Top 4 Hosting Platforms In 2020

Website hosting services are basically the first thing you need to have to run your website or online store. When starting a website or a blog you need hosting, otherwise you won’t be able to get off the ground. The following web hosting providers that we will be looking at today will be responsible for keeping your site running so your customers can access it when ever they need to.

The best web hosting providers are reliable, fast, secure and have customer support that will completely support you.

No hosting company is perfect. And we’ve always maintained that there is no such thing as a “best hosting company” – it all depends on your goals and preferences.

1. Bluehost

For many site managers and business owners, Bluehost is considered to be the most popular choice for web hosting services. Company has been around for a long time, they offer awesome hosting service at a great price, and they are known for supporting their customers.

If you run in to a problem, you can reach them 24/7 by calling or live chat. They have listed their support number and live chat right on their site so you can easily contact them.

Bluehost also offers hosting that will support whatever direction your business grows and is there to grow with you.

For example you start off with a standard shared hosting plan and want to install WordPress. Bluehost offers an easy 1-click install to get it done. After that when your site keeps growing and you want to upgrade to managed WordPress hosting to speed up your site and increase security, they offer that option too. Or you are looking to get more control by upgrading to VPS or dedicated hosting? Bluehost has plans for these options as well.

In conclusion Bluehost has everything covered you might need from a web host. They are our #1 pick for a web host because when you start with Bluehost there is no need to switch to someone else. You just need to enjoy the smooth ride!

2. HostGator

HostGator is our #2 pick and it’s also a big and known name in web hosting, and there are some pros & cons.

HostGator includes support in all their plans. If you are looking for a web hosting service that’s cheap and offers support then HostGator is the pick for you.

HostGator does have an extensive self-serve knowledge base, but they don’t offer any email support. You can only contact them by phone or live chat. Getting on the phone isn’t probably the most popular form of contact in 2020.

They offer Windows hosting in addition to Linux, as well as a variety of options to upgrade, including cloud hosting, VPS hosting, managed WordPress, and a dedicated server. Shared hosting plans start at $2.75/month.

HostGator also has a very deep knowledge base that contains answers to practically every possible question you could have, ranging from basic to very advanced. Overall, HostGator provides excellent customer support.

3. Dreamhost

DreamHost is another big and known name in web hosting which has been around since 1997.

They doesn’t use the standard cPanel that most hosts use. They have a completely custom control panel that you can use to manage your website. Most of Dreamhost’s users love it but it can make things difficult if you ever want to swich hosts.

In addition to shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting, DreamHost offers low-cost upgrades to VPS and cloud hosting, as well as dedicated servers should you ever need them. Even their VPS plans start at $10/month.

DreamHost is one of WordPress’s three recommended hosts, and they include some managed WordPress hosting in their basic shared plans. DreamHost also offers a managed plan with upgrades called DreamPress.

Customer service is a little different from the other hosts: you can get email support 24/7, but live chat is available only during business hours, and you have to pay $9.95 to get technical support over the phone. This is called a “nominal fee”. If you need lots of support while you set up your site, then you should take this into consideration.

BUT, their free trial period is longer than anyone else — whopping 97 days. Shared hosting plans start at $2.59/month, and DreamHost doesn’t do promo pricing so it won’t go up after your first contract is over. This price is one of the lowest hosting prices you can find right now, perfect for you if you are on a tight budget.

What’s really worth pointing out is the outstanding offers DreamHost has for nonprofits: one free Unlimited shared hosting plan (which includes unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited sites, and email hosting) for 501(c)(3) organizations, plus a 35% discount on the souped-up DreamPress-managed WordPress hosting. That’s a phenomenal deal.

4. SiteGround

Sireground has a selection of strategies which can grow with you, you can start with a cheap shared hosting plan and upgrade to a VPS account when you have a lot of websites. But it's completely scalable and you can start with a basic shared account and then go up when you need to.

Eight reasons to choose SiteGround:

1. Fantastic customer service

2. Instant chat support

3. 30 minutes resolution on tickets

4. Instant phone assistance

5. Fantastic loading times

6. Proactive security

7. Free backups

8. Cost

We have written a separate article on SiteGround and why it's one of the best, in this article all of the points above have been explained. You can check it out here: 8 Reasons To Host Your Blog On Siteground

Tip - Avoid Free Web Hosting

For just about everybody, free hosting isn't worthwhile.

Web hosting isn't where you should save yourself money. If you are concerned about the purchase price of hosting, I would say you want to be concerned about generating traffic and revenue before attempting to spare a few added bucks cutting hosting prices.

A free host is simply great for something such as an occasion one-pager or a very small, exceptionally low-traffic website. If you're doing both of these things, you still ought to bypass the free host path and jump directly to some totally free site builder that will allow you to connect your website to a custom domain at no cost, such as UCraft or even Google Sites. They are both quite fundamental small builders, but they're easier to get up and running in relation to a free hosting company.