Hosting Affinity

Are you becoming dissatisfied with GoDaddy’s web hosting and domain registration services? Thankfully, there are dozens of wonderful alternatives to GoDaddy. Use this report to know what to look for in web hosting and domain registration services. Afterwards, see our top GoDaddy alternative picks for 2020.

Table of Contents

Website Hosting at a Quick Glance

In order for the Internet to run properly, there needs to be a computer equipped to send information to other computers. These computers are known as servers and are specifically designed to host web content on the Internet.When you build a website, all the information is hosted on a server, and there are a few different ways that a server can house that information. If you are looking for alternatives to GoDaddy web hosting, you are likely looking for either shared or VPS hosting.The two other hosting types - dedicated and cloud - are more complicated and expensive, but we’ll be sure to include some information on those types, as well. Shared Hosting In our recent guide on VPS versus hosting, we likened shared hosting to living in a dorm or hostel. The website shares hosting space with other websites on the server. Generally, this is a reliable form of web hosting for basic or uncomplicated websites.However, if another website starts using a lot of hard drive space, your website (and others on the server) begin to slow down. There’s only so much shared space to go around. If your website needs more space, bandwidth, and site security, then you need to upgrade to VPS hosting. VPS Hosting VPS hosting is more expensive than shared, but it does a better job of ensuring your website’s performance. Instead of living in a dorm room, your website now lives in its own apartment. Even though there are multiple websites operating on the same server, no site is sharing space with another.Websites that provide web services, ecommerce, collect data, etc. need the benefits offered by VPS hosting. Once your site needs a server all to itself, you should upgrade to dedicated hosting.

Web Hosting with GoDaddy

GoDaddy can be affordable, with shared plans starting at $5.99/month and VPS plans starting at $24.99/month. For the big league sites, dedicated hosting plans begin at $89.99/month.Renewal costs increase for shared and dedicated plans. However, GoDaddy’s perks (such as free Office 365 software/email) are no longer free after your courtesy first year subscription. For this reason, one of the biggest complaints by customers is how much their costs increase after the first year.Even the most basic bundles include a free domain and a year’s subscription to an Office 365 email account (as noted above). Like most leading web hosting providers, GoDaddy grants unmetered bandwidth, meaning that no one is tracking how much bandwidth you’re using (hosting providers that do monitor the bandwidth usually intend to charge you for the amount of bandwidth you use). SSL certificates are free the first year, as well.Users have many different plans to choose from, including hosting bundles specifically for WordPress sites, ecommerce, and more.While GoDaddy does most things well, as you would expect of a leading web hosting provider, they fail to overly impress in any capacity.Happy users praise GoDaddy’s loading speed (particularly for VPS and dedicated hosting), along with its full array of starter tools.There are mixed reviews about GoDaddy’s customer support. On the one hand, they make extensive use of online chat and provide a phone number to call customer service. Both are available any time of day or night for all customers. However, many complain that it can be difficult to find the help you need initially as you work through the online help system.As a result, many are falling away from one of the biggest domain registration and web hosting brands in the market. GoDaddy is a respectable web host, but there are other great players in the market today. GoDaddy Pros and Cons GoDaddy ProsUser friendlyGreat for new website creatorsLow prices for basic plansOffers all hosting types excluding cloud hostingWell-integrated with Microsoft productivity softwareGoDaddy ConsAdd ons add upHefty renewal costsNo cloud hostingIn nearly every respect, good but not stellarSpotty customer service What Are the Best GoDaddy Alternatives? Bluehost - Best WordPress hostingSiteground - Best for customer supportHostgator - Best well-rounded optionInmotion - Best premium optionA2 Hosting - Best for speedGreengeeks - Environmentally friendly providerNamecheap - Best for lower priceOur #1 choice for best GoDaddy alternative is Bluehost because they consistently perform well across the board. From their impressive uptime record, loads features offered to outstanding customer service Bluehost rarely disappoints.Close behind are SiteGround and HostGator who both also offer a wide range of options to choose from with the performance to back it up.Throughout this article we'll cover the pros and cons of each recommendation, as well as the reasons why we chose them as great alternative options to GoDaddy.

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Visit HostGator.com More Info How to Choose a Web Host - Get the low down on the most important things to look for when selecting a provider and plan.Hosting Services Comparison - see the "big list" of web hosting companies to compare top features and pricing.

Top 7 Web Hosting Alternatives to GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a giant of a business. As such, their adaptability is lower to changing customer needs than many other hosting providers out there. We’ve compiled our research and combed through customer reviews. We strongly recommend these 7 alternatives to GoDaddy. Bluehost - Best WordPress Hosting BlueHost makes it extremely easy to get your WordPress website up and running. With an intuitive cPanel and great price-point, these hosting plans are hard to beat.Being a WordPress officially recognized provider, Bluehost has an incredible track record for customer support and uptime.Shared Plans starting at: $2.75/month for a 3-year subscription, $3.95/month for a 2-year subscription, and $4.95/month for a 1-year subscription ($7.99/month thereafter)VPS plans starting at: $18.99/month for a 3-year subscription, $23.95/month for a 1-year subscription, or $29.95/month (renewal costs vary based on renewed subscription duration)Dedicated plans starting at: $79.99/month for a 3-year subscription, $89.99/month for a 2-year subscription, $99.99/month for a 1-year subscription, or $149.99/month (renewal costs vary based on renewed subscription duration) SiteGround - Best for Customer Support SiteGround make it easy to switch hosting services. Get the help of experts to migrate your site to one of their hosting plans, free of charge. If you are just starting out, SiteGround can be easily integrated with many of the most popular CMS platforms, including WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla. One-click installs let you bypass the need for a developer and get your site up and running fast.Free email accounts, reasonably priced pricing tiers and great customer support reviews put SiteGround at the top of our list of best GoDaddy alternatives for hosting.Shared Plans starting at: $3.95/month for 1-3-year subscriptions ($11.95/month thereafter)Cloud plans starting at: $72/month for a 1-year subscription or $80/month ($80/month thereafter)Dedicated plans starting at: $260/month for a 6-month subscription or $269/month ($269/month thereafter) Hostgator - Best Well-Rounded Option Backed by their 99.9% uptime guarantee, HostGator offer a range of plans for every hosting type from shared to dedicated and everything in between.You'll get a free website transfer, free SSL certificate and free domain registration for one year. These features combined with the multitude of hosting options available make HostGator a great GoDaddy alternative with the ability to scale.Shared Plans starting at: $2.75/month for a 3-year subscription ($6.95/month thereafter for renewed 3-year subscription) or $10.95/monthVPS plans starting at: $29.95/month for a 3-year subscription ($79.95/month thereafter) or $79.95/monthCloud plans starting at: $4.95/month for a 3-year subscription ($8.95/month thereafter) or $12.95/monthDedicated plans starting at: $118.95/month for a 3-year subscription ($189/month thereafter) or $189/month Inmotion - Best Premium Option Featuring an included staging environment with every plan, Inmotion makes it into our list for best premium option. This provider boasts robust managed security to protect your site against hacks and malware. Additionally automated updates and backups ensure extreme reliability.With the most basic plan you will get 40GB SSD storage as well as a free domain. WordPress comes pre-installed so you can hit the ground running and starting building your site immediately.Shared Plans starting at: $6.34/month for a 2-year subscription or $7.46/month for a 1-year subscription ($7.99/month thereafter)VPS plans starting at: $29.19/month for a 2-year subscription ($39.99/month thereafter for renewed 2-year subscription), $31.34/month for a 1-year subscription ($49.99/month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription), or $41.46/month ($59.99/month thereafter)Cloud plans starting at: $21.04/month for a 2-year subscription ($34.99/month thereafter for renewed 2-year subscription) or $31.34/month ($49.99/month thereafter)Dedicated plans starting at: $105.69/month for a 1-year subscription ($159.99/month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription) or $136.59/month ($189.99/month thereafter) A2 Hosting - Best for Speed With each of their hosting plans even named along this theme, A2 Hosting is all about the speed. Backed by the claim of 20x faster hosting, each plan allows unlimited disk space and transfer, automatic backups, and "guru crew" support.A refreshing twist on the industry standard money back guarantee, you can get refunded at any time for the unused portion of your plan.Shared Plans starting at: $2.94/ month for a 3-year subscription ($5.99/ month thereafter for renewed 3-year subscription), $3.92/ month for a 2-year subscription ($7.99/ month thereafter for renewed 2-year subscription), $4.41/ month for a 1-year subscription ($8.99/ month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription), and $4.90/ month ($9.99/ month thereafter)VPS plans starting at: $5/ month for unmanaged, or $25/ month for managed.Cloud plans starting at: $5/ monthDedicated plans starting at: $99.95/ month with unmanaged server for a 1-year subscription ($119.99/ month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription) or $124.49/ month ($149.99/ month thereafter) Greengeeks - Environmentally Friendly Provider While a little less well known, Greengeeks boasts a unique value proposition. Their eco-friendly approach to web hosting actually puts power back into the grid. When you host with Greengeeks, your website will actually be "carbon-reducing".Starting at a reasonable $2.95/ month for the basic plan, you get a free domain for one year, free SSL and unlimited web space.Shared Plans starting at: $2.95/month for a 3-year subscription, $3.95 for a 2-year subscription, $4.95/month for a 1-year subscription, or $9.95/month (monthly rate is the renewal rate for all other subscriptions)VPS plans starting at: $5/monthDedicated plans starting at: $169/month Namecheap - Best for Lower Price If you are looking for a cheaper hosting alternative, Namecheap has your back. With an intro price of just $1.44/ month, you can get 20 GB SSD storage and host up to 3 websites.You will also get a free domain name, whois guard privacy protection, SSL certificate and 30-day money back guarantee.Shared Plans starting at: $1.44/mo for a 1-year subscription ($2.88 thereafter) or $2.88/monthVPS plans starting at: $9.74/month for a 1-year subscription ($11.74/month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription) or $9.88/month ($14.88/month thereafter)Cloud plans starting at: Available through Stellar plans, and prices start at $4.44/month for a 1-year subscription ($11.74/month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription) or $8.88/monthDedicated plans starting at: $59.66/month for a 1-year subscription ($74.66/month thereafter for renewed 1-year subscription) or $40.88/month ($82.88/month thereafter)Its important to always keep in mind your specific website needs when looking at hosting providers. Some hosts are indeed better than others at specific product offerings. That is to say, if you are looking to upgrade from shared hosting to VPS, make sure you are researching which providers offer the best VPS hosting plans, and so on with dedicated, cloud, etc.Next, we are going to dive into the specific offerings of these seven hosts. We'll cover the pros and cons of each to help you can find a plan that fits your unique needs.

#1 Bluehost

WordPress users will prefer Bluehost most of the time. WordPress recommends users to Bluehost, as the two are long-time affiliates. In fact, experts in the hosting industry recommend Bluehost as the top choice for beginners.Experienced web developers love Bluehost for its security features, as well as its impeccable uptime. That means that Bluehost sites rarely go down. This year, Bluehost declared an uptime rate of above 99%. Bluehost Pros and Cons Bluehost ProsCheaper than GoDaddyWordPress’s favorite hosting providerAlmost 100% uptimeFree domain and SSL certificateGreat security featuresBluehost ConsUnreliable backup servicesRenewal costs are high on shared plans

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#2 Siteground

WordPress users love SiteGround, as it offers optimized shared hosting for WordPress starting under $5/month. It also comes with plenty of free add-ons for web hosting plans. SiteGround is great for beginners and experts alike.SiteGround’s customer service is outstanding, and as long as you’re willing to commit to a full year (or more) membership, you’ll save a lot of money. However, if you prefer the option to go month-to-month, you’ll need to look elsewhere. However, you can take advantage of their 1-month trial before committing to a full year. Siteground Pros and Cons Siteground ProsShared hosting is cheaper than GoDaddyTop notch customer serviceSSL certificates included in all plansGenerous bundles with free toolsIntegrates well with WordPressSimple bundle options (Startup, GrowBig, and GoGeek)Siteground ConsNo month-to-month plansNo VPS hostingPoor storage options on lower plansNo free domains

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#3 HostGator

We have found that Hostgator offers the overall best bundle deals. The promotional rates are great, but they are limited to 36-month subscriptions. That being said, you do get your promotional rate locked in for 3 years, so there is a positive trade off. If the upfront cost makes you uncomfortable, Hostgator will let you change your mind within 45 days of your purchase.Your site will get backed up regularly. Also, you won’t have to accidentally spend more than you intended during setup, since most of the “extra” features in web hosting are already included in your subscription. HostGator Pros and Cons HostGator ProsCheaper than GoDaddy for first 3 yearsAmazing bundles with “unlimited/free everything” even on the lowest plansConsistent backup services includedMoney back guarantee lasts for 45 daysLive chat customer support is one of the bestHostGator ConsBest prices only available for 3-year subscriptionsMajor increase in prices after promotion endsCloud hosting is shared SSD onlyChallenging to configure VPS or dedicated hosting

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#4 Inmotion

For technical purposes, Inmotion does a great job of including competitive backend features, including regular backups and remote access to a Share Shell server. The SSD build out is available to all, including those on shared plans.If you’re not a technical person, you’ll find their customer service easy to work with. As a matter of fact, many users report being able to secure better promotional and renewal rates when discussing budget concerns with their customer service rep.Common complaints were that the shared hosting plans did not perform as well as competitors. However, for VPS and above, Inmotion is one of the best in the business. Inmotion Pros and Cons Inmotion ProsSSD infrastructure Efficient backup systemGreat customer service (phone, chat, and email)Low price hikes at subscription renewals (with the possibility of convincing an Inmotion rep to give you a discount when it’s time to renew)Money back guarantee is good for 90 daysInmotion ConsLow promotional ratesShared hosting services are not stellar

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#5 A2 Hosting

A2 boasts their fast Turbo Servers, available to all users, including those on shared plans. It also competes handily with Bluehost’s uptime rate. In other words, whether you’re using the bottom shared plan (Lite) or the managed dedicated plan, your website performance will be excellent.For developer experts, you will save thousands of dollars using one of A2’s unmanaged servers, specifically the unmanaged VPS plans.All in all, it is hard to find much to critique about A2 Hosting. It is a consistent favorite for those switching from GoDaddy. A2 Hosting Pros and Cons A2 Hosting ProsCheaper hosting than GoDaddySuper fast Turbo ServersAdequate customer supportGreat uptime rateAmazingly low prices for those that want to manage their own VPS serverA2 Hosting ConsNotable price hike after introductory price expiresOnly real cost savings occur with 1-3-year subscriptions

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#6 Greengeeks

Did you know that websites have a carbon footprint? One website can be responsible for 5,000 pounds of CO2, which is essentially the carbon footprint of taking your pickup on a winding cross-country road trip across the United States. It is for this exact reason that Greengeeks founders decided to build a web hosting business that was 100% eco-friendly.For some time, Greengeeks has struggled to keep up with the performance and agility of their competitors. But that is slowly changing, and now they are able to turn the heads of other leading web hosting providers.Still, they still have a few kinks to work out, especially on upgraded servers like VPS and dedicated hosting. It offers no managed server hosting and lacks many of the backend features that a website requiring VPS hosting would appreciate. Greengeeks Pros and Cons Greengeeks ProsCheaper hosting than GoDaddyOffers a competitive bundle of free services (domain, website migration, and more)Completely eco-friendly web hostingShared hosting performance is great No price hikes on VPS or dedicated server hosting renewalsGreengeeks ConsMediocre customer supportMajor increase in shared hosting prices after promotion endsVPS and dedicated hosting performance are less than stellar

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#7 Namecheap

Namecheap is especially cheap, as one would expect. Thankfully, they are not cheap in their hosting service and bundles. If your main concern is budget, you will be perfectly pleased with Namecheap.Namecheap is actually a domain registration provider. As it happens, they provide adequate web hosting services. So of course they’re going to throw in a free domain name with a hosting subscription (though you may want to go ahead and invest a little bit into a good domain name that doesn’t end in .website).For VPS and dedicated hosting, there are a few things to be aware of. For one, all hosting is unmanaged, so you better be able to manage your own server or pay someone else to set it up. Namecheap Pros and Cons Namecheap ProsCheapest by far of all the hosting providers listed3 websites allowed on lowest planDecent shared hosting performanceRenewal cost bumps are relatively lowNamecheap ConsNot great for WordPressSSL certificate price increases each year for 3 yearsDoes not guarantee regular backups

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Domain Registration at a Quick Glance

In business today, entrepreneurs are in the habit of checking to see if their brand or business name is available as a domain before completing their entity paperwork. Why? Because your domain is your website name. It is the name between the www. and .com/.org/.biz/etc…Without a domain name, your site would be unreachable except to those that can remember and access the server’s IP address. If it sounds ridiculously technical, that’s because it is.Domain registrars are those that sell available domain names. It is a marketplace for never-before-used domains, formerly-owned domains, and in-demand domains that people have purchased in order to resell.While not nearly as vital as your web hosting provider, choosing the right domain registrar can save you time and money. Thankfully, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) provides accreditation to those sites that are safe. Before domain registration organized, many domain name owners/shoppers got scammed. Domain Registration with GoDaddy GoDaddy is a well-established name in the business. Their main advantage is the ability to buy a domain name from a leading registrar and then be able to secure reliable web hosting at the same time.But GoDaddy generally costs more than its competitors, and they charge for most add-ons.GoDaddy ProsGood deals on both hosting and domain registration when bundledGreat customer supportPlenty of great add-ons if you have the budgetGoDaddy ConsExpensive compared to competitors when just purchasing a domainNo free domain privacy

Top 3 GoDaddy Alternatives for Domain Registration

Thanks to a mature market and ICANN accreditation, there are many wonderful alternatives to GoDaddy. Many of them also offer domain and hosting bundles comparable (or better) than what GoDaddy provides. Here are our top 3 domain registration alternative picks.

#1 Namecheap

Even though Namecheap offers web hosting (see above), they are more well-known for their domain registration services. Shopping for domain names on Namecheap’s website is easy and fun. And of course, being able to bundle your domain with web hosting is a nice touch.Domain names are generally cheaper when purchased from Namecheap (hence the name). Prices start at $.49 per domain. All domain names come with free Whois domain privacy.Namecheap is very clear about your initial and renewal price before you check out. Also, it doesn’t automatically set you up with auto-renewal. This gives you the autonomy to turn it on or off yourself. It is often a source of consternation that domain registrars will set your auto-renewal to “on” and make it difficult for you to find where to turn it off.Namecheap ProsCheaper domain registration than GoDaddyTransparent pricingFree domain privacyNamecheap ConsYou may want to consider a different hosting provider to keep hosting and domain registration separate

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#2 Domain.com

For many, Domain.com feels like GoDaddy, only less expensive. For instance, domain privacy isn’t a free add-on with Domain.com, but it costs less than what you would have to pay at GoDaddy. For .com domains, prices start just under $10/domain.Domain.com also provides web hosting and a web builder. Their customer support is above average.Domain.com Pros Cheaper .com domain names than GoDaddy Great customer service Cheaper add-ons than GoDaddy Bundles available for domain name and web hosting Domain.com ConsNo domain privacy includedNot a contender for one of the better web hosting providers out there

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#3 Bluehost

For those looking to get a free domain name bundled with web hosting for their WordPress site, Bluehost should be one of your top choices. Their .com domains start at $11.99 - which is about average.Domain privacy is not free, but it is cheap. Bluehost’s “domain privacy + protection” add-on inserts their information in your place on Whois directories. This protects you from hackers, telemarketers, and more.Bluehost ProsFree domain name bundled with low-priced web hosting make it more affordable than GoDaddyOptimized for WordPress sitesDomain privacy plus protection is only $.99/monthBluehost ConsNo free domain privacyDomain pricing may not be a good deal if you aren’t wanting to bundle with web hosting

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Closing Thoughts

A Quick Overview on Website Hosting

Websites don’t just magically float around in space before showing up on your computer (as if Google had a satellite specifically tasked to gather the websites you need). A website is a digital plot of real estate stored on a server. That server (like your computer) has a CPU, a hard drive, RAM, and more. Some servers are more powerful than others. More importantly, the way a server hosts your website has a direct affect on your website costs and performance. How a server stores your website alongside other websites is the key to understanding the differences between VPS and shared hosting. This discussion needn’t be too technical. At the end of the day, you’re probably just wanting to know which is best for your website. VPS vs Shared Hosting tl;dr In short, shared hosting shares space with several other websites on a single server. While VPS hosting still shares space on a server, the environment of dedicated server is imitated. Each website gets its own dedicated space and resources. Shared hosting is the website equivalent of living in a hostel or dorm with shared bathrooms and common areas. In contrast, VPS hosting - still sharing space in a single building - gets you your own bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room. You might still be a little bit confused. We will explain more in a moment. If you feel that you already understand the basics, feel free to jump to a specific section you’re most interested in. Table of Contents

Different Kinds of Hosting

There are actually 4 kinds of web hosting. The lowest performing and cheapest option is shared hosting. This is most common for bloggers or businesses in need of a simple static site. The most powerful is dedicated hosting wherein a website occupies a server all by itself. Dedicated hosting is for big league websites with online courses, robust eCommerce, highly-sensitive information, etc. For obvious reasons, shared hosting is cheap, and dedicated hosting is expensive. In between, we have VPS hosting and cloud hosting. VPS hosting is something of a happy medium (between shared and dedicated) but is less expensive than dedicated hosting. Cloud hosting is unique in that it works with multiple servers. For the purposes of our discussion here, we will only focus on the differences between shared and VPS hosting. These are the two most common types of hosting, and you’re more than likely only going to use one of these over dedicated or cloud servers.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Between VPS vs Shared Hosting

First of all, you need to think about what you will be asking your website to do. While most information-based, static websites do well on shared hosting, you may need to upgrade to VPS if you choose to include large files and heavy user-interaction on your site. Here are a few factors to consider. Loading Speed When it comes to website performance, developers use the term “bandwidth.” Think of bandwidth as a road between the server and what your viewers see online. It determines your site’s loading speed when users click on your site in a Google search. In low bandwidth, your road is a cramped 2-lane road. The information passing back and forth from the server will cause your website to feel sluggish. In contrast, high bandwidth means that your site is passing files and information on a 6-lane highway to and from the server. Your site will be fast and agile. This is great for users.

Test your page speed with Google Page Speed Insights Is shared hosting always low bandwidth? Not necessarily. In the original illustration, if you reside in a hostel or dorm, you may be able to cook a full Thanksgiving meal if you can get to the shared kitchen before anyone else. If not, then you may be left to a single plugin burner. For shared hosting, if another site takes up most of the space and bandwidth available on the server, your site is going to be slower. For VPS hosting, you do get your own apartment with amenities you don’t share. Thus, you always know that you can cook your Thanksgiving dinner within the confines of what your apartment has to offer. In other words, VPS hosting will not subject your website to a slow loading speed just because other sites are using all the space in their own “apartment.” Website Security For the most part, shared hosting providers do a great job in maintaining security for sites on their server. That being said, it is possible for hackers to use a “back door” through another site on the server to get to other sites on the same server.

For simple, static sites, a site hack is certainly scary, but it will not lose any critical information on the business or clients. Like most sites on shared hosting, they are not managing or passing payment information or social security numbers. For sites that are managing critical information and/or web services, a hacker can do real damage to both the website and the brand’s integrity. It constitutes a full-blown security breach. That’s why these sites usually opt for VPS hosting. If another site on a server gets hacked, they will not be able to get to any other sites on that server. Each VPS-hosted site is locked safely in its own “apartment.”

Web Hosting Costs As one would expect, shared hosting is a bit cheaper than VPS hosting. Many hosting providers will offer services for under $10/month (some even under $5). Additionally, they may offer extra services that can protect your site if another site on your server is compromised. We will discuss hosting provider bundles in a moment. VPS hosting usually runs from $30-$100+/month, depending on the provider and the space you want dedicated to your website on the server.  In the table below, it is good to note that all providers typically offer a lower promotional price for the plans listed here. Website Objectives Is your goal to increase viewership with viral content? Are you an influencer, startup, or blogger? These are all objectives that shared hosting can help you achieve. But maybe you want your site to do more, like online shopping and checkout. Or maybe you have web services that allow for users to interact in real-time. Small and medium businesses often need the reliability guaranteed with VPS hosting. Want to learn about the options available for building your website? Learn how to choose a website builder. Technical Experience A critical factor for those looking to upgrade to VPS hosting is technical experience. Sites on a server with VPS hosting must be configured correctly in order for the site to load. If you feel comfortable in your ability to configure your own site, then you should be fine. However, if you’re reading this, you most likely do not possess the technical experience to configure your own site. As such, you’ll need to hire someone you trust that can do this for you. In shared hosting, all configuration is taken care of. This is great for those that lack technical experience but still want to build their own site. Either way, sometimes the best option is to outsource the process of hosting selection, site creation, and server configuration to the experts.

Comparing Shared Hosting with VPS Hosting

Again, shared hosting is ideal for new businesses or personal websites, VPS hosting is best for small businesses and larger sites with more traffic. In a recap of all the details above, let’s hold these two hosting types against each other for an easier comparison. Shared Hosting As noted above, shared hosting is great for any website that is simple and static. This includes standard business information, blogging, etc. These sites can also rank well on Google searches with the proper search engine optimization approach. Shared Hosting Pros Cheap (less than $10/month) Easy to set up No manual configuration Shared Hosting Cons Loading speed might slow down if other sites on the server are taking up too much bandwidth Other sites on the server could be vulnerable if one site gets hacked Will not handle web services and eCommerce well

Top 4 Shared Hosting Providers

The list below is in no particular order. These are, however, the current top shared hosting providers available. For more details, you might take a closer look at some product comparisons of specific providers you are interested in.

Bluehost boasts being one of the few hosting companies that is officially recognized and endorsed by WordPress.org. With extremely cheap introductory rate starting at $2.95 /month, you get an intuitive, user-friendly cPanel, free backup services, a free domain name for one year and of course WordPress support. Visit Bluehost.com

With the ability to choose your server location and a consistently highly praised customer support team, Siteground offers great shared hosting plans. You can migrate your already existing website to Siteground for free. Also included are a free SSL certificate, backup services and CDN. Visit Siteground.com

Being one of the most well known and popular domain registrars, with a GoDaddy hosting plan you will get free domain registration for one year. If you are in need of business tools, you can also get one year of Office 365 for free. Visit GoDaddy.com

Inmotion provide a robust product selection. With every hosting plan you will get a free domain name for one year, free website migration, backup services and SSL certificate. Visit Inmotion.com VPS Hosting If your website will be doing more than loading static information, it might be better to use VPS hosting. Online scheduling, shopping, storing customer information, etc. - these are all good reasons to leave shared hosting behind and use VPS hosting instead. VPS Hosting Pros Consistent bandwidth for better load speeds at all times Reliability More security Allows your site to do more than be a blog VPS Hosting Cons More expensive than shared hosting You must configure your site or hire someone to do it for you

Top 4 VPS Hosting Providers

You might notice that many of the providers listed here are also great providers for shared hosting. If you think your site might do better on shared at first, using a provider that also does great VPS hosting can make a hosting upgrade much easier. Check out our hosting comparison chart

Liquidweb offer VPS hosting plans in 4 tiers. Plans range from 2-16GB of RAM and 40-200GB disk space. Every plan comes with 10TB bandwidth and free 100GB backup. You will also enjoy free CloudFlare CDN and enchanced server security.

With Inmotion VPS plans you only get 3 options. A few of those are comprable to Liquidweb, however they fall a bit short in terms of disk space and bandwidth. You get anywhere from 4-8 gigabytes of RAM, 75-260GB disk space, and from 4-6TB bandwidth depending on the plan level you select. Also included are free site migrations and email accounts.

A2 Hosting provide similar plans and features to Inmotion, but lags behind in the amount of disk space and bandwidth. The highest plan offers a maximum of 150GB storage space and only 4TB bandwidth. However an enticing anytime money back guarantee is offered with every plan.

With Bluehost VPS plans you will be trading features for a lower price point. You only get from 30-120GB disk space and 1-3TB bandwidth, depending on the plan you choose. However you will also be paying a lower monthly fee than the other options mentioned. When is it Time to Upgrade Your Hosting? As a general rule, when the site is consistently loading slowly, it’s time to upgrade hosting. Sometimes, you can purchase more server space with your current hosting provider. In many cases, you might need to bump to the next level of hosting service. For a shared hosted site, it is time to upgrade once you are wanting to offer more features and services on your site. It is especially important that you upgrade to VPS if you will be taking and storing peoples’ personal information, including payment or other sensitive data. If you feel that VPS hosting is no longer what your site needs, there are many benefits to dedicated hosting. You get a server all to yourself, and you are guaranteed great loading speed and cybersecurity. Make sure to discuss this move with an expert before impulsively making the switch. More Info Siteground vs Bluehost - Compare Siteground and Bluehost, two of the top web hosting providers. Bluehost vs Inmotion - Find out which hosting company fits your specific needs.

Understanding Web Hosting Bundles

Typically, a web hosting provider offers you a choice of different bundles. These are additional services that somehow enhance your site or assist in your site setup. Here are among the most common services included in a web hosting bundle. Domain Name The name before your .com is your domain. Domains typically require an annual fee or subscription. Some are free and others can cost thousands. Web hosting providers will often include a domain name free of charge when you choose them for a shared or VPS hosting plan. SSL Certificate SSL certificates are technical encryption tools that makes your site compatible with search engines and keeps your site safe from interference when information is passed back and forth from the server to your site. It is like a drivers license for your website before it takes the highway from the server to the web. Web Hosting Support Many websites (especially with shared hosting) can go months and years without any server issues. That being said, when it happens, it is a major inconvenience. It is a good idea to make sure that your web host provider offers 24/7 customer service so that you can get your site back up and running after a server problem. Site Migration Were you hosting your site with another provider and want to switch? This requires a site migration. Many providers offer this for free or as a part of a bundle. SEO Tools Your SEO will come down primarily to how your build and promote your site content. However, there are a number of tools that make it easier for you to keep your content optimized for Google and other search engines. Sites that rank on Google’s first page draw hundreds and thousands more views than sites ranked on pages further back. Email Account Would you like your own email with your domain name? It does look sharp and professional. Most web hosting providers allow you so many email accounts attached to your domain. Others may offer you a discount to secure these email accounts through email providers such as Outlook or G-Suite. Backup Services If something happens to your site, such as accidentally deleted content, a backup service can help you retrieve the content that you lost. Most bundles offer backup services for your site.

Final Recap

We hope that you found this guide to web hosting helpful. Even though this can be a technical discussion, the practical information is quite simple. You can use this guide to help you select the right type of hosting, as well as a provider that best suits you and your site’s needs. ready to find your best fit?

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Check Out Pricing From the Top Hosting Vendors

With so many options, features, and plan levels to choose from, the world of web hosting can be overwhelming when you are first looking for the right solution for your website. In addition to hosting packages, providers often offer many additional features and services like email accounts, CMS (content management system) support, and SSL certificates. Sometimes these and other features are included in your website hosting cost and sometimes they come at an additional price. We'll get into the nitty gritty of it in this guide so you can find the best hosting service for your needs.Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

Whether you have an online eCommerce business, or want to blog about your travel adventures, you’re going to need a website. There are a lot of solutions and costs to consider when creating a website. One of the most important costs to consider is website hosting.Are you familiar with domain names and registration? Often domain registration is one of the first things people think of when it comes to building a website. If you think of your website as a hotel, you can think of the domain name as the hotel name and sign, and website hosting as the physical building your hotel is located in.

Some web hosting providers offer a managed solution to ensure your website is available on the internet 24/7, so you don’t have to worry about it. This is best for new or less technically adept website owners. With other options the website owner is responsible for setup and maintenance of the server. These companies own the physical server your website is stored on. A server is a computer just like your laptop or desktop machine.

Explanation of Web Hosting Costs

When it comes to providers and solutions there are many options available. Web hosting costs fall along a wide range with prices starting as low as $1.99 per month and ranging upwards of $730 per month. Price depends on many factors including the number of monthly visitors your expect to your site, type of website, and any additional functionality or features you require.The amount you pay a website host is generally based on the space you need to make your content (images, videos, files, maps, etc.) available to users. Generally speaking, the larger the quantity and file size of your content, the more you will pay for hosting.We'll cover 5 popular types of hosting in this guide to discuss various options, their relative cost, and the pros and cons associated with each. Up first shared hosting. Shared Hosting Let’s go back to the hotel example from above. This time think of the various servers that a provider may offer as various hotels. Some servers are more robust offering more amenities and services, a luxury hotel if you will. Other hotels are more budget friendly, offering a lot of rooms, to a lot of different guests.With shared hosting you would be renting a room within a hotel. You get a portion of the server space to “share” with other websites, making this the cheapest option to get your website started.  Shared Hosting Pros Many shared hosting providers offer excellent performance and features relative to their cost, making this space is highly competitive. This makes shared hosting very cost-effective for sites with lower levels of monthly traffic. Due to the fact that the servers are generally quite large, they provide your site with adequate bandwidth when just starting out. Shared hosting is simple and convenient, something a lot of website owners and people in general cherish. Knowing your website server will be handled in a professional-manner by experts gives you good peace of mind, allowing a business owner to focus on various other parts of their business. Shared Hosting Cons There are however, some downsides to shared hosting. While the performance is often adequate, it at times can be spotty. Your website may share server resources with a handful of websites or hundreds of websites, at the discretion of the hosting provider. This can be a problem if other sites are active and require a lot of bandwidth and resources. Providers often handle this by placing a limit on the resources a site can use. If a customer requires more resources, they may be forced to upgrade to a more-costly plan. Shared Hosting Recap Shared hosting makes it easy to get started and is a widely used option by a lot of websites on the internet. If you are a website owner just starting out or with moderate monthly traffic, shared hosting can be a very attractive option for you.You can get started with extremely affordable shared hosting plans from our top recommended providers Bluehost or Siteground for as little as $2.95/ month.

SiteGround offer lower cost shared hosting plans. VPS Hosting Continuing with our hotel example, with virtual private server hosting (VPS), you may be renting say an entire floor in the hotel. You still are on a shared server, but you get a specific amount of disk pace and server resources such as RAM (random access memory) and bandwidth dedicated only to you. VPS Hosting Pros With more server bandwidth you get better performance and reliability. Resources are allocated by account, so your site is not affected when other sites use more resources, as would be the case with shared hosting.Furthermore, VPS hosting typically comes with better service and customer-support, while still relying on the host to manage the resources and servers. This is a great option for companies that are unsure if they can take on the large amount of monetary resources and management time dedicated server hosting often needs. VPS Hosting Cons With all these performance and service upgrades, it is no surprise that VPS hosting costs significantly more than its shared hosting counterparts. Most offerings are well above the low-end of the $20 range. These are reasonable rates for growing small-businesses, online-stores, and personal sites with larger levels of monthly traffic.With this extra control comes the requirement for some technical knowledge and an understanding of how much bandwidth and storage your site will need. This may require you to have an administrator on hand to properly manage your server. VPS Hosting Recap VPS hosting offers significantly better performance but at a higher cost. This is a good option for growing websites who need more server resources to continue to scale.

A2 offers a wide variety of VPS hosting options at reasonable pricing. More Info Siteground vs Bluehost - Compare two of the top shared hosting providers.VPS vs shared hosting - Read about the specific differences between shared hosting and VPS hosting. Dedicated Server Hosting A dedicated server is at the top-end of this hotel example. Welcome, you are now the proud owner of your very own web hosting “hotel”. All the same amenities and features mentioned above, but with everything dedicated to just your site and business.As you can guess, the performance and control warrants the cost for this high-end, luxury option. If you are a larger corporation/enterprise and need a dedicated server, having a provider handle the server off-site is a popular option. Generally speaking, it will always be a cheaper option to go through a provider, rather than purchasing the hardware and managing the server internally. Dedicated Hosting Pros With the most expensive cost comes highest quality benefits. Be assured that your site will have impeccable connectivity, network up-time, and security. Dedicated teams of engineers will ensure your business online presence is protected and performing at it’s best, providing outstanding customer-support as well. Oftentimes these providers offer many-more products and services beyond just hosting your website. It is truly a great option for enterprise businesses. Dedicated Hosting Cons The main cons of dedicated servers are that it takes an incredible amount of money, time, and potentially other resources to manage them. If you choose to go through a provider the cost can be very exorbitant, compared to the other options mentioned in this article. But, if you are an enterprise business that needs the performance, security, and control of a dedicated server, there is simply no better option. Dedicated Hosting Recap Dedicated server hosting is the highest quality and most costly option, typically used by enterprise level businesses.

Bluehost dedicated hosting plans Managed WordPress Hosting As mentioned in the earlier cost to build a website section, WordPress is a CMS, and one of the most popular ones at that. Most shared hosting providers support WordPress, but with managed WordPress hosting you will see improved options for your website and its performance/security. Everything from server architecture to malware scans are built with WordPress in mind. WordPress Hosting Pros You will see better performance, better security, and features like staging sites, that let you do large scale changes to your site prior to updating the published version. On top of that, managed WordPress hosting providers have WordPress experts leading their customer support. A great peace of mind benefit for any WordPress site owner. WordPress Hosting Cons The obvious drawback of using WordPress hosting is that they only support WordPress sites, so if you have any hesitation that you may switch to another CMS platform in the future, making such a switch could mean more work and effort down the line for you and your business. Some managed WordPress hosting solutions have stricter limits and restrictions on features like which plugins they allow. Something to certainly look into when examining different providers and solutions. WordPress Hosting Recap Of course all of these upgrades come at a higher price than your standard shared hosting solution, though there are some solutions and providers that offer comparable rates. If you currently use or are thinking about building on WordPress, it certainly may be well worth it to investigate further.

Kinsta specializes in managed WordPress hosting and has a plan for every budget. Cloud Hosting With cloud hosting, your website data is stored on several remote servers that are clustered. Your site then uses the resources of each of these servers virtually in order to optimally distribute the load. Cloud hosting, like other cloud services such as Google Drive or Spotify, allows nearly endless scaling of resources and storage space. Cloud Hosting Pros One of the main benefits of cloud hosting is that rather than paying a fixed monthly price like with other hosting services, you only pay for what you use during the month. This can be enticing for websites that expect large spikes in traffic which will then drop back off after the surge. Think of viral content, large promotions, etc. The scalablility is almost endless.Not only that, cloud hosting also offers incredibly robust uptime and security from hardware problems as data is not stored in one physical location. Cloud Hosting Cons Cloud hosting may not be the best option for those just starting out. In order realize and take advantage of the full benefits, it may take meticulous planning to execute your website strategy. Cloud Hosting Recap You can expand or reduce the amount of server resources you need for your website. This scalability can help you reduce overall costs because you only pay for the resources you use.

Inmotion cloud hosting plans to deliver scalability. want to seem them all?

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How Much Does It Cost to Host a Website?

Now we'll take a closer look at the different kinds of hosting and their costs. It is important to note that most pricing you see is listed at a promotional rate. This is standard across the industry and means you get that rate for an entry period of a few months to even a few years. After that entry period is up, however, you should expect to pay the normal fee. Shared Hosting $1.99 - $15 per monthGetting a website online is easiest with shared hosting. Here are prices for six of the best shared hosting providers we recommend. VPS Hosting $2 - $129 per monthAs a website outgrows a shared plan, VPS hosting is the upgrade to look for. Below are the top six VPS hosting companies including the cost for each plan per month. Dedicated Hosting $80 - $729 per monthBy the time you are ready to investing your own dedicated hosting server, your online business is full fledged. Check out our six recommendations and the starting prices for each of their plans. WordPress Hosting $5 - $290 per monthWordPress hosting is best suited for those who want a hands-off hosting experience. Let the professionals take care of the tech while you focus on your business. Here are our top 6 picks and starting prices per plan level of each. Cloud Hosting $5 - $290 per monthCloud hosting ensures you have 0 downtime for your website. If peace of mind that your site will never be down is critical, check out our six favorite solutions here.

Additional Hosting Costs and Services

Throughout this article we have mentioned some additional services that many hosts offer. Often the price you pay for web hosting is not only for the physical server space you need, but also includes additional features necessary for your site to run.As you can guess by now, the types of services and support you receive will also vary depending on the type, plan and provider you choose. So let’s touch on some of these services and their additional costs that are fairly common. Domain Name Registration $10 - $15 annually.We mentioned domain registration previously. Often times web hosting providers at any service level (shared, VPS, etc.) offer domain registration in addition or as part of your hosting package. Sometimes this is included free, typically for a promotional period such as a year. With other plans you have to pay an additional cost to your web hosting service in order to register your domain name.Again, it is fairly common to pay anywhere from $10 - $15 annually for your domain name registration. If you want to purchase a domain name owned by someone else, prices can become much more expensive than that.Often providers offer discounts when you pay for domains over a longer period of time, as well as if you use their web hosting services. It is a great way to bundle the services together and save costs especially if your site is fairly basic and isn’t expecting tremendous growth in traffic in the near term.With that being said, it can also be a good idea to keep separate who you register your domain with and who you host your website with. There are some great reasons to not register your domain through your web host. This makes it easy if in the future you want to change hosting providers. Using a separate domain registrar like Namecheap or GoDaddy could help you avoid potential fees associated with transferring your domain.

SSL Certificates From $0 to nearly $500 per year.You may have heard of them but are wondering what exactly is an SSL certificate. SSL certificates are basically a digital signature, communicating that the web host provider is who they say they are, and there is a secure connection between the user's personal device and the website.Much like web hosting there are varying types of SSL encryption services available. It is common for hosts to also offer free SSL certificates as part of their promotional bundle.If you are a small blogger or website that won’t be collecting visitors personal data, you can get a domain validated certificate for under $10/year. If your business or site will collect more user data and information you will require better encryption and therefore better certificates. Backup and Restore Services Ranging from $0 to $3 per month.Many providers offer automated backup and restore services as a part of their web hosting packages.This  service routinely backs up your website data, creating a copy of your website at a specific time. If ever there were an issue, you will have a copy of your data available so you don’t lose it.Some hosts offer the ability for you to backup your data manually whenever you need to as well. Beyond these routine backups it is often a good idea to pay for more premium backup and restore services in the case your site ever crashes or is hacked.  Business and Productivity Tools Many pricing plans and services range from $6 to $15 per month.Web hosts will connect your business and domain name with productivity tools that make doing the various tasks associated with your business much easier. There are plenty of providers for productivity tools for your business such GSuite by Google.GSuite for example starts out at $5/month per user so it is fairly affordable. Other alternatives exist that have varying restrictions and limits, at varying prices. If you are an enterprise business, a solution like Office365, from Microsoft, would also be a great option.

How Much Does Website Hosting Cost: Final Thoughts

Working with a website builder can be a good choice for anyone who wants to create their own site. While social media can be a good way to carry out personal or business branding goals, nothing does it quite like a dedicated website can. Having a website will lend you credibility, offer a polished representation of who you are, and provide you with your very own platform to share your content online. Luckily for us, there are many options available that make it super easy to build a website.  Here are our top 7 website builders in : Squarespace WordPress Wix Weebly Site123 Shopify GoDaddy Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter Share on linkedin LinkedIn Share on pinterest Pinterest

Table of Contents

Looking Closer 7 Tips For Choosing the Right Website Builder Key Features To Look for in a Website Builder Website Builders for Specific Uses

7 Best Website Builders in

Using a website builder is a good option for many reasons: They are much cheaper than hiring a developer to create a custom website which would cost thousands of dollars. You own your website and can easily log in to make changes to content and schedule updates. You won't have to rely on a web developer for routine site maintenance. You can log in to make changes whenever you need to, and with no extra fees or time wasted. Setting up and publishing a website is fast and easy. Now, we will take a closer look at our top 7 website builders. Each platform will be analyzed on factors such as price, performance, usability, and standout features. Not all site builders are created equal. Some function best for blogging purposes, some shine the brightest as portfolio tools, while others stand out as best for eCommerce solutions.

Looking Closer

Squarespace - Best Overall Squarespace is intuitive and its templates are sophisticated and bold, offering a lot of whitespace and room to showcase your work. Their platform offers sleek blogging, podcasting, photo gallery, and audio player features which often stand apart from other editors. As a result, you can easily achieve a custom-built look with low effort.

You have over 200 design templates to choose from, and their plans have no bandwidth or storage limits. Squarespace is best for: those who need image-based websites to showcase art portfolios, podcasters, photographers, those in the fashion industry, designers

Popular Squarespace themes Pros: High quality templates for website design. High performance and speed. You can use code if you like customizations, but you do not have to in order to achieve the celebrated Squarespace professional and polished look. All features are built-in, so you won't have to wonder if a certain app or extension is compatible with your site. Since it is an all-in-one platform, their security is top-notch. Any attacks on your site will be the company's responsibility, not yours. They maintain backups so your site will not be lost in an attack. Cons: No app store so you will have to depend on their built-in features. Although the layouts are crisp and polished, interface can take some getting used to in terms of maneuvering sectioned-based design restrictions. Plans can be expensive and do not include an email client. Support reps can be difficult to get a hold of and also difficult to work with. Unable to fine tune SEO components.

WordPress - Best for Bloggers and Writers, Website Building Experts

WordPress is the most popular choice for building a website. Although ideal for more advanced website creators, it offers endless opportunities to customize and design features that work best for your website. 

If you are familiar with code, WordPress offers easy access to alter code when needed. It also offers hundreds of themes and plugins that can customize and improve the functionality of your site.

WordPress SEO plugins from the plugin store It is important to mention the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org— the .com choice hosts your website for you for a monthly fee while the .org choice is the self-hosted version. WordPress is an incredibly flexible website builder. It fosters a large professional community and there are endless webinars, tutorials, and community forums to use when you find yourself in need of tips or support. That said, when you pay for WordPress services, you also have access to customer support. Wordpress is best for: blogs, writing portfolios, eCommerce, those with more website building experience. Pros: With open source functionality, there are endless available plugins that you can install or create to help your site run better. WordPress is the most popular website creating software and because of this there is no shortage to availability of tutorials, guides, tips, and tricks to make your site perfect. If you can invest the time in learning WordPress, it's a great choice for eCommerce. For example, WooCommerce is no extra charge. Paid plans offer online chat with support agents, who are helpful and prompt. WordPress has quick loading and deliverability times which surpass many other website building options. Cons: Long learning curve that most newbies to website creating have trouble overcoming. Managing a site on WordPress does require technical skills and can require higher maintenance time commitments. Free domain is only included in some of the more expensive plans. Some of the plans can be limited. For example, if you opt for a personal plan, WordPress will restrict your ability to install plugins. Beginners and hands-off website owners should probably avoid WordPress. Wix - Best for Design Freedom Wix is one of the most popular and widely used website building tools now available. It is well-established with over 100 million users worldwide. Perhaps one of the best features of Wix is that it offers an unstructured editor, giving you unbridled freedom. While most builders offer a pre-designed and limiting grid to arrange information, Wix allows all the control freaks out there to have what they so desperately want— total layout control. However, for those who need a bit more guidance, they may find this feature to be more tedious than freeing.

Wix offers over 500 free themes and has an App Market where you can buy extra features. It doesn't cost anything to publish a Wix site but paying for the right subscription package will allow you break free from the limitations that a free site will have. Wix is best for: portfolios, small businesses, those who prefer freedom and control in creating a website.

Courtesy of Wix.com Pros: Huge library for templates and themes. 24/7 phone support. Cheap option for eCommerce stores and small business Simple usability with many options for site customization. Sites can be altered via drag-and-drop editor. Wix can support almost any type of site. You can create customized music players, eCommerce portals with specific payment features, online ordering forms, etc. Subscriptions offer long-term discount options so that prices are lower the longer you commit to using their services. Cons: No live chat for support While Wix has seemingly endless built-in tools available for creating features, adding extra code to your site is difficult. No way to export your data should you choose to move hosts. Weebly - Best for Beginners

Weebly is a great resource for those who are not terribly tech-savvy who are tasked with building a website. They offer a long-standing and fast-growing website building choice for those who are looking for something simple and all inclusive.  The trade-off for this convenience is that you will lose some of the customization control other website builders offer but it can be a great choice for small website projects and those just starting out with creating a website.

Weebly does not offer a large catalog of themes and if you do feel the need to outgrow their platform, migrating content will be difficult as you will essentially have to copy and paste via RSS. However, Weebly does give you the option to work with a free basic plan and any of their paid plans do offer a free domain and access to the App Center where you can add new features to your website. Weebly is best for: bloggers, eCommerce, small businesses, those looking for cheaper options Pros: Great for those who lack technical ability or are beginner website creators. Fast load speeds and dependable security. Pricing is competitive and cheaper than many similar options. Drag-and-drop website building. Using code is not necessary but there is a custom CSS option should you find it necessary to customize templates. Customer support can be accessed regardless of whether you buy a plan or not. Cons: You won't have access to your server files which makes Weebly inconvenient for long-term projects should you need to change platforms. Relatively mall selection of themes, around 70 are available. Although pricing is competitive and appealing, the cheaper plans can be quite limited, forcing you to consider upgrading as your website and projects grow. Site123 - Best Landing Page Builder Site123 is a simple and straightforward choice for businesses or users who need to create a website quickly and easily. This is a great choice for creating landing pages, blogs, or small online shops. Site123 is great for newbies to explore website creation or those who ultimately only need a single-page site or a landing page.

Some professional users may find that Site123 is too limiting and outgrow it quickly. Users who only need barebones functionality may find that the free plan works perfectly adequately for them, but you can upgrade to paid plans if you need a little extra functionality such as an email client. Site123 is best for: single-page sites like landing pages, squeeze pages, and small blogs.

Site123 offers many templates to choose from Pros: Cheap plan options which include customer support services and community forums. Drag-and-drop tools and over 200 templates to choose from. Templates are customizable and visually pleasing, with options spanning several industries making it an excellent choice for quick and easy landing page creation. Simple to use— no design or coding skills necessary. Cons: Although customer support is available to users, the representatives tend to use generic responses. Free and low-cost plans are relatively limited. Some professional users will find the range of settings to be too limited for their needs. Cannot create a large multi-functional website with Site123. Shopify - Best for eCommerce Shopify boasts the fact that they power more than half a million businesses' online stores. This website builder provides a platform specifically to those looking to build an eCommerce shop to sell their products online. If you are looking to build a pure eCom website, then we highly recommend this website builder.

Shopify includes access to their robust app store. In the chance that you need additional functionality to what comes out-of-the-box, you can find an app to accomplish that need.

Pros: Fully hosted and managed solution. No need for you to worry about backend maintenance, software updates or backup creation. Includes complete inventory management, statistics tracking, and simple to use marketing functionality. Hundreds of pre-built templates to choose from, no coding necessary using their drag and drop solution. Physical in-store point of sale system that includes credit card payments all while allowing you to take advantage of the same inventory management, shipping, stats tracking and marketing tools available in Shopify's online platform. Cons: If you ever find the need to migrate your eCommerce website off of the Shopify platform, it will be a difficult process. Higher price point than other eCommerce website builders. GoDaddy - Best for Diverse Needs GoDaddy is one of the largest website services companies to date. They started out as a domain registrar service but have since expanded into web hosting and website building services that are widely used. GoDaddy certainly has brand recognition on their side after all this time being in existence and their business is not going anywhere. This is definitely an advantage over some of the smaller upstarts available.

GoDaddy offers competitive pricing for their plans and over 1500 website theme templates. Additionally, GoDaddy offers a free trial before committing to buying their services. With this website builder you have the ability to create virtually any kind of site really well. GoDaddy is best for: Blogs, portfolio sites, business promotion

Pros: Templates are organized by category based on the type of site you want to create, and templates offer drag-and-drop interface to keep website creation on your end simple. eCommerce is fully supported with many features to support working with clients and selling product. Interface is responsive and quick. Cons: GoDaddy's plans can get expensive, especially for eCommerce, so this is not the cheapest website building choice, even amongst comparable solutions such as Wix. Customer support includes a live chat option, but wait times seem to generally be long so customer support could improve given the size of the company. GoDaddy's security has been called into question. Although it's a dependable business, its size and brand recognition make it susceptible to security attacks.

But Which Website Builder is Best for Me?

Choosing the best website builder for small business can be overwhelming and a bit confusing. It's difficult to recommend the best site builder for you, as there's no such thing as a one-for-all website creator. With a lot of trade offs to put into consideration, it's challenging to make a simple comparison. These factors include, but are not limited to, the needed website uptime, the features you require, your technical knowledge and your budget. This website maker comparison features mostly the primary factors to put into consideration and also provide answers to frequently asked questions about a couple of top site builders out there. Here are our tips to help you make the right choice:

7 Tips For Choosing the Right Website Builder

After you've determined the type of website you need, now you need to figure out which of the best website builders will work for you specifically. We've put together a few tips to help you make the right choice for your business. #1 - Budget Considerations Obviously, this should be the first factor you need to consider: how much you are willing to pay the best site builder. Start by calculating other expenses necessary for building a professional website, such as the cost of registering your domain and hosting. Also, you may have to invest in other branding and copy writing services such as website name, logo, images, and content if you do not plan to develop these things yourself. For business owners with a limited budget, you can consider website makers offering basic services for free. Also, opt-in for plans that include your most needed functionality, this helps save money on building your website in the long-term. However, most web page builders charge somewhere between $5 - $40 a month for a plan with the kind of features likely needed by your business. Thus, it can sometimes be advantageous to go for a plan that includes both the hosting cost and price of your builder without trading-off outstanding services. #2 - Set Your Priorities Before you rush into choosing the best website platform, it's paramount that you have a clear idea of what you want your website to portray your brand to your audience and customers. This tip will help foster better decision making as to what features you need to look for and include in your website. Here are a few good questions to consider to help know your needs and set your priorities: Do you have any prior experience in web or graphic design? Many website builders are designed for people with less experience with website coding or design in mind. However, some users find it easier to use than other less experienced users. If you have little or no idea about coding or design, then you should look for a platform that has the drag-and-drop design feature and comes with many themes or templates to choose from. What type of website do you need? If you need a website for your small business, then be sure to thoroughly research any specific functionality you might require. This could include things such as an online booking calendar, customer portal, or eCommerce support. It will be essential to design your website in a way that converts your traffic into customers. Making sure you have the right functionality included in your website builder from the beginning will set you up for success. How much control do you need? If you need absolute control over certain aspects of your site look for a website maker that offers a wide range of options and flexibility when designing. The right site builder for you should come with more flexible editing options and templates. These options enable you to make extensive customization to your website design. Will, your website, include a lot of media? Do you need to figure out whether your website will include a blog? A photo gallery? Videos? A map showing your store location? After providing answers to the above questions, make sure the web page builder you will be investing in support the types of media you choose to include. Most importantly, you need to make your website is mobile-friendly, as many buyers tend to shop using their mobile phones now. Remember to make sure the platform includes mobile responsive functionality out of the box.

#3 - Consider the Theme Options Designing a website using a web builder software starts with the provided themes by the builder. This process is often easy, as you have to look through the available themes and choose any one that fits your style. After that, you can start customizing the template into a unique design for your website. Here's why it necessary to check the number of theme options before investing in a site builder. If the customization options are way too limited, then it reduces your chances of finding a template that works well for your brand. Thus, it's essential that you use a web page builder that offers more than enough themes to choose from, which increases your chances of finding the right template to get your website started in no time. Besides, everything else becomes hassle-free if you find a theme that works perfectly with what you already have in mind.

#4 - Ease of Use The primary reason for using a website maker is to make building your website less challenging since you don't have to do any programming and coding. However, this doesn't mean all site builders will be simple and straightforward to figure out. As stated before, platforms with a drag-and-drop functionality option make building your website way too easy. Also, you may want to consider site builders with intuitive editors, which makes customizing easy and straightforward. https://hostingaffinity.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/drag-and-drop-website-builders.mp4 Also, consider researching the best website builder reviews, especially for those who have never built a website before. Turning to real user reviews will help you determine if you will be able to easily learn the platform based on your level of experience. Besides, checking out the best website builder reviews is an excellent way to source for answers before investing. #5 - Consider the SEO Features There's no point building a website that is only visible to you and your friends. For that, it's crucial to implement the SEO best practices while you are done designing your website. A good site builder should offer SEO features and make it easier to optimize your website. More importantly, it should provide an easier way to update all SEO meta elements - image alt tag, page title and meta description - on each page.

Further, the right website maker should give you a head start on SEO optimization, even though on-site SEO is just one of the many search engine optimization components. #6 - Support & Available Resources Even the best web page builder will still require you to spend time learning how best to use it. The more features offered by the platform, the more time needed for learning. Therefore, before making a choice, make sure the vendor offers a lot of resources to aid your learning. Ideally, they will provide you with a plethora of PDFs, tutorials, videos, etc. on how to use each feature of the software and make any customizations of your choice.

Squarespace offers a multitude of content to help you learn their platform #7 - Customer Service and Company's Reputation Making sure everything goes as it should and learning how to use the website builder should be easier and less challenging provided you are using a builder with a good customer support team. Because of this, it's usually advised to check out reviews from other customers about their experience with the companies’ customer support before choosing any platform for building your website. A good support team will always be there for you when you are having troubles using the platform. Also, they should be easy to get in touch with most often via email, live chat or social media.​

Key Features To Look for in a Website Builder

There is a lot of web builders out there today, and whichever you choose totally depends on whether or not the product offers enough functionality to fit your individual needs. A website builder is a tool that helps you create a website with your unique design and content. However, it’s not as simple as that; there are several other vital features to consider when choosing your website building platform. eCommerce Capability In a most basic sense, eCommerce functionality includes inventory management, a shopping cart and the ability to receive payments online. While some web page builders have this feature as an upgrade (sometimes free and sometimes paid), others, such as WooCommerce for WordPress, act as third party integrations to provide the necessary functionality. If you are not looking to create an eCommerce website at the moment, then you have many more options to consider. However, if your highest priority is having the best website builder for eCommerce, then make sure you consider the above mentioned eCom functionality when doing your research. Drag & Drop Functionality Generally, when using web page builder, the foundation of your design starts with a template or theme which you can customize to your liking. Further, many builders allow users to customize using a modern drag and drop feature. https://hostingaffinity.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/drag-and-drop-website-builders.mp4 This feature allows users with little or no experience in web development to design their site as desired by visually dragging a widget from the set of options and dropping it on the builder’s canvas. However, not everyone prefers this feature, as some more technical folks love to customize within the code base itself. Pre-made Templates Pre-made templates are similar to the drag and drop feature discussed above. Most web builders offer basic templates for users to choose from and customize. Some offer remarkable, professionally-designed templates, which require little or no customization. However, using a pre-made template may limit your customization options. You can only make a few modifications, such as color, text, layout, etc. Also, finding the right template for your business or idea may be a bit challenging. But on the bright side, using pre-made templates makes building a website simple, easy and fun. Besides, you don’t have to be a professional web developer to get a site up on the web. Project Length Not all site makers are great for building out a full website experience; some are best used for a one-time marketing campaign. As such, you should look for certain features available in the various platforms you are considering for your project. For a long-term, full website experience for your business or idea, then you should start considering a web page builder that offers a robust suite of features and functionality. On the other hand, if it’s going to be a short-term project such as an individual landing page for a one-time marketing campaign, then your website should be focused on conversion objectives and speed optimization. There are various options that cater specifically to landing page development, while others are designed to help you build a strong online presence. Migration Options As previously mentioned, some website makers are great options for building landing pages or other one-time websites. But in the event you want to build out more content, you may find it difficult as landing page builders oftentimes lack migration support. For this reason, you need to consider if the builder offers an option to migrate your optimized website (such as your one-time landing page) to a longer-term, full website platform. If you are not interested in this feature, you can focus on optimizing your website’s speed and user experience. Blogging Functionality Most blogging platforms are designed to create new posts using pre-formatted post styles and offer scheduling functionality. Some web page builders are designed specifically for bloggers. They come with various pre-made templates, features, plugins, etc. for creating impressive, responsive, and SEO optimized blogs. Some web builders come up short on this feature, as they are only designed to create a series of static pages and lack the ability to schedule out posts in the future.

Website Builders for Specific Uses

Shared web hosting is the easiest, cheapest and fastest way to get a website up on the internet. However, these shared shared plans aren't always the best option for every situation. If you require the storage space and functionality offered by a dedicated server but cannot afford the steep associated costs, then consider using one of the best VPS hosting plans we’ve identified for you below.

Should You Switch to VPS Hosting?

You might not require to switch from shared to VPS if you only have a small website. However, if you are looking to speed up your site, then it might be time to switch to VPS hosting. Virtual private servers, or VPS, are also an ideal option if your site is receiving a high amount of traffic regularly. The upgraded server resources offered by these plans are intended to help websites scale and handle increased visitors. Switching to a VPS hosting plan enables you to have a virtual server environment. This means that you can have complete control over every aspect of your server’s settings including apps and extensions you choose to use. Although the hosting provider will host multiple VPS clients on one server, similar to shared hosting, the number is considerably smaller. Every subscriber will be given a percentage of the servers’ most important resources, such as storage space, RAM and CPU cores. Most VPS plans have standard management tools, such as cPanel. These tools allow you to monitor and configure your site. There are even hosts that provide website and uptime monitoring and address any issues on the spot as they arise.

Differences Between Shared Hosting and VPS Hosting

Shared hosting is ideal for smaller sites that do not demand a lot of bandwidth. Most providers offer server maintenance and management, making it easy to use for newbies.  However with this option your resources are quite limited. VPS hosting on the other hand, is like having an entire apartment on your own. Your site is still housed on a physical server and shared by other users. However the percentage of server resources dedicated to you are not shared with others.

Image credit: namecheap.com In this case, there is no need to worry about sharing server resources with unknown neighbors. Plus, this setup also offers better security because your data are completely separated from other users of the same server. The best thing about VPS hosting is that you can get similar functionality as a dedicated server, at a fraction of the cost. Several companies offer virtual private server web hosting plans. The prices of these plans can vary widely from a few dollars a month to over a hundred. We examined a range of VPS hosting providers, the plans they offer, features included and what differentiated them from the others. We asked questions such as: what features are included in each plan tier? How is their historical performance? Do they have excellent support and assistance? Our 5 Best VPS Hosting Providers Are: Bluehost  Liquid Web HostGator A2 Hosting Inmotion  1. Bluehost

BlueHost offers flexible and powerful VPS options. This plan comes with multi-server management that lets you add more space to your account with just a few clicks. Features BlueHost uses all SSD drives for a lightning fast and more reliable environment. To ensure 100% access to resources, it uses KM hypervisor for their Linux servers. This provider does not include additional CPU and RAM out of the box. However, its enhanced cPanel lets you add more storage immediately on an individual basis. BlueHost offers VPS instant provisioning so you can set up your site on its VPS servers in seconds. Keep in mind that setting up VPS can sometimes take hours or days to activate. With instant provisioning, you can quickly use the server space you have paid for. With BlueHost VPS hosting you are also given root access, which allows you to get full admin privileges. You can modify and access the server, installing and uninstalling any app you might need. Pricing You can lock down a VPS plan from BlueHost starting at $18.99/ month. This is among the lowest priced plans you’ll find from these best VPS providers. However, you should note this starting price is a promotional offer for a set time. After the promotional period ends, you will have to pay full price of $29.99/ month. All of BlueHosts VPS plans are supported with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you ever need assistance you can contact their helpful customer support via phone, email or live chat 24 hours a day.

Is it a good deal? BlueHost are one of the most well known names in the industry. They provide a robust offering with a great promotional price to get started packed with all standard features. If you are already on a shared hosting plan looking to upgrade, this is a great option. 2. Liquid Web

Liquid Web focuses on providing high-quality VPS hosting services. They have superior configuration features including an integrated firewall, DDoS attack protection, advanced server security and Cloudflare CDN. However, all these goodies come at a higher price point. Liquid Web is a premium web hosting provider. They have been offering high-quality managed VPS options for over 20 years. There are more than 500k sites from 32k clients around the world hosted on their servers. That being said, these services are not cheap. Rather, focus is placed on delivering high-quality products and can deliver excellent results. In other words, you get what you pay for if you wish for high performance. Features & Pricing The lowest plan comes at $29/ month. It gives you 2GB RAM with generous 10TB bandwidth and 40 gigs of SSD storage. There are an abundance of operating system options as you can utilize Ubuntu, Debian, and CentOS. Liquid Web provides a customer support team that will monitor any failed services and restore them immediately. Managed VPS as service is also available from other providers, but typically incurs an extra charge. With Liquid Web, server management comes as part of the package. With its robust infrastructure and management services, you can focus on what you do best: your customers and content. If you need technical support at the wee hours, the knowledgeable pros of LiquidWeb are available 24/7. These professionals will do their best to solve your problems quickly and efficiently.

Is it a good deal? Liquid Web offers only a real deal when it comes to VPS hosting. They have high-powered hardware and a 24/7 customer support that you can count on. This, combined with the fact that every VPS plan is managed for you leads us to recommend Liquid Web as the best premium VPS option. 3. HostGator HostGator are probably one of the most well known players in the game. They offer three tiers of VPS hosting plans in their environment build for scaling. Features & Pricing HostGator VPS hosting plans include the standard custom OS installs and configurations, as well as up to 240 GB storage. You get to enjoy a minimum of 2 dedicated IP addresses and up to 4 CPU cores. The minimum bandwidth is 1.5TB while the max is 3TB. The plans can start at $29.95/month for the lowest tier, $39.99 for the middle tier and $49.99 for the most expensive option. HostGator will migrate your site to their VPS hosting offerings for free. With their managed VPS option a custom cPanel comes standard, giving a plethora of administrative tools. An unmanaged option, on the other hand, will require in-depth technical skills as the custom cPanel is not included.

Is it a good deal? HostGator includes state-of-the-art hardware and attentive support team. Plus, it performs off-site data backups weekly. If you need to migrate your site, the provider offers free migration assistance. HostGator provide top quality services and features at a competitive price. A2 Hosting With an emphasis on performance, A2 hosting is another great VPS hosting provider. If you prioritize performance and speed, as well as security, then A2 Hoisting could be a great contender. When launched in 2003, A2 Hosting were one of the first providers to offer web hosting services with an emphasis on speed. They have a complete stack of optimizations that can boost page load speeds by up to 300%. Its Turbo option can handle connections more efficiently, at higher speeds and with more stability and uptime. Features & Pricing For its managed VPS plans, you get 75GB storage and 2 TB transfer bandwidth and 4GB RAM. The unmanaged version offers 20GB storage and 2 TB transfer. It includes 512 MB ram and SSD option as an upgrade. You can get started with the unmanaged plan for only $5/ month. If you would prefer to be hands off and opt for a managed VPS hosting plan, expect to pay a steep price of $32.99/ month. A2 Hosting promises 99.9% uptime with its excellent support team available 24/7. They offer the standard 30-day money-back guarantee.

Is it a good deal? A2 Hosting provides optimal performance and incredible innovations that allow the company to offer a balance of speed and reliability. With the multiple VPS options available ranging from unmanaged to managed and managed with root access, these A2 Hosting plans are some of the best on the market. 5. Inmotion Inmotion is a strong provider with well-specified plans packed with features. They do not offer the most attractive price as the cheapest plan starts at $27.99 per month. However this rate is reasonable considering its features included. Compared to other providers, InMotion offers 4GB RAM, 4TB bandwidth with 75GB storage and 3 dedicated IPs. cPanel and automated backups are also included at no additional charge. Plus, they offer a money-back guarantee for 90 days; most providers offer a 30 day guarantee. The plan also comes with a unique feature called unlocked CPU cores. This allows you to distribute your processing load to different cores on the server. It can be a significant performance boost if you need simultaneous processing. Finally, plan comes with a program called Launch Assist, giving you two hours of free time with the provider’s server admins to help get you setup for success.

Is it a good deal? InMotion hosting is a mid-level VPS provider with better hardware specs. It features automated free server backups and lets you choose your Data Center. With these hosting provider’s features, you can’t go wrong with InMotion VPS hosting.

⚖️ Conclusion - Top 5 Best VPS Hosting Providers

Recently I came across a serious issue on a new client website. The unsecured HTTP version of their site was not automatically redirecting to the SSL secured version. This posed a risk in more than one way. Not only did this mean user data went unprotected if someone ended up on the HTTP version of the site, but the overall SEO of the domain was being negatively impacted as well. Its important to force HTTPS on WordPress to provide a secure browsing experience for your visitors.

What is SSL and HTTPS?

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a standardized security technology that creates and encrypted link between a users browser and the web server a site is hosted on. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the protocol used to secure communication between these two systems (server and browser). HTTP is the same protocol, just unsecured. When the communication between the server and browser is left unsecured, potential vulnerability to data loss and attack is created. In order for the HTTPS protocol to be enabled on a website, that site must have a valid SSL certificate enabled. Luckily for us, many hosting providers offer a free basic SSL certificate included in their hosting plans.

Why it is important to redirect HTTP to HTTPS on WordPress sites

As I mentioned above, redirecting your WordPress site from the HTTP version to the secure HTTPS version is essential for a few reasons: Protect your website visitors - By forcing your website to redirect the unsecured HTTP version to the safe SSL version, you are protecting your website visitors’ data being transferred between their browser and your server. A valid SSL provides trust - web browsers indicate when a website has a valid SSL certificate in place or not and will alert visitors if a site is not secured. Recently, Google Chrome has begun completely blocking unsecured websites with a large warning for the visitor asking if they really want to proceed. Required for PCI compliance - if you are ever hoping to accept payment on your website, a valid SSL certificate is a requirement of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards to do so. SEO ranking factor - a secure HTTPS website will always been seen as more trustworthy than an unsecured HTTP site by the major search engines, thus receiving a higher ranking.

How to redirect to https

Luckily, its extremely easy to redirect http to https in WordPress. To do this, we recommend using a stupid easy plugin called Really Simple SSL. Login to your WordPress dashboard Download the free version of the Really Simple SSL from their website or the WordPress.org repository Upload, install and activate the plugin Go to the Really Simple SSL settings. Make sure ‘Mixed content fixer’ and ‘Enable WordPress 301 redirection to SSL’ sliders are both set to active. Click save. Check the configuration tab to ensure your SSL certificate is detected and enabled on your site Download the Really Simple SSL plugin for free.

Upload, install and activate the plugin in WordPress.

Configure Really Simple SSL settings. Activate Mixed content fixer and Enable WordPress 301 redirection to SSL

Check the Configuration tab to make sure SSL is detected and enabled.

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