One of the essential considerations when you start your blog is choosing among the best blog hosting sites or providers. But with so many web hosting in the market today, how do you pick the right one? Here’s what you need to know about blog hosts.
So you’ve finally decided to pursue blogging. You’ve picked your niche, researched, and brainstormed different blogging topics to cover.
But before you can officially call yourself a serious blogger, there’s one crucial decision you have to make: which blog hosting provider to pick?
There are so many hosting providers nowadays, and picking the best one for you can be tricky. So today, you’ll learn more about what a blog host is, why it’s vital in your blogging journey, and, importantly, decide on the best web hosting that fits your needs.
What is a blog host?
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First, let us get to know what a blog host is.
Your blog needs to have its own space or server on the internet. Think of the server as a rental space to put your blog in. So the blog host acts as a landlord, providing your blog with the space it needs to be visible and accessible on the web.
But blog hosts offer more than just this space; they also have security features, customer support, a free domain name, an SSL certificate, and managed WordPress hosting. Some even have unlimited bandwidth and storage and a money-back guarantee.
Web hosting sites are not created equal, so finding the best hosting provider that meets your needs is essential.
Why do you need a hosting service?
What’s the big deal about getting web hosting anyway when you could just sign up on free blogging sites such as Weebly, Wix, and WordPress.org?
Well, it’s a huge deal. There are many things paid web hosting offers that a free blogging platform doesn’t.
- Paid blog hosts allow for maximum customization
While you can set up a blog with free blog hosting providers, your options are somewhat limited. You’ll have to stick to their URL format, such as www.myblog.com/wordpress, which looks unprofessional and not businesslike. If you avail of paid hosting plans, you get your domain name ending with a dot com.
In the branding sense, this helps establish yourself as an author/writer. In addition, with the best blog hosting, you’re making it known that you mean business.
- You own the site
Another reason why it’s good to pay for a quality hosting plan is that you own the site and won’t be at the mercy of, say, Tumbler or Blogger. You don’t have complete control of the site, so it limits what you can do with your blog. If the blogging site is down, so is your blog, and you can do nothing but just wait.
On the other hand, getting a hosting service allows you endless customization. You can download basically any plug-in that you need and easily switch web hosting providers without the pain of manual labor. Also, hosting sites provide customer support, so you can contact them should you encounter problems with your website.
- Your blog is secured
The best blog hosting providers offer incredible security features, such as manual backups, automatic security scans, free SSL certificate, and other high-level security assets to protect your blog. Your site will become less vulnerable to hacks and malware with such security features in place.
- Ability to monetize your blog
If you have noticed, all successful blog owners availed of web blog hosting. They understand that they need to invest money in solid web hosting to make more money and look at where they are now. If you treat blogging as a real job or a serious online business, getting the best blog hosting is one of the best things you spend money on because it gives you ROI. For example, one of the best ways to make money blogging is to run ads on your WordPress blog.
Paid web hosting is relatively inexpensive. You can find a ton of budget-friendly hosting plans to help you secure your domain name, get speedy loading times, one-click WordPress installation, and other fantastic features.
How to choose the best web hosting for blogs
Now that you know why you need a blog hosting service, it’s time to explore the crucial factors that make for the best web hosting. When shopping around for hosting sites, here are the top things to consider:
Reliability and Uptime
Your blog host should be up on the web almost 100% of the time to ensure availability and maximum exposure. If your blog goes down, it matters how quickly your blog host takes action to get it back up. A high uptime rate means it can go up fast and become accessible to readers as soon as possible.
Site Speed and Performance
Speed is also a crucial factor when choosing blog hosts. Your blog must load as quickly as possible to keep your audience engaged. You could lose your existing audience with a slow-loading website, as well as it makes it difficult for your to acquire new ones. Traffic can also be significantly affected by your site speed.
Security
Security features among blog hosts can vary, but many offer a free SSL certificate that encrypts actions between the user and the server. Also, look for other crucial security features, such as malware scanning, firewall, two-factor authorization (2FA), regular monitoring and backup, and spam protection.
User-friendliness
There is often a slight learning curve when using a blog host, but some are user-friendly. For instance, you can easily customize the look and feel of your site with drag-and-drop features.
Customer support
It is important to reach the hosting site through various channels in case of issues or problems. Many hosting sites offer 24/7 customer support through phone, live chat, and email.
7 Best Blog Hosting Providers
What is the best web hosting for you? The bad news is, there are so many to choose from!
But here’s the good news, I’ve rounded up the best web hosting sites based on the factors we’ve discussed above and presented each with its pros and cons.
Hopefully, this helps you find another perfect blog hosting for your needs!
1. HostGator
HostGator is a household name for web hosting. It was also what I used for two years when I first started and it offered more than what I needed as a beginner.
It has been around since 2002 and has hosted over 2 million sites on its servers.
There are reasons why, for me, HostGator is one of the best web hosting sites and why I can highly recommend this company.
First, HostGator offers 99.99% uptime guaranteed, lightning-fast speeds, and a great customer support team. It also provides one of the cheapest hosting plans in the market today.
HostGator’s hosting services vary from web hosting and cloud hosting to WordPress hosting. As for web hosting, you can get the cheapest Hatchling Plan for at least $2.75 per month. This is a great shared hosting for a single website, offering unmetered bandwidth, up to 10 GB disk space, a free email address, and one-click WordPress installation, and you also get a free domain name in your first year.
The Baby Plan has everything the Hatchling Plan offers, but with extra features like managing up to 5 websites, 40 GB disk space, and a $500 Google Ad spend match credit.
You may also purchase WordPress hosting plans from HostGator. Managed WordPress hosting plans start at $5.95 per month, and that already includes a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, 1 GB backups, and 100k visits per month. WordPress users appreciate WordPress pre-installed in your account, high-level security, easy-to-use CPanel, and free site migration.
HostGator Pros
- The easy drag-and-drop features of HostGator’s website builder make it easy to come up with a customized website
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Budget-friendly web hosting plans
- Plans include a free domain name, free SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, and email accounts
HostGator Cons
- The cost of hosting plans needs to be paid upfront
You can sign up with Hostgator here using my link. If you need help setting up your website with Hostgator, I have a Hostgator tutorial right here.
2. Bluehost
One of the best companies offering incredible hosting plans is Bluehost. Bluehost offers incredible blog hosting plans for both veteran and newbie bloggers. One thing I like so much about Bluehost is that it is super easy to use and navigate. It comes with a one-click WordPress installation, and the CPanel is easy to learn and understand.
Bluehost offers a free domain and SSL as well as free CDN. There are different hosting plans to choose from. First, the basic plan starts at $2.95 per month for one website, 10 GB SSD storage, and a free SSL certificate for the first year.
If you want to host unlimited websites, go for the CHOICE PLUS plan (starting at $5.45 per month); it comes with 40 GB SSD storage, free SSL, malware scanning, daily backups, and domain privacy. Other hosting plans are ONLINE STORE and PRO plans ($9.95/month and $13.95/month, respectively), which offer bandwidth and storage, unlimited websites, and more nifty features.
Bluehost has always been known for excellent performance, high uptime rates (but no uptime guarantee), and fast loading time. Bluehost’s reliability is its strongest suit. Not only is it a fantastic website builder, but it also brings good value for money, as it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Bluehost Pros
- It is a highly reliable web hosting provider with a fast-loading speed
- It is an excellent website builder for newbie bloggers and small business owners
- Excellent customer support team you can reach via a phone call or live chat
- Pre-installed WordPress
- money-back guarantee
Bluehost Cons
- The basic plan is a bit too limited
- You don’t get a free email with any of the plans
3. GoDaddy
Another established web hosting provider worth looking into is GoDaddy. This web hosting platform has been around over the past two decades and has indeed established itself as one of the best sources for blog hosting sites in the market today.
When it comes to getting a custom domain name, GoDaddy has an excellent reputation for that. Now that the company also offers hosting services, it pays to know how GoDaddy fares against competing hosting sites.
So what makes GoDaddy a fantastic blog host? First, it has an uptime rating of 99.99%, making it one of the most reliable blog hosts in the market. Paired with incredible speed and an easy user interface, GoDaddy proves to be one of the blog hosts you can consider.
As for hosting plans, you can start your blog with GoDaddy by acquiring a domain name for as little as $0.19 in your first year. However, you do pay a hefty price for an SSL certificate that costs $70 per year, professional email for $2 per user/month, and web hosting for $5 per month.
GoDaddy has WordPress hosting plans. WordPress users may avail of web hosting for $9 per month, which includes built-in security and malware scanning and pre-installed plugins and themes. Basic WordPress hosting includes free email, one-click WordPress installation, round-the-clock customer support, and daily backups.
GoDaddy Pros
- GoDaddy is a beginner-friendly web host it allows you to start your blog with little technical help from anybody else.
- The responsive customer support team allows you to fix bugs and issues immediately.
- 99.99% uptime guaranteed
- Site load speed and performance are terrific.
- One-click site migration for WordPress blogs
GoDaddy Cons
- GoDaddy’s hosting plans get more expensive after your first year
4. SiteGround
Another excellent blog hosting option to consider is SiteGround. Considered by many as one of the best web hosting for blogs, SiteGround is recommended by WordPress.org and trusted by thousands of domains.
SiteGround offers high-quality blog hosting plans. It boasts ultra-fast load speed, 99.99% server uptime, and excellent customer support. In addition, you can reach SiteGround for any issues through a phone call, live chat, or ticketing system.
SiteGround is an excellent web hosting provider for bloggers and small business owners. It is beginner friendly, so you can easily navigate the site without issues. If you need to transfer your domain, you can easily do so with SiteGround’s site migration feature. You can also create unlimited email accounts under your domain and enjoy fast response times.
Of course, we can’t miss out on SiteGround’s managed WordPress hosting plans which all come with unlimited bandwidth, one-click WordPress installation, WordPress auto-updates, free email migrator, free SSL certificate, CDN, and daily backups. If you’re running WordPress blogs, this hosting plan is the perfect choice for you.
As for web hosting, SiteGround’s hosting plans start at $3.99 per month, including one website, 10 GB web space, 10K monthly visits, unmetered bandwidth, free email, a free domain, and a free SSL certificate. If you want blog hosting for unlimited websites, you can go for GrowBig ($6.99 per month) or GoGeek ($10.69 per month).
SiteGround Pros
- All hosting plans come with unlimited bandwidth, free email accounts, free domain names, and free SSL.
- It is WordPress-integrated, so it’s easier to operate and maintain your WordPress blog
- Top-notch customer support
- WordPress recommended
SiteGround Cons
- Not as cheap as other hosting options
- Limited disk space
5. DreamHost
Another fantastic blog hosting provider site to look into is DreamHost. DreamHost provides various hosting services, including web hosting, WordPress hosting, domain name registration, and site migration.
With DreamHost, you can avail yourself of a cheap shared hosting plan for $2.95 per month. This hosting plan includes one website, a free domain, WordPress pre-installed, unlimited traffic, WordPress website builder, fast SSD storage, and a free SSL certificate. In addition, you can add an email at an extra cost.
DreamHost’s VPS hosting plan at $13.75 per month is perfect for small businesses. This hosting plan includes unlimited websites, unlimited bandwidth, add domains easily, unlimited email accounts, 30GB SSD storage, and 1-click WordPress installation.
DreamHost is also WordPress-recommended and carries a notorious reputation for speed and reliability. It hosts millions of websites and WordPress blogs, a 100% uptime guarantee, and 24/7 customer support through email and live chat.
DreamHost Pros
- It is one of the most efficient, reliable, yet cheap blog hosting providers you can find today
- Hosting plans include unlimited bandwidth, free domain, free email, and free SSL
- 1-click WordPress installation allows you to create a WordPress blog easily and quickly
- Excellent security features
- WordPress website builder allows you to build a website using a drag-and-drop method easily
- 100% uptime guarantee
DreamHost Cons
- Live chat is not available 24/7
- Shared hosting plans do not provide free email
6. Hostinger
If you’re a newbie blogger concerned about the cost of blog hosting, look into Hostinger, one of the cheapest yet best blog hosting sites on the web. Like other hosting sites, Hostinger also offers web hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, a website builder, and cloud hosting.
As already mentioned, blog hosting from Hostinger is incredibly inexpensive. For just $2.99 per month, you get a solid, straightforward, and efficient hosting plan for your blog site. This basic plan includes hosting for 100 websites, unlimited bandwidth, a free domain, free SSL, and weekly backups. This plan includes a bonus of free email and site migration, a 99.99% uptime guarantee, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you’re looking for better performance, more WordPress features, and daily backups, then you should upgrade to the higher-level hosting plans, which cost $3.99 per month and $9.99 per month, depending on your needs.
Hostinger Pros
- Cheap yet efficient blog hosting service
- Easy blog setup with its website builder
- Easy WordPress installation
- Superb performance and incredible speed
Hostinger Cons
- Not as many extra features compared to other hosting sites
- Short-term subscriptions tend to be more expensive
7. a2 Hosting
A2 Hosting may not be as popular as BlueHost or DreamHost, but this web hosting provider has something great to offer regarding performance. Its main selling point is that it is a powerful hosting site that allows your website to load super fast and experience 99.99% uptime.
Apart from that, A2 Hosting’s plans are incredibly cheap. You can get a shared hosting plan for as little as $2.99 per month, perfect for new bloggers who are quite wary of their budget. The shared hosting plans come with StartUp at $2.99 per month, which includes hosting for one website, 100 GB storage, site migration, and a money-back guarantee.
If you want to host unlimited websites, you can go for the Drive Plan, which costs $5.99 and comes with free automatic backups. Or, you could opt for the Turbo Boost ($6.99 per month) and Turbo Max ($14.99 per month), with speed boosts that make your site speed 20x faster.
This provider also swears by its 99.99% uptime commitment, free site migration, and excellent customer support reachable through phone, email, and live chat.
A2 Hosting Pros
- Excellent blog hosting option for the budget-conscious
- Commitment to superb uptime rates
- Money-back guarantee
- Great hosting plans to choose from
- 24/7 customer support
A2 Hosting Cons
- Free domain is not included in the hosting plans
- The cheap basic plan is quite lacking in features, and it is better to go for the Turbo plans, but they are more expensive
Final Thoughts
There you have it, the best web hosting providers to choose from. Each one of these hosting sites is amazing in its own way, and they may be flawed in some areas. But the great thing is you can now easily start your own blog. Many of them are beginner-friendly and offer unlimited bandwidth and storage, free domain, and free SSL; some even have free email accounts.
If you’re looking for the best web hosting, it’s good to check their reputation for performance, security, reliability, and customer support. Remember, their prices and features vary, so try to get the best value for your money by nailing down the best web hosting that serves your needs.
