the services for yourself, and don’t forget about the money-back guarantees.
AdvisoryHQ (AHQ) Disclaimer:
Reasonable efforts have been made by AdvisoryHQ to present accurate information, however all info is presented without warranty. Review AdvisoryHQ’s Terms for details. Also review each firm’s site for the most updated data, rates and info.
Note: Firms and products, including the one(s) reviewed above, may be AdvisoryHQ's affiliates. Click to view AdvisoryHQ's advertiser disclosures.
