Looking for a good place to host your website or blog? There are a variety of different things that you should consider before choosing a web host. The thing about web hosting is, once you pick a host and get your website setup, it can be very difficult to switch hosts in the future.
Thus, picking a web host that will work great for you initially is key. Chances are, you have probably heard of the following hosting companies. Here is how they stack up as far as bang for buck, reliability, and overall deal.
GoDaddy
Godaddy is one of the most popular web hosting companies, most likely due to heavy commercial advertising. Overall, Godaddy is a good webhosting company that offers just about any feature one could ask for in a web host.
Godaddy offers a do it yourself solution for just about any adjustment that you need to make with your domains and hosting. For example, with Godaddy, you can switch the primary domain on your hosting account yourself, by using the change of primary domain wizard.
Some smaller hosting companies do not officially offer a do it yourself solution for things like this. It can be done, but usually requires a call to customer support to have them do it. Godaddy does however, have one major con. They are always trying to markets something to you.
It’s not uncommon to get 2-3 emails a day from Godaddy that are marketing some product to you or trying to make you upgrade to something more expensive. Also, Godaddy does offer a surplus of more features than traditional web hosts. However, they also charge you for the majority of them.
Godaddy’s rates tend to fluctuate a lot, but they do offer a lot of promos which you should take advantage of. The right promo code will get you a domain for 7 bucks and 20% off of your hosting.
HostGator
Hostgator is a very simple web host to use. They also have some of the best customer support in the business.When you purchase a domain through Hostgator, you are actually using Registry Rocket services to acquire the domain.
From there, Hostgator registers the domain name to your hosting account. This can be seen as a slight disadvantage. If you want to make domain changes on your account, you have to know how to adjust DNS servers yourself, and do it through Registry Rocket.
However, if you don’t want to bother with making changes like this, just send Hostgator an email and they will do it for you, no charge. Hostgator has good uptime, and they don’t bug you with marketing offers.
Hostgator rates for hosting and domain purchasing are mid range in price for a web host. But, they do accept promo codes, which can save you a couple bucks here and there.
Media Temple (MT)
Media Temple is the chosen host by a variety of different labels including: Adobe, Diesel, JQuery, Starbucks, etc… They market themselves as a premium web host. MT’s UI software is unique, similar to Godaddy.
They don’t use cPanel like the majority of generic hosts. Media Temple’s hosting plans are really only suitable for sites that get a lot of traffic. Their prices are considered very high. The lowest Media Temple hosting plan starts at $20 a month, and prices only go up from there.
They do a decent job at not bugging you with marketing plots, and the letters that they do send you are often times useful. Media Temple support is decent.
Blue Host
Blue Host is known for having some of the best hosting rates. Hosting plans start at $6.95 a month and most of the time you can get hosting for under $5 with a good promo code.
As far as reliability, Blue Host has had some trouble in the past, as many users have reported that their sites have gone down. However, Blue Host has gotten several positive reviews as well.
Similar to Hostgator, Blue Host uses the cPanel interface. Blue Host tends to stay on top of hosting trends and add features when necessary and demand is there. Support for Blue Host is generally good.
Conclusion
In conclusion, here is my opinion on the final ranking of the four web hosting companies.
1. Hostgator
2. Godaddy
3. Blue Host
4. Media Temple
Don’t agree? Tell us why you think the order should be different. Or tell us your favorite web hosting company and why it’s better than the four I mentioned here. Enjoy!
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