As a web developer and WordPress expert, I’ve worked on hundreds of WordPress websites, and even more websites that are not built on the WordPress platform.
Also, I have maintained a great many personal websites over the years as well, and thus, I’ve worked on websites that were hosted by a plethora of hosting companies.
I’ve experienced the performance of these hosts, their customer service, their client areas and cPanels (or proprietary management panels), and learned how much they charge for their services.
Not every website has the same needs when it comes to hosting, however, if you’re running typical WordPress websites, I have some great information for you the next time you’re in the market for cheap WordPress hosting.
I use my current host for a number of reasons, besides the fact that they are the cheapest WordPress hosting company I’ve found for the quality they provide.
First, they allow you to pay monthly, even from day one, which many hosting companies these days (such as BlueHost) do not offer as an option. This blows my mind, but it’s how they and many others do business.
Second, even paying monthly, I get an SSL certificate as part of the deal. I didn’t pay a little extra for it, it’s included in the package, meaning I can choose a domain name to have protected by 256 bit Positive SSL. That’s really awesome in my book.
Third, I don’t have to transfer any domain registrations to the host, or register a domain with them. For some of their packages, they do offer a free domain name registration, however, they will allow you to setup a hosting account with them without requiring you to have a “primary domain” registered with them.
This saves a lot of headaches, and many times, a web hosting company wants you to have, at the very least, your primary domain name registered with them. Then, when you decide to stop using their services, you’ve got to transfer the domain name elsewhere, which many times will cost you money, or, continue to pay for the domain registration through them. This means you’ll likely have one domain name registration on that account, their renewal fees probably are overpriced, and it’s just a headache. I like having my domain names registered with domain name registration companies like GoDaddy, NameCheap, etc. It helps me stay organized, rather than have various domain names scattered across old web hosting companies I don’t use anymore.
Fourth, they’re flexible on due dates, even on monthly hosting. They grant a 7 day grace period once an invoice goes overdue, and if you require more than 7 days to pay the invoice, all you have to do is create a support ticket and explain your situation, and usually, they’ll grant you an extension without any further inquiry, jumping through hoops, or headaches. I wouldn’t recommend doing this regularly, but if you get tight on your budget one month, it’s nice to know that your host isn’t going to suspend your account, delete your files and databases, and basically hold you hostage. Also, what if you just forget, or your card expires and the new card hasn’t come in the mail, etc.? There are quite a few scenarios that could arise to put you in this situation if you’re an individual website owner.
Fifth, did I mention their customer service is friendly, responds quickly, and is actually on your side? Every once in a while, an issue will arise that warrants you to contact support, and if that goes badly, you better bet I’m cancelling my service or letting it expire and moving on. I do my very best to provide excellent customer service to my clients, and I expect the same from anyone I do business with. If my money isn’t worth your time, I’ll take my business to someone who takes customer service seriously.
Also, they offer true customer service, which many times, when you’re dealing with large hosting companies, they simply take every opportunity available to toss marketing at you to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated server, even when it is not necessary, or even close to necessary! GoDaddy is the worst in the business when it comes to this. Their support team is nothing more than an extended sales team in my opinion.
Sixth, you’re able to scale up your package at any time, which is key when you’re dealing with cheap WordPress hosting companies. If you start to get a lot of traffic, chances are, your shared hosting account is going to start to experience issues with handling the traffic, and by that, I mean that your resource usage for your shared account will be over the limit.
When this happens, many web hosting companies take it as an opportunity to once again, hold you hostage, suspend your site, and make you upgrade your account. This means all that traffic you are getting, is now going to a broken page, or probably, an advertisement based landing page all about your wonderful web hosting company, who is holding you hostage. That stinks!
I’ve never heard of anyone experiencing this issue with the host I use.
I invite you to check out my recommended cheap WordPress hosting company, or read even more of what I have to say about them and watch my YouTube video by visiting the navigation link here on my blog.
Digi Purpose 