Bluehost is a well-known name in the world of web hosting, and blogging too and it’s no surprise why. In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at Bluehost’s features, performance, pricing, and more to help you decide if it’s the right choice for your business.
But before we dive in,
Why is Bluehost so popular, what is so special about it?
It is so easy to use, its like it was entirely made for complete beginners, not just beginners, first-timers rather.
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What is hosting?
It is important we define our terms before we start talking about what may be Egyptian hieroglyphs to beginners.
Hosting is the process of storing data on a server so that it can be accessed from all over the world.
Anything from a straightforward text file to a full website can be used to store information. A domain name entered into your browser is first checked against the DNS servers of the internet before being sent to the IP address connected to it. Three hosting options are provided by Bluehost: shared, VPS, and dedicated servers.
Shared Hosting – When you use shared hosting, other websites that are on the same server as yours share your server. This implies that if one website on your server has high traffic volumes or consumes a lot of resources (like CPU power), it might cause all other websites on the same server to experience temporary slowed down performance. This implies that all of those sites will be impacted if one of them is compromised. You will definitely be a part of the pack (sounds like a wolf pack, right?). This is also the least expensive hosting that Bluehost offers, making it ideal for new bloggers and small businesses.
VPS Hosting – You have total control over your own own virtual machine running on their hardware infrastructure while using this kind. This means that each instance operates as an isolated operating system instance off their mainframe rather than being constrained by any hardware restrictions. As a result, there are no issues with running multiple applications at once, as you might encounter when using shared servers, because each user has their own dedicated resource pool rather than sharing resources to meet the demands of various users.
You can probably guess that this is the fastest hosting plan you can get. Imagine having your own dedicated server(although you can’t see it, but imagine). This hosting service comes at a price, it is more expensive and in my opinion, a good bang for the buck.
Hosting Features
Bluehost has a lot of fancy little features that most of other web providers don’t have.
Because of Bluehost’s 99.9% uptime guarantee, you can be sure that your website will be accessible 99% of the time. This is fantastic news for those who are just getting started with their websites since it ensures that you can always access it and add information. The likelihood that it won’t always be available is 99%; in reality, it’s 99.9%.
Bluehost also offers 24/7 customer support via phone or email—it doesn’t matter what time it is, there will always be someone available to help you with whatever issue you might have!
Additionally, Bluehost will refund the first month’s money in full if anything goes wrong within the first 30 days of use (and it does happen occasionally!). Just contact them to request a refund. Before a year has elapsed after signing up with Bluehost but before something breaks within that time, they will still refund 50% of the whole amount spent (but only if more than 30 days have gone by). They are a reputable firm with a long history; WordPress even suggests them as a hosting service, so there is nothing alarming about them.
Hosting Plans
Bluehost offers three types of hosting plans: shared, VPS, and dedicated.
- Shared Hosting – This is the most popular plan with Bluehost customers and it’s a good choice for small businesses or bloggers who want to get started with a website without spending too much money up front.
- VPS Hosting – The second most popular plan with Bluehost customers is the VPS option that’s meant for larger businesses who need more control over their hosting environment and have some extra cash to spend on an advanced package.
- Dedicated Servers – If you have a large business with many users or if your website gets tons of traffic every day, then this high-end option might be right for you. It provides an isolated server just for your site so it can run smoothly even when everyone else is visiting yours at once!
Hosting Performance
Bluehost is known for providing fast, reliable hosting. In fact, you can trust Bluehost’s performance to be the best of any web host out there.
According to some reports, Bluehost’s WordPress hosting has a 99% uptime and an average response time under 500ms. That’s not just “fast”; that is lightning fast, pair that performance with Jetpack or WPRocket, and you might burn out your reader’s network drivers. And with their 99.9% guaranteed network uptime guarantee they’re one of the most reliable web hosts out there!
Customer Support
The customer service offered by Bluehost combines a live chat feature with a ticketing system. This is fantastic since consumers can email the support team directly with issues or ask them in the user-friendly knowledgebase. Customers who prefer to receive individualized advice over email correspondence can also call the numbers provided. I contacted them on Twitter via social media DMs, and they responded very quickly.
However, there are some limitations with Bluehost’s customer service options. The host does not offer 24/7 live chat support as many other hosts do. This may be an issue if you need help with your website immediately and don’t want to wait for an email response from their team.
Additionally, although there is a knowledge base available on their website. It doesn’t seem as extensive as some of the other providers we tested out but considering how simple their hosting service is, for most people you won’t get into that emergency state.
Pros and Cons
Bluehost is a well-established hosting company, with over 2 million customers. It’s been around since 2003 and has a solid reputation for being fast and reliable. Bluehost offers both shared and reseller hosting plans, as well as VPS options if you’re looking for something more robust than the average shared plan as I mentioned this earlier in the article.
In addition to the standard features included in all types of hosting plans—such as unlimited domains and email accounts. Bluehost also offers extra perks like
- free SSL certificates
- paid WordPress security monitoring services
- free access to cPanel/WHM (web hosting panel)
- unlimited disk space and bandwidth
- 24/7 support via phone or chat (depending on your plan)
- daily backups of your files by default (you can opt-out)
- one-click installs for common applications such as WordPress or Joomla!
- an affiliate program that rewards users who refer others to sign up with Bluehost
- …and more!
Bluehost’s customer support team is supposed to be responsive and helpful. You can contact them via live chat or by phone. If you prefer email, they’ll get back to you within four hours on average.
They also have an extensive knowledge base where they explain how things work in detail if you need more information. If there’s anything else that’s unclear about their service or pricing plans, check out our guide on what exactly each package includes before signing up for one so that there are no surprises later on!
Some of the Cons of Bluehost
Charges for site migrations – When it comes to site migration, Bluehost isn’t the best option for that. If you want help migrating your site, Bluehost charges at least $149 to migrate your site to or from another platform. It’s crazy, some platforms do that for free.
Not best for high-traffic sites – with a shared hosting plan, don’t expect to run a high-traffic website. You’ll probably encounter a lot of problems, it’s best you upgrade to a more premium plan like a dedicated server. Also with that much traffic coming to your site, you will be able to afford an upgrade.
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Pricing
Shared Hosting
VPS Hosting
Dedicated Server Hosting
Conclusion
The firm provides straightforward hosting packages at reasonable rates and speedy servers to guarantee that your website loads promptly. Additionally, you have access to phone and email help available around-the-clock, which is ideal if you’re just getting started with web design and development.
It’s not the best option for larger companies with more complex requirements because this isn’t an all-inclusive package (you have to pay for things like migration). like those who want more sophisticated security features for their websites, like IP address whitelisting or password protection.
Not satisfied with Bluehost, check out other hosting providers compared here
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