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If your target audience includes Gen X or younger, a website is a must to gain their trust as a legitimate business, to provide the information they’re trying to research at the top of the sales funnel, and to capture their attention against your competitors. 

Here are the three best web hosting providers based on value and features offered so you can get ahead and stay up-to-date in an increasingly e-Commerce and media-influenced marketplace. 

In the early days, the internet was viewed as a luxury item only available to a select few. In modern times, it’s become an absolute necessity. The UN General Assembly passed a Resolution to declare it “a human right” in 2016. The Resolution was non-binding, which renders it unenforceable. However, the symbolic gesture illustrated the importance of the internet to everyday people.

You’re missing out on many benefits by staying analogous in a digital world. You must use one of the best web hosting services to create your website.

Which web hosting providers are the best?

The first step to launching your website is to build it. You should start with a high-quality website builder and design your website before considering hosting providers—the services that store the data on your site and enables your site to be discovered online. 

Once you’ve created your website, here are the three best website hosting platforms that you should look into first:

1

Hostinger

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Overview
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Hostinger is a very well-rounded service that offers unbeatable prices for web hosting. The features of Hostinger will largely depend on the plan that you select. However, the prices are so low that even the most expensive goal is among the cheapest on this list. Hostinger might not have the most powerful dedicated servers, but it’s hard to beat their impressive features for such low prices.

Here is a list of some of the key features available through Hostinger:

  • Exceptional customer service
  • Terrific uptime
  • Includes access to the Zyro website builder
  • Free automated WordPress migration
  • Extremely diverse payment plans and payment methods
  • Money back guarantee of 30 days
  • It offers you the choice of standard web hosting, cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and CyperPanel hosting

Hostinger offers many excellent features for the price, but a few flaws are worth mentioning. There is a noticeable lack of dedicated web hosting, no phone support, and not all plans include a Windows option. The basic program also only offers a single email account which can be frustrating.

Hostinger offers three pricing plans. Each plan offers unique features that are worth covering:

  • The Single Plan costs $1.99 monthly, allows you to host one website, and comes with 30 GB of storage and 100 GB of bandwidth.
  • The Premium Plan costs $2.99 monthly, allows you to host 100 websites, and comes with 100 GB of storage, unlimited bandwidth, unmetered traffic, a virus scanner, spam filter, 1 GB of email storage, free domain registration, and a free SSL certificate.
  • The Business Plan costs $4.99 monthly, allows you to host 100 websites, and comes with 200 GB of storage, all the perks of the Premium Plan, and daily website backups.
2

Bluehost

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Bluehost is an excellent service that provides dependable services for solid pricing. Some features can be enjoyed by business owners and hobbyists alike. The main benefit of Bluehost is that it primarily caters to WordPress hosting. The internet is roughly 40 percent WordPress, allowing them to host any website you want.

Bluehost includes a variety of features such as:

  • Trustworthy uptime
  • WordPress hosting plans, enhancing tools, and site-building software
  • Top-notch 24/7 customer service
  • Simple user interface that’s perfect for beginners
  • Free site migration
  • The ability to add on e-commerce features
  • Up to 50 GB of storage
  • Unlimited bandwidth

Unfortunately, there are a few downsides to using Bluehost. There are currently no cloud hosting features, and the servers aren’t Windows-based. Additionally, each plan is purchased annually, and no monthly billing options exist.

There are three pricing plans with Bluehost:

  • Shared Hosting plans cost between $2.95 and $13.95 monthly.
  • VPS Hosting plans charge between $19.99 and $59.99 monthly. 
  • Dedicated Hosting plans cost between $79.99 and $119.99 monthly.
3

HostGator

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HostGator just narrowly falls behind Bluehost on this list, but you can make the case that’s it the best option. Its features are specifically designed to meet the needs of small- and mid-size businesses looking to grow. One immediate benefit of HostGator is that there are way more plans available. You’ll be able to choose what you need instead of paying for features you don’t need.

These are a few examples of the features offered by HostGator:

  • Beneficial 24/7 customer service
  • Excellent uptime
  • Unmetered bandwidth and disk space
  • 45-day money-back guarantee
  • Monthly data transfers
  • Access to the Gator website builder feature
  • Free SSL for the lifetime of your plan

There aren’t many downsides to using HostGator. The one big issue is that the WordPress plans are a bit pricey, but they make up for it with data backups and malware protection. Other common complaints are that not all plans come with a Windows-based server and limited configuration options for VPS/dedicated servers.

There are six pricing options available with HostGator:

  • Shared Hosting costs between $2.75 and $5.25 monthly.
  • Website Builder costs between $3.84 and $9.22 monthly.
  • WordPress Hosting costs between $5.95 and $9.95 monthly.
  • Reseller Hosting costs between $19.95 and $24.94 monthly. 
  • VPS Hosting costs between $19.95 and $39.95 monthly.
  • Dedicated Hosting costs between $89.98 and $139.99 monthly.

What is web hosting?

Web hosting is the secure location needed to store online content. Every website comprises a series of codes, texts, graphics, hyperlinks, images, videos, and more. This information needs to be secured and stored somewhere, or it would be impossible to access it consistently.

Without proper web hosting, your website would have a lot of problems. It would take a long to load the site, constantly crash, and behave erratically. The visitors to your website will be expecting a lot from it. The last thing they want to deal with is these issues. It could leave them frustrated and with a wrong impression about your business.

Web hosting options

You have two hosting options for avoiding such problems with your website:

The first is web server hosting, trying to perform your web hosting locally. You could store the website information on a personal computer or a server. While these actions are technically possible, they can be tricky regarding sufficient storage, maintenance, and security. You might want to reconsider this option if you’re not already very familiar with the responsibilities of web hosting.

The second option is to use a cloud-based third-party web hosting service. These hosting services will store all the information about your website on their servers. In doing so, they can protect it from hackers, properly maintain the coding, and provide customer support teams for you. Additionally, these often offer virtual private server (VPN) apps, automatic backups, live chat support, daily backups, plugins, and 30-day money-back guarantees. There aren’t many web hosting companies that offer their services for free, but the paid web hosting plans will still be cheaper and more convenient than hosting on your own.

Why web hosting is important

The UN would be proven right just a few years when the global coronavirus pandemic hit. Over 90 percent of Americans said the internet was “essential or important” during the pandemic. The internet was able to keep people working and communicating with one another. The economy and society survived the worst pandemic, thanks mainly to the internet.

It can’t be overstated how important the internet is in the modern world. People use the internet for hours daily, and trillions of dollars are spent online shopping. Despite these incredible statistics, roughly 28 percent of small businesses don’t have a functioning website. It’s impossible to calculate how much revenue these businesses lose by not having an online presence.

If you are the owner of one of these businesses, you should start building your website immediately. Like a WordPress site, free website hosting offers free domain names and simple WordPress installation. WordPress websites are functional and fabulous for small businesses or startups taking their first steps; however, paying for hosting services can give you access to many crucial features.

Build a website to give your business a strong online presence

The world is so heavily dependent on the internet that internet access is now considered a human right. By not having a website for your business, you’re severely limiting its ability to grow. A modern business without a website is the 1980s equivalent of being unlisted in the phone book, having no marketing campaign whatsoever, removing the open sign from your physical location, and turning off all the lights.

Building a website can sound a bit overwhelming, but it’s much easier than you probably think. There are a ton of high-quality website builders that can help you design the perfect web page for your business. These options can help you build a website in just a few weeks. With content management systems and SEO optimization, getting your site high in the SERP rankings is attainable, which can take your online store to another level.

Your business is already a bit behind the times without a website. Don’t fall further behind by delaying the inevitable for even longer.

After you’ve built your website, you must select one of the web hosting providers from the list above. They can guide you through the final steps and care for the rest. It’s just that simple. Before you know it, your website will launch, and you’ll officially have brought your business into the digital age. The hard part will be over, and you can focus on attracting as many customers to your business as possible.

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Information provided on Entrepreneur Guide is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, we do not recommend or advise individuals to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results

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