What Are The Best Hosts For Your Site?

I thought it would be a good idea to write down a few of my thoughts about web hosting services for those considering hosting their own site; which I highly recommend.

I have been building my own hosted websites and I have built or redid a few sites for several clients of my webmaster business over the past five years. I have been through a few web hosting companies.

I have concluded that the most important criteria in selecting a web host are as follows:

• Customer service and technical support
• Performance
• Security
• Reputation
• Price
• Features

 

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There are many very good web hosting companies out there, so it can be difficult to choose what is best for your needs. And there are a lot of reviews out there; many of which seem to be planted by some web hosting companies.

In the age of alt-reality and fake news, it is best to vet things.
I am a believer of The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 Rule, where perhaps 20 percent of web hosts are worth it and the rest perhaps not. Or 20 percent of the reviews out there are credible while the rest are not.

I find that if you evaluate the criteria above with no more than a handful of potential web hosts you will probably end up making the right choice for you and your site.

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How do you get to that shortlist?

Well if you are looking to use WordPress as your site’s platform then look for those that specialize in delivering this platform in a superior way. Look at sites like WP Beginner to get an idea of which hosts are reliable in the WordPress arena to quickly arrive at a shortlist. Or look at who WordPress themselves are endorsing.

The two lists cited these 3 hosting providers in common:

1. Siteground
2. Bluehost
3. Dreamhost

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I have used Bluehost in the past but left them because I was not interested in owning a site at that time. I did not leave them for technical, pricing or service reasons. In fact, for a very long time, they were the only host recommended by WordPress.

 

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I have never used Dreamhost, however, the fact that they appear on WordPress’ list as well as WPBeginners’ list is enough to give them serious consideration. They may be the highest price though.

 

 

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I use Siteground for my sites and for my clients. As a retired IT and Telecom senior manager and consultant, I was impressed with the advanced technology they had developed for security and performance at a very reasonable price. And anytime I have goofed or had a question their support handled the issue successfully within 30 minutes. That level of support is hard to come by and is why I recommend them and will use them going forward.

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So there you have it. Any of these three are a good choice. I suggest you take a one-year engagement at first and then decide if you continue or move.

No matter what do your own evaluation before choosing using the criteria above and you should arrive at the right choice.

If you need any help on this let me know. I can give you a few of my own experiences with several web hosts I have used.