Advice About Web Site Hosting

[LisaMarieGreen]

Greetings! I'm interested in starting a web site. There are so many web hosting sites to choose from that I don't know where to begin! I'm great at figuring out my options but have a hard time deciding. My fear is that I will find myself stuck, having invested time, energy and advertising into a place that is not a good fit. I'm not looking for anything fancy. I want a web site to host my blogging, photos, short videos, lists & affiliate links. In the past I used 1 & 1. I'd like something else. I don't want a free site. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Lisa Marie

[Lori786]

I use Bluehost as my hosting provider. I've been using them for about 4 years with no complaints. Right now, you can get a 36 month plan with them @ 2.95 per month on the Cyber Monday deal. I've found them very reliable and they have good resources for beginners on how to create a website and so on. The other one I know of is Hostgator but I don't have any hands-on experience with them.

[LuckScout]

Hi Lisa,

HostGator is the best and most professional.

To start your blog, just the Hatchling package which is $3.95 per month is the best and more than enough.

If you like, my team can setup WordPress for you for free. Just let me know.

[JoeSpirit]

I use several services myself. And have used some in the past that I left.

Right now I use Vendor-Lock (not happy with them at the moment), Namecheap, and Lifetime Hosting.

Namecheap has actually been my most preferred. I've used them pretty much since they started offering a hosting option without any problems to mention.

Lifetime Hosting is good. One time fee, and host for life. (They monetize by offering affiliate products to their clients, and I have no problem buying products that I find useful. I've bought a few through them.)

Lifetime's storage space isn't huge, but I am hosting 5 or 6 domains there with no problems so far. I've been with them a year now.

[writepro]

I have used Hostgator for more than 8 years, and have been very happy with them. I always used the Baby account (and there's nothing "baby" about it). It's a very robust shared hosting account, which can handle dozens of domains and multiple WordPress blogs.

I can't speak to the Hatchling account - I never used that. But I'm sure they can upgrade you if you start with a Hatchling account and need more space.

The only thing is that if you plan on getting lots of traffic, those videos might take up too much bandwidth (depending on their size). But you can always host them somewhere else, like Amazon S3 or YouTube.

What I like best about Hostgator is that they have 24/7 phone support (and chat support too). And everybody is very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. Plus they seem to be a native speaker of English, so there are no communication challenges.

The one thing that's a bit of a pain is that it takes a lot longer to get someone on the phone than it used to... But I now plan on that extra time and spend it productively...

[Jmccue414]

Originally Posted by LisaMarieGreen

Greetings! I'm interested in starting a web site. There are so many web hosting sites to choose from that I don't know where to begin! I'm great at figuring out my options but have a hard time deciding. My fear is that I will find myself stuck, having invested time, energy and advertising into a place that is not a good fit. I'm not looking for anything fancy. I want a web site to host my blogging, photos, short videos, lists & affiliate links. In the past I used 1 & 1. I'd like something else. I don't want a free site. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Lisa Marie

Thanks for asking about this. I have been doing some research as well and have been struggling to determine which option is the best out there. What did you decide on?

[Anny57]

I've been using Hostgator for a few years now, and I like it. I don't remember having issues with downtime. I think Bluehost is great too.

[daronch]

There're many like hostgator, bluehost, namecheap, etc. Check them out and see which one fits your needs.

[sheeroh]

I use Hostgator too and pay about $11 every month, on the baby plan. I'd also recommend you check BlueHost. It has amazing reviews too.

[Jmccue414]

I am having a hard time figuring out which service to use. I am a complete novice at this point. I don't want to spend too much since I am picking this up as a newbie but it generally seems that they are affordable. Hostgator seems to be the preferred one but if I am understanding it, it appears that some people get a discount by recommending it so I worry about the reliability of the reviews out there. Any feedback on that?