Hosting Services, which one ranks highest?

I am embarking on my first blog venture (Wordpress) and I'm currently in the process of choosing a hosting service. Most of the internet seems to recommend bluehost, but I've noticed most of those who recommend it, do so because they are affiliate marketers for them. Same goes for hostgator and dreamhost. I've found a small web hosting service called A Small Orange, has any body had any experiences with them.

My needs for the site are currently small however I do expect to expand quite rapidly and after 6 months expect to average 10,000 monthly visits.

If anybody can give me some direction on which hosts are the best that'd be much appreciated.

 

most bloggers use bluehost or hostgator, i use digitalocean unmanaged vps since i host many blog on one vps $5/mo i can scale it up when needed easily.

 

So which one should I choose? I don't mean to be rude but you didn't answer my question at all. I would like advice and suggestions on why most bloggers chose those sights. Why are you choosing digitalocean? What have been your experiences with said hosting sites? things such as that.

 

i use digitalocean because:
super fast (SSD Drive)
cheap VPS cloud hosting starting from $5
i can pay monthly
unmanaged VPS (i like to have full control and install what i need only, nginx...)
scalable anytime i want

 

Also check for the Softsys Hosting, They do provide all features in any web hosting service based on Windows or Linux platform at reasonable rates and best 24*7 technical support team.

 

I have used hostgator for a long time now for multiple websites. I cannot tell you how many times their excellent technical support pulled my bacon out of the fire. They go above and beyond what should normally be expected of a web hosting service and I have never had long wait times or delays when dealing with them. I would recommend them to anybody looking for a hosting service.

 

I have never had a problem with hostgator (20+ sites) and when a minor issue has come up, they have answered me right away. Good luck with your decision.

 

I host all my sites in Arvixe hosting. They will be the number one in the next 2 years. Great Technical support.

 

Hey John, I'll try and share some advice here too.

First of all you have already started seeing some trends that will hopefully not mislead you - when you search for hosting there will be a few names popping up very often (like HostGator, BlueHost) etc. BUT that is just a reflection of the highest paying affiliates. As they are quite big companies, they spend a lot on advertising so they can be seen everywhere. Contrary to their size, those are actually the companies that you will mostly want to avoid. They are almost all owned by a company called EIG and have all experienced fast deterioration of quality and support since they were acquired. If you look on hosting forums for reviews of the companies, most of them would be negative for a reason - constant downtimes, unhelpful to no support at all etc. Sadly, forums like this one are still full of affiliates that advertise their services not because they are so satisfied with it, but just to get the affiliate bonuses.

Here are a few pointers that might help you out:

- you have a pretty basic setup and as a new site you would not need anything more than Shared Hosting
- make a list of your most important requirements and seek for hosts that fulfil them
- if you want more unbiased opinions, the only forum that seems to give them is WebHostingTalk
- check the Marketplaces of hosting forums for Shared Hosting deals and select a few small or mid-range companies as having
less clients means that they can dedicate more time and resources for you, treating you more personally than a large company
- before you choose make sure to test the companies' Support by chat or phone. This is really a determining factor as most hosts neglect their good service. Look for friendly, knowledgeable, fast and efficient support

Those are, of course, just a few, but will give you a pretty good idea of what you need to seek.

Good luck and if you need more assistance I would be glad to help

 

Note that I have absolutely no affiliate status with any company, whatsoever, and my recommendation of hostgator stands. I am just a longtime user of hostgator (20+ websites) who remains a fan of theirs.

 

I use both Bluehost and Hostgator,
I run wordpress, squeeze pages.
All of my solo ads business is being run from Bluehost, that means I run massive traffic there daily. I also have Hostgator account which isnt as active.
I have to say that I am having a bit of downtime problems with bluehost. But it happens sometimes not too much. Because of that id say I prefer hostgator. On the other hand maybe with higher activity it would be the same.
I never used other hosting services so I cant compare to others. But these 2 are still pretty good for me.
Also ive heard that both of them are owned now by the same company.
I am not their affiliate whatsoever Most the people in my niche already know these 2 anyway, so it won't be lucrative to promote them for me anyway.

 

I would echo the thoughts of Rado_ch above. Once a hosting company becomes big and popular, their huge customer bases tend to cause issues with either technical support, customer support, downtime, etc. That is a GENERAL statement; there are exceptions!

I've been with InMotion for the past 4 years and they were absolutely awesome at first but my sites were down for over 10 hours one day in June. That's ridiculous!

Try to find an up-and-coming webhost where they 'try harder'. They're out there but not so easy to find sometimes. Spend a whole day conducting research if you have to.... it's worth it.

 

Hi Johnrush5,

I think the choice is going to have to be left
up entirely up to you; ultimately.

The rest of your fellow digital forum members
can only share with you their personal
experiences with the different hosting companies.

And everybody's likes and dislikes are going to be
quite different from the other.

I completely agree with Cborrx. Hostgator has been
nothing but a picture and a reality of pure efficiency,
and professional operation; for me, at least. and I
am sensing that Cborrx might have experienced that
same sense of success with them.

And in any case, Johnrush5, Rado_ch has laid out a very
detail and substantive response for you. You simply cannot
go wrong from here

Best of luck, )

Alodie

 

I started with hostgator because I could make monthly payments instead of paying a year up front. I also host 4 sites on one account and can add more if I want. After I got to the point where I could afford to pay yearly I stuck with them because I have never, in over 3 years, had any issue with them. And when I want to try a new niche, i just add the new domain and build a site

al

 

Does host gator bill separately for the domain names ie A price per month for the hosting service Plus a set yearly fee for the domain name registration ?

 

I pay a monthly fee of $24 and I can add as many domains as I would like. I currently have about 10-12 running and I am sure that when the traffic gets to be too high, they will have me upgrade to my own server or something like that. I don't register my domains through hostgator.

 

Thank You

 

I moved from HostGator to MDDHosting and found their services to be better for a little less money, I currently host 20 sites on there.
My websites rank high for stuff I care about and the load speed is fairly good.

 

I moved out from hostgator once, when my site was down for 2 hours and the technical support was not able to explain the reason for that, so decided to test some cheap hosting company like hillhost, for $2/mo and for the last 1 year or so everything is fine. Best way is to keep on changing the hosts, till you find the one that suits you the most.

 

I think Hostgator is the best I have been with them a couple of years and had really good experience with them. The one thing that stands out is their customer service they always have someone you can talk to if you have any issues. Also has your business grows there hosting packages can easily handle multiple websites.