If you want to get started right away with web hosting as a small business owner, we recommend using Wordpress and WP Engine.
When it comes to running a small business or building a side hustle, having a reliable and efficient website is crucial. Your website is the first point of contact between a business and its potential customers. It is essential to have a website that is user-friendly, visually appealing, and fast. However, all of these factors depend on the quality of web hosting that a business chooses.
I’m a small business owner (this site), and I know that finding the best web hosting for a small business can be a daunting task. It is essential to choose a web hosting provider that meets your business's needs and budget.
There are numerous options available in the market, ranging from free web hosting to premium web hosting services. Each web hosting provider has its pros and cons, and it is crucial to choose the one that aligns with a business's goals and objectives. That’s why our team crunched all the data to get you our top picks for the best web hosting solutions for small businesses.
The Top 6 Web Hosting For Small Business
- WP Engine - Best Overall
- Bluehost - Best For Beginners
- HostGator - Best For Budget-Friendly Hosting
- DreamHost - Best For Cloud Hosting
- SiteGround - Best For Customer Support
- InMotion - Best For Scalability
WP Engine - Best Overall
WP Engine is a top-rated WordPress web hosting platform that is perfect for small businesses. They offer a range of features that are designed to help businesses increase site traffic and conversion rates.
One of the best features of WP Engine is their lightning-fast load times. This is essential for small businesses that want to provide their customers with a better website experience. They also offer world-class security to ensure that your website is always protected.
Another great feature of WP Engine is their customer support. They have a team of experts that are available 24/7 to help you with any issues that you may encounter. This is particularly important for small businesses that may not have the resources to hire their own IT team.
WP Engine is also great for small businesses because they offer a range of plans that are designed to fit different budgets and needs. Their Startup plan is perfect for small websites and blogs, while their Professional plan is ideal for businesses that are looking to build their brand.
The pricing for WP Engine varies depending on the plan that you choose. Their Startup plan starts at $20 per month, while their Professional plan starts at $98 per month. While this may seem expensive, it is important to remember that WP Engine offers a range of features that are designed to help small businesses succeed.
Pricing
- Startup: This plan starts at $20 per month (billed annually) and includes one website, 25,000 visits per month, 50GB of bandwidth, and 10GB of storage.
- Professional: This plan starts at $50 per month (billed annually) and includes up to 3 websites, 75,000 visits per month, 125GB of bandwidth, and 15GB of storage.
- Growth: This plan starts at $95 per month (billed annually) and includes up to five websites, 100,000 visits per month, 200GB of bandwidth, and 20GB of storage.
- Scale: This plan starts at $241 per month (billed annually) and includes up to 15 websites, 400,000 visits per month, 500GB of bandwidth, and 50GB of storage.
- Custom: For businesses with more advanced needs, WP Engine also offers custom pricing plans that can be tailored to specific requirements.
Bluehost - Best For Beginners
Bluehost is a web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting plans suitable for small businesses. With over two million websites hosted, Bluehost is a popular choice for entrepreneurs looking for a reliable and affordable hosting solution.
Features
Bluehost is an excellent choice for small businesses due to its range of features. Some of the best features include a free domain name for the first year when you sign up for a hosting plan. This is a great perk for businesses just starting and looking to save on initial costs.
Another great feature is the one-click WordPress installation. This makes it easy for businesses using WordPress to get started and launch their website quickly. Bluehost also offers 24/7 customer support via phone, email, and live chat, making it easy to get help whenever you need it.
Finally, Bluehost provides a free SSL certificate with all hosting plans. This certificate is essential for securing your website and protecting your customers' data, making it a valuable addition to any business website.
Overall, Bluehost offers a range of features that make it a great choice for small businesses looking for reliable and affordable web hosting services.
Pricing
- Basic: This plan starts at $2.95 per month (for a 12-month term) and includes one website, 50GB of website space, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain for the first year, and up to five email accounts.
- Plus: This plan starts at $5.45 per month (for a 12-month term) and includes unlimited websites, unmetered website space, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain for the first year, and unlimited email accounts.
- Choice Plus: This plan starts at $5.45 per month (for a 12-month term) and includes all the features of the Plus plan, as well as CodeGuard Basic Backup and Domain Privacy + Protection.
- Pro: This plan starts at $13.95 per month (for a 12-month term) and includes all the features of the Choice Plus plan, as well as a dedicated IP address and a high-performance server.
HostGator - Best For Budget-Friendly Hosting
HostGator is a popular web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting plans suitable for small businesses. HostGator is known for its excellent customer support, user-friendly interface, and reliable uptime.
HostGator offers a variety of hosting plans, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and WordPress hosting. One of the best features of HostGator is its easy-to-use website builder, which allows users to create a professional-looking website without any coding knowledge.
HostGator also offers unlimited storage and bandwidth, which is great for small businesses that expect to grow and expand their online presence. Additionally, HostGator provides free SSL certificates, which are essential for securing online transactions and building trust with customers.
HostGator is a great choice for small businesses because of its user-friendly interface, reliable uptime, and excellent customer support. Small business owners can easily set up their website using HostGator's website builder and take advantage of unlimited storage and bandwidth.
HostGator's customer support is available 24/7 via phone, email, and live chat, which is essential for small businesses that need quick and reliable support. Additionally, HostGator's affordable pricing makes it an attractive option for small businesses that want to keep their costs low while still getting high-quality hosting services.
Pricing
- Shared Hosting: HostGator's shared hosting plans start at $2.75 per month (for a 36-month term) and include unmetered bandwidth, a free domain for the first year, and a range of other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from Hatchling to Business.
- WordPress Hosting: HostGator's managed WordPress hosting plans start at $5.95 per month (for a 36-month term) and include automatic updates, site backups, and other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from Starter to Business Pro.
- VPS Hosting: HostGator's VPS hosting plans start at $23.95 per month (for a 36-month term) and include full root access, scalability, and other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from Snappy 2000 to Snappy 8000.
- Dedicated Hosting: HostGator's dedicated hosting plans start at $89.98 per month (for a 36-month term) and include full root access, server management, and other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from Value Server to Enterprise Server.
DreamHost - Best For Cloud Hosting
DreamHost is an excellent option for small businesses looking for reliable web hosting services. They offer a range of features and pricing plans that can cater to different business needs.
Features
DreamHost is an excellent choice for small businesses due to its range of features. These include fast and reliable servers, with a 100% uptime guarantee, ensuring your website is always available to your customers.
Another great feature is DreamHost's user-friendly and intuitive control panel, making it easy to manage your website and hosting account. Additionally, when you sign up for any of DreamHost's hosting plans, you get a free domain name for the first year.
DreamHost also has an intuitive WordPress website builder that includes a range of templates to get your site up and running quickly.
DreamHost also offers unlimited bandwidth for all its plans, so you don't have to worry about your website running out of bandwidth. This is a great advantage for businesses with high-traffic websites.
Finally, DreamHost provides a free SSL certificate with all its hosting plans. This certificate helps keep your website secure and builds customer trust, making it a valuable addition to any business website. Overall, DreamHost offers a range of features that make it a great choice for small businesses looking for reliable and affordable web hosting services.
DreamHost is a great choice for small businesses because it offers reliable web hosting services at an affordable price. Its user-friendly control panel and range of features make it easy for small business owners to manage their website and hosting accounts. Additionally, DreamHost's 100% uptime guarantee ensures that your website is always available to your customers, which is essential for small businesses looking to build an online presence.
Pricing
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DreamHost offers a range of pricing plans that can cater to different business needs. Here are some of their pricing options:
- Shared Hosting: DreamHost's shared hosting plans start at $2.59 per month. This plan is ideal for small businesses that are just starting and don't need a lot of resources.
- WordPress Hosting: DreamHost’s DreamPress plans start at $16.95 per month. This plan is ideal for businesses using WordPress to streamline their experience.
- VPS Hosting: DreamHost's VPS hosting plans start at $13.75 per month. This plan is ideal for small businesses that need more resources and control over their hosting environment.
- Dedicated Hosting: DreamHost's dedicated hosting plans start at $149 per month. This plan is ideal for businesses that need a lot of resources and control over their hosting environment.
SiteGround - Best For Customer Support
SiteGround is a web hosting provider that offers a range of plans, including a plan specifically designed for small businesses. Their small business plan includes features such as unlimited bandwidth, a free domain name, and a free SSL certificate. SiteGround also offers 24/7 support and a website builder to help small businesses create professional-looking websites quickly.
SiteGround is a good choice for small business web hosting for several reasons. Firstly, SiteGround has a reputation for providing reliable web hosting services, with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. This means that your website will be available to customers and visitors when they need it, which is essential for small businesses.
Additionally, SiteGround uses cutting-edge technology and a global network of data centers to ensure that websites hosted on their platform load quickly and perform well. This is important for small businesses that want to provide a positive user experience and improve their search engine rankings.
SiteGround also takes website security very seriously and offers a range of features to protect websites from hacking, malware, and other threats. This is important for small businesses that may not have the resources to handle a security breach.
SiteGround has a reputation for providing excellent customer support, with 24/7 support via phone, chat, and email. This is important for small businesses that may not have the technical expertise to handle website issues on their own.
Lastly, SiteGround's interface is easy to use, even for beginners, and includes a range of tools to help users manage their website and hosting accounts. This is important for small businesses that may not have dedicated IT staff.
Pricing
- Web Hosting: SiteGround's web hosting plans start at $2.99 per month (for a 12-month term) and include one website, 10GB of website space, unmetered traffic, and a range of other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from StartUp to GoGeek.
- WordPress Hosting: SiteGround's managed WordPress hosting plans start at $6.99 per month (for a 12-month term) and include automatic updates, site backups, and other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from StartUp to GoGeek.
- WooCommerce Hosting: SiteGround's managed WooCommerce hosting plans start at $14.99 per month (for a 12-month term) and include specialized features for online stores, such as optimized performance and security. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from StartUp to GoGeek.
- Cloud Hosting: SiteGround's cloud hosting plans start at $80 per month (for a 12-month term) and include scalable resources, dedicated IP addresses, and other features. The pricing tiers vary based on the number of resources and features included, with plans ranging from Entry to Business.
InMotion - Best for Scalability
InMotion is a web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting solutions for small businesses. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, InMotion has established itself as a reliable and trustworthy hosting provider.
One of the best features of InMotion is its reliable uptime. The company guarantees a 99.9% uptime, which means that your website will be up and running almost all the time. Additionally, InMotion provides free daily backups, so you can be sure that your data is safe and secure.
Another great feature of InMotion is its customer support. The company offers 24/7 support via phone, chat, and email. This means that you can get help whenever you need it, whether it's in the middle of the night or on the weekend.
InMotion also offers a range of tools and features to help you build and manage your website. These include a drag-and-drop website builder, a one-click installer for popular applications like WordPress, and a control panel that makes it easy to manage your hosting account.
InMotion is a great choice for small businesses because it offers reliable hosting at an affordable price. The company's shared hosting plans are perfect for businesses that are just getting started and don't have a lot of traffic.
In addition, InMotion's customer support is top-notch, which means that you can get help whenever you need it. This is especially important for small businesses that may not have an IT department or a dedicated web developer.
Finally, InMotion's range of tools and features make it easy to build and manage your website, even if you lack technical expertise. With a drag-and-drop website builder and a one-click installer for popular applications like WordPress, you can get your website up and running quickly and easily.
Pricing
- Shared Hosting: InMotion’s shared hosting plans start at $2.29 per month. These plans are ideal for small businesses and offer 24/7 human support, offering unlimited disk space (100GB for the cheapest plan) and bandwidth, free domain registration, and a free SSL certificate.
- WordPress Hosting: InMotion’s WordPress Hosting plans start at $3.49 per month. All plans include server-to-server migrations, safer upgrading, on-the-fly security patching, and industry-leading speed.
- VPS Hosting: InMotion has several VPS Hosting plans to choose from, starting at $19.99 per month. These plans are ideal for high-traffic sites, larger businesses, and resellers, or those wanting more flexibility.
- Dedicated Hosting: Starting at $89.99 per month, these plans are ideal for businesses that require custom deployments and want full control over their hosting environment.
Different Types Of Web Hosting
There are several types of web hosting, each with its unique features and benefits. Here are some of the most common types of web hosting:
Shared Hosting
This is the most popular type of web hosting, where multiple websites share a single server. The cost is relatively low, making it ideal for small businesses and individuals who are just starting out.
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting
This type of hosting is similar to shared hosting, but it provides more resources and control to the user. Each website has its own virtual server, which allows for greater customization and flexibility.
Dedicated Hosting
In this type of hosting, a single website has access to an entire server. This provides maximum performance and control, but it's also the most expensive option.
Cloud Hosting
This type of hosting uses a network of servers to provide resources to websites. It's highly scalable and flexible, making it ideal for businesses that experience spikes in traffic.
Managed Hosting
With this type of hosting, the hosting provider takes care of all the technical aspects of running a website, including updates and security. This allows the website owner to focus on content creation and other aspects of their business.
Colocation Hosting
This type of hosting involves renting space in a data center to house your own servers and equipment. It's typically used by larger businesses that require a high level of control over their hosting environment.
If you want to explore additional options for web hosting, check out our guide to the best web hosting.
Most Important Factors When Purchasing Web Hosting
We conducted an analysis to determine the best web hosting service for small businesses, taking into account several key factors. Our analysis focused on the following factors.
Uptime Guarantees
We evaluated each provider's uptime guarantees and looked for a high uptime guarantee of 99.9% or higher. This ensures that a small business's website will be up and running almost all the time, which is crucial for generating leads and sales.
Customer Support
We assessed the quality of each provider's customer support, looking for 24/7 support via phone, email, and live chat. We also evaluated the provider's response time and whether they have a knowledge base or support center with helpful articles and tutorials.
Scalability
We considered each provider's scalability options, such as the ability to upgrade to a higher-tier plan or add more resources as needed. This ensures that a small business's website can handle increased traffic and functionality as the business grows.
Pricing Plans
We compared the prices of different plans and evaluated the transparency of each provider's pricing plans, looking for no hidden fees. We also looked for providers that offer discounts for annual or multi-year contracts.
By taking these factors into account, we were able to determine the best web hosting service for small businesses. Our analysis provides small business owners with the information they need to choose a provider that meets their needs and helps them grow their online presence.
Security
When selecting a web host for your small business website, security should be a top priority. We looked for providers that offer robust security features to protect against cyber threats and keep your customer data safe. By choosing a web host with a strong security track record, you can ensure that your website is secure and your business is protected from potential breaches.
If you are hiring, you may want to explore our guide on the best hiring platforms for small businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best web hosting options for small businesses?
There are several web hosting options available for small businesses, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is the most affordable option and is suitable for small businesses with low-traffic websites. VPS hosting is ideal for businesses that need more resources and control over their hosting environment. Dedicated hosting is the most expensive option and is suitable for businesses that require high performance and security.
Which web hosting providers are most affordable for small businesses?
Some of the most affordable web hosting providers for small businesses include Bluehost, HostGator, and SiteGround. These providers offer shared hosting plans that are suitable for small businesses with low-traffic websites.
How do I choose the right web hosting for my small business?
When choosing the right web hosting for your small business, you should consider factors such as your website's traffic, storage and bandwidth requirements, security features, customer support, and pricing. You should also look for a provider that offers a user-friendly control panel and a reliable uptime guarantee.
What features should I look for in a web hosting provider for my small business?
Some of the features you should look for in a web hosting provider for your small business include a user-friendly control panel, a reliable uptime guarantee, automatic backups, security features such as SSL certificates and DDoS protection, and 24/7 customer support.
Can I get website and email hosting together for my small business?
Yes, most web hosting providers offer website and email hosting together as part of their hosting plans. This is a convenient option for small businesses that need both website and email hosting. Some hosting services, like WP Engine, do not provide email hosting, so if you’re interested in packaging these together, check on the platform’s website or with their support team to confirm.
Are there any local web hosting companies that are good for small businesses?
Yes, there are many local web hosting companies that are good for small businesses. These companies offer personalized support and may be more familiar with the local business environment. However, it's important to ensure that the local web hosting company you choose offers reliable hosting services and has a good reputation in the industry.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, selecting the best web hosting for small businesses is a critical decision that requires careful consideration. Small businesses need a web hosting provider that offers the right balance of affordability, reliability, and features to help them grow their online presence.
Based on the research conducted, it is clear that there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to web hosting for small businesses. Each business has unique needs, and it is important to choose a provider that can meet those needs.
However, there are some key factors that small business owners should keep in mind when selecting a web hosting provider. These factors include:
- Reliability - Small businesses need a web hosting provider that can ensure their website is always up and running. Downtime can result in lost revenue and damage to a business's reputation.
- Affordability - Small businesses often have limited budgets, so it is important to find a web hosting provider that offers competitive pricing without sacrificing quality.
- Scalability - As a small business grows, its website needs will also evolve. It is important to choose a web hosting provider that can accommodate a business's changing needs.
- Customer Support - Customer support is an important factor when considering a web hosting provider for a small business as it ensures that any issues or concerns are addressed in a timely and effective manner, minimizing downtime and potential damage to the business's reputation.
- Security - Small businesses need to ensure that their website and customer data are secure. A web hosting provider that offers robust security features can help protect against cyber threats.
By considering these factors and doing thorough research, small business owners can find a web hosting provider that meets their needs and helps them achieve their online goals. If you're ready to get started today, we recommend WP Engine.
