Top 10 Web Hosting Sites
Before investing in a web host, it is important to compare web hosting plans to become educated. While many hosts have a lot of experience with hosting for business, potential customers should first determine which offerings are most important to them before selecting a host based on its reputation. For example, business owners might want to examine plans for unlimited offerings, free offerings, server reliability and speed, type of control panel, add-ons, tools, choices for configuration, customer support, company longevity and money-back guarantee. Individuals may wish to compare different plans and price points.
Which web host is best for a business’s or individual’s needs? That depends on a number of factors. Below are web hosting reviews for the top 10 web hosts.
1. HostMonster — Having existed for 10 years, HostMonster is one of the most reliable performers of the pack. HostMonster guarantees maximum uptime and 24/7 technical support. Customers also get a free domain name and setup. They also get monitoring tools that can help them gauge their website’s success. A free shopping cart is even included so website customers can use credit cards. For both businesses and individuals, this is an affordable option with lots of power — the full package.
2. GoDaddy — Being one of the larger hosts, GoDaddy is one of the most recognizable names in the web hosting business. While a GoDaddy plan does cost more than an average competitor’s plan, this web host has stable servers and relies more on its 24/7 email customer support than its phone support. GoDaddy does not offer unlimited bandwidth or disk space but it does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee for an added level of protection. Site setup is intuitive and the service can support advanced program languages such as Perl.
3. FatCow — Established in 1998, FatCow delivers unlimited bandwidth and disk space. Speed can occasionally be slow but outages are resolved quickly. FatCow is generally a reliable web host and uses a control panel called V-Deck. Plans include FrontPage extensions, web analytics tools and unlimited POP accounts, disk space and bandwidth. This web host offers live chat, 99.9% uptime and competitive pricing. Having good customer service, FatCow boasts more than 180,000 customers. FatCow even offers a small plan called MiniMoo, which just includes an email account and domain name.
4. Yahoo! — Another one of the most recognizable hosts, Yahoo web hosting is the world’s #1 registar. Trusted by well-established small businesses and beginners alike, Yahoo offers 10 email accounts, spam protection and free auto-responder. Among the other features offered are a free domain, setup fees, backup and site builder. Yahoo also provides unlimited MySQL databases, bandwidth and disk space. This web host has the added bonus of marketing discounts. Yahoo is geared towards small businesses.
5. BlueHost — This is physically one of the world’s top 10 web hosts, having more than 750,000 websites. With just a 1-click installation, BlueHost is considered to be ideal as a WordPress host. Customers whose sites are up less than 99.9% of the guaranteed uptime are entitled to a 100% refund. BlueHost provides cPanel and add-ons that can enhance customers’ websites. This host even has starter plans for individuals and small businesses. Providing reasonable uptime, BlueHost’s average ticket resolution time is 15 minutes by phone support and 35 minutes by email.
6. InMotion — Although InMotion is considered to be a leader in business web hosting, it offers both business and personal plans. This provider offers 24/7 customer support by phone, email and live chat. One thing that sets InMotion apart from other hosts is that InMotion provides hosting in either its Washington, D.C. data center or its Los Angeles data center. Choosing the data center closest to them gives customers faster service. While plans cost more than other providers’ plans, InMotion plans include the cPanel control panel and the Fantastic script installer, which could make it a worthy investment. If a customer is not satisfied, InMotion has a generous 90-day money-back guarantee.
7. iPage — iPage is very user-friendly with a getting-started wizard and a web builder with lots of customizable templates. It also provides a simple control panel that is a lot more functional than cPanel. Offering a free domain and unlimited space and bandwidth, iPage also has spam scanning, malware scanning and business verification. It is an eco-conscious option because wind energy completely powers iPage. This keeps 2,660 metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year. Because iPage uses a pool of servers, client websites can be served with quicker load times, more redundancy and fewer interruptions. This host also offers $50 worth of Google Adword credits. On average, North American agents answer calls in less than two minutes.
8. WebHostingHub — The top three selling points of WebHostingHub are great customer service, a strong network and low cost. Catering to a wide variety of business needs, this web host has a choice of shopping cart programs, and checkout compatibility for Google and PayPal. WebHostingHub also offers unlimited MySQL databases, cPanel, unlimited multiple domains, 99.9% uptime guarantee, an anytime money-back guarantee, unlimited bandwidth, traffic statistics and shell access. WebHostingHub plans also include a free premium website builder and free blogging tools. With better-than-most load speeds, this web host allows a user to create a blog in five quick minutes.
9. HostGator — Being another large web hosting company, HostGator hosts more than 2,000,000 domains. HostGator has three plans depending on the client’s needs: Business, Hatchling or Baby. Eco-friendly customers can rest assured because this web host provides service with 130% wind power. This host also has many offerings that are unlimited: space, web traffic, domains, FTP, POP3 and 24/7 customer support. With unlimited domain hosting, businesses can host all of their websites in one hosting account. For unsatisfied users, HostGator has a 45-day money-back guarantee.
10. GreenGeeks — For customers in seek of the most eco-friendly option today, GreenGeeks is a contender for the most environmentally-responsible web host. This host powers all of its servers, office space and office equipment with wind energy. With state-of-the-art servers, hardware and software, GreenGeeks is a fitting solution for owners of mid-sized businesses as well as individual web owners. Plans are not the least expensive on the market but they are competitively-priced. On the long list of offerings are unlimited disk space, unlimited MySQL databases, unlimited email accounts, unlimited FTP accounts, password-protected directories, shopping carts and unlimited add-ons, parked domains and sub-domains.
