If you have a website or want to start your own blog, you want to find the best website hosting service providers. Which might make you wonder what is website hosting services costing? Or what is the top web hosting services offering?
What makes the best website hosting providers awesome? With so many options available, do you know which one is right for you?
When people compare hosting providers, they often focus on price and ease of use. But, in reality, there is a lot more that should go into your decision.
Cyber security is super important and you certainly don’t want to lose traffic and potential customers, because your website was hacked. Thousands of websites get hacked every day, and lousy web hosting providers are partly to blame for it. Ultimately you want a safe and secure site.
Choose your web hosting provider carefully, so that you can lay down a solid foundation for your website. A website that you might even sell.
This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links, with no additional cost to yourself.
What Is Website Hosting Services?
You need a server to launch a website, and web hosting is the easiest way to get it. According to Wikipedia, “a web hosting service is a type of internet hosting service, that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web”.
Thus, a web host is a company that provides space on a server that clients can use. The host service also provides internet connectivity, which is normally in a data center.
So, the web host provides the infrastructure that is required to operate a website. As a website owner, you need access to a server to be able to publish to the web. The web host provides that server.
You will need a web hosting service if you are building your own website. Web hosting is the web space on the server of your hosting provider, where your website lives.
When looking at what is the top web hosting services, these are the considerations that I used.
Factors to Consider When Choosing Website Hosting Service Providers
Price is the biggest concern for most people, but what other factors should you prioritize? You want web hosting providers that have fast servers, offer outstanding customer support and incredible security. You also need to consider the type of services they provide and if they have a user-friendly interface.
When you compare hosting providers, these are the most important factors to consider:
- Uptime is one of the most important aspects when choosing a website hosting service. Users cannot access a site when it is down, so you should place uptime as the most important factor.
- Load speed of your page can be make or break for the success of your site. If it is too slow in loading, people click away and go elsewhere.
- Price should suit your budget and requirements.
- Technical support: the web host takes care of all the technical stuff, which means you can spend time creating content.
- Add-ons: these are features that they provide that other’s do not have. This will have to be compared to the cost of it, to see if it is worth your while adding it.
- Hardware.
- Privacy and security: web hosting security is extremely important. Any website can be the target of spammers.
- Ease of use, functionality and performance.
- Content delivery network (CDN) delivers content faster and block of malicious attacks. It is essential that your web host provides this.
- Look at the renewal rates after the initial low introductory offer.
A popular product does not necessarily mean it is the right one for YOU. What are the different types of web hosting?
Types of Web Hosting Services
When you see the different types of web hosting, it can be confusing. So let’s have a look at each type of web hosting:
- Shared Web hosting: Several websites are hosted on the same server, so you share a server with other websites. It is the most affordable type and is the best choice for sites that have minimal requirements.
- Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting: When you have outgrown shared hosting, a VPS hosting is a solution. You still share a server with other sites, but there are far fewer. You get a dedicated segment of shared server resources, so other website on the server will not impact the performance of your website. It is similar to dedicated hosting, but at a far more affordable price.
- WordPress hosting: If you are using WordPress as your Content Management System, then dedicated WordPress
hosting is recommended. You can have a shared WordPress plan, or a managed WordPress account. Shared WordPress hosting works like traditional web hosting. But with dedicated WordPress hosting, your host provider can deal with back end operations, such as updating your WordPress and keeping it secure. In general WordPress hosting are faster than shared hosting. The best WordPress website hosting is provided by Wealthy Affiliate.
- Dedicated hosting: You do not share any resources with any other sites, as you get an entire server to yourself. This can get very expensive. If you have a very big business with 6-figure monthly site visitors, you might need it. Otherwise, not.
- Cloud hosting: Here your website is stored on multiple servers, not just one. So, if one server goes down, the others will take over. Cloud hosting makes on-demand scaling possible when you have fluctuating site traffic.
- Reseller web hosting: Developers or digital agencies can resell white labeled hosting on packages that they own. Reseller hosting is buying a web host package at wholesale prices, and then selling them to clients at a profit.
- eCommerce hosting: If you are running an online store, then eCommerce hosting is best for you. Features that can help you to manage your online store better, are included. These features include payment gateway, SSL certification, security, server scaling and more. If you have an eCommerce site and want to increase your conversions, then take a look at the review on Debutify high converting theme. Some host providers offer specific WooCommerce hosting if you are using WooCommerce to run your online store.
What About Free Plans?
Although there are some free hosting services available, none of them come even close to the cheapest paid plan in terms of features.
- Free plans will restrict your options of what you can do.
- The free version is normally to attract new users, but you will have to upgrade to a paid plan to get the benefits.
- Free hosting often has non-existent security integrations.
- Major limitations of storage and resources.
- Adverts imposed on your site.
- Only get very basic customer support.
Thus, when we compare hosting providers, we will look at paid plans and what is website hosting services costing.
Best Website Hosting Service Providers
Let’s have a look at what is the top web hosting services available. These providers are in no particular order. Depending on your needs, you will be able to make an informed decision.
Not all web hosting solutions are the same, so finding the web host with the right balance, is key.
All prices mentioned are current at the time of writing.
HostGator
HostGator provides an excellent web hosting service that is simple to use. It offers an array of plans for bloggers and small businesses.
HostGator is a great affordable web host with a website builder option. Design your own website by using the drag-and-drop website builder. You do not need to learn a single line of code.
They also have the usual web hosting solutions like Shared and WordPress hosting. It has 99.99% uptime, so you can rely on HostGator that it will be highly unlikely for your site to experience downtime.
Key Features:
- Free domain.
- Free site transfers.
- Unmetered bandwidth.
- Guaranteed 99.9% uptime.
- SSL certification.
- 24/7 customer support via phone, email or live chat.
Pricing:
- Shared Hosting: Hatchling is $2.75 / month, Baby is $3.95 / month and Business $5.25 / month.
- Gator Website Builder: Express start is $3.48 / month, Express Site is $5.99 / month and Express Store $9.22 / month.
- WordPress Hosting: Starter is $5.95 / month, Standard is $7.95 / month and Business $9.95 / month.
- VPS Hosting: Snappy 2000 is $19.95 / month, Snappy 4000 is $29.95 / month and Snappy 8000 $39.95 / month.
- Dedicated Hosting: Value Server is $89.95 / month, Power Server is $119.89 / month and Enterprise Server $139.99 / month
- Reseller Hosting: Aluminium Plans is $19.95 / month, Copper Plan is $24.95 7 month and Silver plans is also currently $24.95 / month which includes a 64% discount.
Read the full review on HostGator here.
BlueHost
BlueHost is a well-known, reputable web hosting company. Its interface is easy to use and it is well-balanced as far as features are concerned. BlueHost is on the list for its high performance and varied range of hosting packages.
They are one the largest providers of what is website hosting services. BlueHost offers WordPress, shared and dedicated hosting, VPS and more. They provide secure and reliable hosting services and powering more than 2 million websites globally.
Very fast and average time to load a website is less than half a second. Hardware and software comply with all the modern standards. Popular for WordPress blogs, SEO services, content creation, business sites and minor eCommerce stores.
Over and above the web hosting services that they provide, they also offer web marketing, web design services and security. They have recently launched the BlueHost website builder with WordPress as the backbone.
They provide comprehensive tools to millions of users worldwide. Whether you are a newbie or a professional, you can get on the web and build your own website.
They have been in partnership with WordPress for more than 10 years and have a dedicated team to support WordPress. Therefore, they are one of the best WordPress website hosting providers.
Key Features:
- Comes with a free domain.
- Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certification.
- Unmetered bandwidth usage
- 1-click WordPress installation.
- Shared, Cloud and Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting plans.
- 30-day money back guarantee.
- WordPress recommended.
- 24/7 support.
- In-house analytics.
Pricing:
- Shared Hosting: Basic at $3.95 / month, Plus at $5.96 / month, Choice Plus at $6.95 / month and Pro for $13.95 / month.
- Managed WordPress Hosting: Build is $19.95 / month, Grow at $29.95 / month and Scale is $49.95 / month.
- Next Gen VPS Hosting: Standard is $19.99 / month, Enhanced at $29.99 / month and Ultimate is $59.99 / month.
- Dedicated Hosting: Standard is $79.99 / month, Enhanced is $99.99 / month and Premium is $119.99 / month.
- WooCommerce: Standard plan is $13.99 and Premium $29.99.
There is a very steep price increase after the first term and is not the most customizable service in the market.
Read the full review on BlueHost here.
Green Geeks
Green Geeks is an eco-minded, green energy, web host and is the best eco-friendly web hosting provider. They put back 3 times the power they consume, in the form of renewable energy. So you are helping the environment, at the same time as getting what is website hosting services that are eco-friendly.
Green Geeks invest in renewable energy, thus, keeping their operations carbon neutral. It has great shared hosting options, which allows you to have top quality hosting, while also benefiting the environment. A Weebly website builder is available. It also offers WordPress hosting packages, as well as VPS and resellers.
Green Geeks use SSD storage so sites load faster, and LiteSpeed Cache so the read/write speed is very impressive. It has CDN that speeds up load time, by saving a copy of your page on the server that is closest to your customer.
Key Features:
- Unlimited web storage space.
- Unmetered traffic count.
- Unlimited websites (except for the Lite Plan)
- 300% energy match.
- SSD storage.
- SSL certification.
- Free domain for the first year.
- Free website migration.
- Zero day vulnerability fixes.
- Built-in scaleability.
- 24/7 support.
- 30-day money back guarantee.
- Free CDN and LiteSpeed Cache.
Pricing:
- Web Hosting: Lite is $2.49 / month, Pro $4.95 / month and Premium $8.95 / month.
- WordPress Hosting: Lite is $2.49 / month, Pro $4.95 / month and Premium $8.95 / month.
- Managed VPS Hosting: 2GB is $39.95 / month, 4GB $59.95 / month and 8 GB $109.95 / month.
- Reseller Hosting: RH25 is $19.95 / month, RH50 is $24.95 / month and RH80 $34.95 / month.
Read the full review on GreenGeeks here.
These providers offer you awesome hosting solutions, but without any training to get you started. If you are looking for dedicated WordPress hosting, combined with training in affiliate marketing, then I recommend that you look at the Wealthy Affiliate all-inclusive platform.
Wealthy Affiliate
Wealthy Affiliate has one of the best WordPress website hosting services, and with them you also get training. This includes building your website, affiliate marketing and wonderful support from the community and site support. With Wealthy Affiliate you are effectively part of a big online family.
They have the latest and most powerful servers in the world through Amazon hosting.
With SiteRubix, Wealthy Affiliate has developed the most sophisticated and secure website platform in the industry. SiteRubix leverages the WordPress framework.
Site speed is one of the core focal points with SiteRubix hosting platform at Wealthy Affiliate. Average page load time is 1.3 seconds.
There are several layers of security that shield your websites, thus, they can prevent hacking and spam even before it happens. Have “double” hosting, so they run a “mirror” of your website. They are the only website hosting platform that offers that feature.
Wealthy Affiliate is beginner friendly and is an awesome solution for building and managing WordPress sites.
With Wealthy Affiliate Premium membership, you get the ability to build and host WordPress websites. You can also set up an email address for every domain that is hosted at Wealthy Affiliate.
Key Features:
- 10 Managed WordPress websites are included.
- SSL and spam protection.
- Instant DNS set-up
- Free domain transfer.
- Hosting speed is optimized for faster website loading.
- Bandwidth of 500,000 visitors per month.
- Unlimited data transfer
- 24/7 support.
Pricing: Premium Membership: $49 / month, which includes hosting, training and Jaaxy keyword research tool.
With Wealthy Affiliate you will be learning, while they manage the technical side. You can read my full review on Wealthy Affiliate here.
So, if you want more than just what is website hosting services, but also training, then choose Wealthy Affiliate. You will learn from the best marketers at Wealthy Affiliate.
What Is The Top Web Hosting Services?
Website hosting service providers need to offer sufficient scaleability to allow your site to grow as your business expands. At the same time it needs to provide excellent support to help you navigate through potentially challenging situations.
- Wealthy Affiliate is the best WordPress website hosting provider. They offer all-inclusive web hosting, together with affiliate marketing training.
- HostGator is best for newbie bloggers that want a cheap plan and no training. They offer an affordable plan for those starting a blog online and start-up businesses .
- BlueHost offers great shared web hosting solutions, which are tailored for anybody who is new to website building. It is affordable and even beginners should have no problems using it. .
- Green Geeks is best for eco-friendly hosting that gives back to the environment. They offer an eco-friendly web solution with superb support.
If you have any experience with these website hosting providers, or want to add to what is the top web hosting services offering, then please share your comments below.
In this day and age, not having your business on the web ensures you miss out on a sizeable potential customer base. That’s why hosting services have become so crucial. Nowadays, Google uses page load speed as a ranking factor. Having a reliable hosting service provider ensures your webpage loads in a split second. While these are all above par, the Wealthy Affiliate hosting is advantageous for anyone starting online entrepreneurship.
Hi there, page loading time can indeed make or break a site, so it is good to see that the best website hosting service providers all have super fast speed that they offer. Wealthy Affiliate offers more than just hosting, but also training and community support.
This is truly a helpful piece of content. You explained the differences of each hosting platform and which one is best for the reader based on their situation. I’d like to point out that even though all these websites have great features, you didn’t try to rank one better than the other. You showed which one is best for what, instead of promoting one more than the other. This undoubtedly represents that you are creating insightful content for people, and not search engines. Great work.
-Gabe
Hi Gabe, each one has different needs, and what is website hosting services, provide for the varying needs and requirements. What is good for one, is not necessarily also the best for the neighbor, so each one must decide what is the most important feature they want from website hosting service providers. All the best, Liné
I’ve heard of both HostGator and also BlueHost, but never knew about Green Geeks. That’s crazy that they put back 3 times the power that they consume. Never even knew that an eco-friendly hosting company would exist. I like that it allows for unlimited websites, as I do have multiple, so I’m actually going to be looking into it further.
Hi Paul, if you want to help the environment, then I recommend you look at Green Geeks. I am sure you will find them to be trustworthy and reliable, as well as keeping your sites secure and being lightening fast. Please feel free to let me know if you need more information on Green Geeks. All the best, Liné
This was a great and really comprehensive review of the 3 Best Website Hosting Service Providers. Thank you for breaking everything down to an easy-to-understand format. You leave the reader in no doubt about what they should assess before embarking upon building and hosting a website. Wealthy Affiliate certainly sounds like a good deal with all the training that is included in the price. Thank you.
Hi Jenni, If you require training and community support, then Wealthy Affiliate is the only one of the website hosting service providers, that offers that. If you want to help the environment, then Green Geeks is the way to go. We do have good choices from what is the top web hosting services. Liné
Yeah, I definitely agree. I bet getting hacked and losing every bit of traffic is not something on anyone’s bucket list. I mean, just the notion of getting hacked and exploited sucks on so many levels. But it’s even worse when that’s basically the negligence of a web hosting provider you’ve chosen. And the lower end will probably not do a good job in regards to this.
I have to be honest; I had no idea that web hosting services like the Green Geeks even existed. I will have to give them a go. They sound so nice. I love the fact that not only are they trustable and capable, but also that they use green energy for the win. That’s really, really awesome.
But then, again, I don’t think anything compares really to what we have at WA. Cheers.
Wealthy Affiliate offers a fantastic all-inclusive platform, so it is more than just hosting that you get when you join them. Green Geeks, I personally think, is the way forward if you want to help the environment. All the best.
This is such helpful information to have in order to ensure a successful online presence. Thanks for narrowing down the wide variety of web hosting service providers to three key providers. This makes it so much easier to compare plans and providers and to choose the best web host for the job. I’ve learned a lot and appreciate the actionable information on web hosts!
There are indeed many choices available when you start looking at what is website hosting services providing. I am sure you will find your solution amongst these website hosting service providers. All the best, Liné
Thank you so much, Liné Cowley. I have to agree with you. I’ve used Go Daddy and looked at Blue Host, a fantastic package but no monthly payment alternatives. I haven’t seen if I could use a better theme like the new Popcorn theme with a WA SiteRubix. Still, they are very responsive and affordable and have the best bang for the buck as the Wealthy Affiliate platform, in my opinion, has been getting better lately. I had issues when I first began using the WA platform that was smoothed out and fixed quickly, and the security is also top-notch. Fantastic since I’ve been thinking about starting a new niche site and had pondered going elsewhere, but I’m now sure I’ll go with WA.
BlueHost do offer monthly payment options, but at basically double the cost, and sometimes even more, compared to the 3-year rate. And renewal after the initial term, is at the regular price. Wealthy Affiliate offers more than just hosting, but also training and community support.
When I started working on a website I got the hosting on one of the most known hosting, but since I signed up to Wealthy Affiliate I have my websites hosted with them, I really like their service, the training has helped me to work and grow my websites, and whenever one of them had a problem, support team at Wealthy Affiliate is the best, this way I can focus on create more content for my websites as I know I can trust on the hosting on this platform.
Hi there, to be able to trust your website hosting service providers, is great. That does mean that you can concentrate on creating content, while they take care of the technical side. All the best, Liné
I would have to agree that Wealthy Affiliate is probably the best website hosting platform out there. Besides, it is way more than just a hosting place. It’s a complete package if you’re starting your own website and have no idea where to begin or how to do so. In WA, you’ll find everything you need! Not to mention the support of the community that are part of this platform which makes it even better and worth trying.
Hi there, Wealthy Affiliate indeed provides more than just a hosting service. The platform offers a complete package with training and support, as well as a community that one belongs to. It is indeed worth trying.
Because I’m with Wealthy Affiliate, I work most often with WordPress. In truth, I can’t see myself wanting to deal with anybody else. I’m also with Wix, but not overly impressed with them as I encounter more problems than I care to admit. But, because I have rather large e-commerce biz going on over there, I have to stick with them for now.
I am, slowly, integrating over to WooCommerce, which is also with WordPress. I’ve been combining what I’m learning from Wealthy Affiliate to what I’m doing within my WordPress pages and so far it has been paying off.
Hi there, it is good to know that you are happy with Wealthy Affiliate, and if you are using WordPress, then WooCommerce is available as a plugin. All the best in your online journey.
I have had two websites now for a little over 2 years and I’ve really become aware of how important security is in this growing internet world. It’s great to know that your hosting company is on the job all the time watching your back. It was great that you also explained about the different hosting types as I wasn’t aware of the exclusive hosting used by huge companies, it makes perfect sense now. I’m a huge Wealthy Affiliate fan as they provide all the important aspects of website hosting with awesome training and community at a great price. I don’t think they can be beaten for quality.
Great review thanks, I learned a lot.
Hi there, it is great to hear that you are very happy with Wealthy Affiliate and the total package that they offer. Training and community support are two very important aspects of affiliate marketing, so they offer more than just the web hosting. All the best, Liné
I really enjoyed reading about your Passive Income website. It was interesting how you added WA into your post as the TOP Web Hosting company to join. I thought you were comparing the other three companies, but the way you added WA was clever.
I loved how you gave the reader as much information about those other companies without having them navigate away from your page. They could compare all the information and decide which one they wanted. Adding the WA information afterward, I think I may have to try that strategy, it was very clever.
What is website hosting services offering, differs not much between what is the top web hosting services. People have different requirements, so being able to offer them a choice, is good. Wealthy Affiliate is one of the only website hosting service providers that also offer training, so it is a complete package deal you get with them. Much more than just the best WordPress website hosting.
I really liked this article because it explains the different hosting services very well and their advantages according to your needs and your business goals. Personally, I can confirm that WA is an excellent hosting service for WordPress websites because I never had any issues with my websites ever since.
There are several choices for website hosting, providing services that cater for different needs.