If you’re a small business owner, then you need a website. The problem is that launching a website can be intimidating. You need some technical knowledge to pick a domain name, buy a hosting plan, and install your website. Otherwise, you’ll need to hire a professional, and that can sometimes be too expensive. Picking a domain name is relatively easy, but the rest of this process can be too much for most people. For these reasons, it’s a good idea to research web hosting companies. If you’re not tech savvy, then you’ll want a plan with one-click installation of WordPress or other platforms. Then, you’ll want a plan that fits your budget. To simplify this process, there are many web hosting review websites. But, which ones can you trust? Start with this list, and your web hosting journey will be easier and less time-consuming.
HostCalc.com
This is a great web hosting review website. When you peruse the pages of HostCalc, you’ll notice that they have a great balance of plan types, and companies to choose from. Oftentimes, review websites either have too few listings, where you don’t really get a good picture of the landscape. At the opposite end of the spectrum, you have review websites that list way too many options, and you end up in analysis paralysis. HostCalc.com is in the Goldilocks Zone of hosting review sites. You can choose between shared hosting plans, VPS hosting, WordPress hosting, dedicated servers, and a few other options. From there, you’ll see a good selection of companies and price ranges. When you read each review, you’ll appreciate the balance of pros, cons, and a detailed analysis. Furthermore, most reviews include a video summary to make the process even easier.
HostingFacts.com
Similar to HostCalc, this website curates a list of a few dozen web hosting companies to choose from. However, HostingFacts takes a different approach. Rather than going in depth into the nuances of each hosting plan, they focus on the performance data, including uptime and load time. They benchmark their ratings by uploading a blank WordPress website to each plan and measuring results. This is a good website for people who aren’t too concerned with things like customer service and other types of support. If you’re a bit more tech savvy, then this may be the right decision for you.
HostAdvice.com
This website takes the opposite approach of the review sites listed above. Rather than a curated list of reviews, they have a robust collection of over 65,000 user reviews on over 4,000 hosting services. This would be a good option for data geeks who prefer to spend many hours digging into the choices before making a decision. Generally, the opportunity cost associated with this research is probably best suited to people who are prepared to invest in a more expensive VPS or dedicated server, where the decision is more important than one where you might spend $5 to $10 per month on a basic website. To make things simple, they do break down some of their top choices on the homepage, and offer comparison tables.
HostingAdvice.com
This website has a lot of reviews, categorized by best overall, by feature, by framework, by operating system, and by language. On this point, HostingAdvice is a good choice for people who have a bit more technical knowledge, and who may want to launch something other than an open source website on WordPress or other popular platforms. Coders would probably get the most value out of these reviews. That said, they also have a number of how-to articles and videos, which are good for beginners.
Hosting.Review
This web hosting review website is good for people who need a more visual representation of the plans they’re interested in. Hosting.Review includes screenshots in its reviews, and covers performance, pricing, user-friendliness, support and features of the companies it reviews. They review almost 100 web hosting providers and filter their homepage to feature a few of the top choices. Note that the navigation can be a bit confusing, and you have to read through each of the reviews individually, rather than comparing similar options. This would be fine for a more curated list, but it can be cumbersome on a website with so many plans.
Select a Web Hosting Plan
It’s not easy to select the perfect hosting plan. But, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. If you have the time, then take a look at each of these options. If not, then start with the first review site on the list. They’ve done the hard work of curating thousands of options into a concise list of good options. Figure out the type of web hosting plan you need, be it shared, VPS, dedicated, or something else. Then, figure out which company matches your preferences and budget constraints. Do all of these things, and your website will be online in no time at all. You’ll also find that the best way to learn is by doing. So, don’t be afraid to activate your website, and read up on the things you need to know.
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