Getting your business online is a crucial first step for your marketing and launching your website is an important first step. Your business website lets you advertise your products or services and allow potential customers to find you, find out more information about you, and buy your products.
There are two parts to getting your website up and running:
- your domain name (for example, ours is gosmallbusiness.co.uk)
- the individual pages that make up the site when you type in the domain name.
To get started, you’ll need to use a hosting provider to register your domain name and also manage and host your website.
There are user-friendly tools to help you design and build the pages of your website, for example Wix, Squarespace, and so on. You can also use a product like WordPress – used by millions of sites worldwide – or most of the providers offer their own tools to let you create your website. Take a look at our article on the cost of setting up a website for your business.
If you’re thinking of setting up an online shop (often called an e-commerce site) then you should look at solutions such as Woocommerce (that works with WordPress) or Shopify to make your job easier.
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of ten web hosting providers that offer a great service for small businesses.
Our Top 10 Web Hosting Providers
1. HostGator – Overall Great Web Hosting Provider
HostGator is the overall great web hosting provider for small businesses. The web host provider is beginner-friendly and has unique features to help grow small business websites. These features include free domain names, free data backup, 24/7 live customer support, unlimited storage, unmetered bandwidth, and free SSL certification. The wide range of hosting options includes WordPress, shared Hosting, cloud hosting, and VPS hosting. Additionally, HostGator offers a 45-day money-back guarantee, a low-risk way for you to test out their services.
When it comes to prices, HostGator offers shared plans that include the following:
- The Hatchling plan – This package offers one domain, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, and an SSL certificate. The plan costs $2.75/per month.
- Baby plan – The package includes multiple domains, unmetered bandwidth, a free SSL certificate, and a domain. The plan costs $3.50/month.
- Business plan – This plan is ideal for businesses that are thriving fast. The package includes multiple domains, unmetered bandwidth, a free domain, and an SSL certificate. The plan costs $5.25/per month.
Furthermore, the best part of HostGator is that they have a 99.99% uptime. Moreover, it also offers access to free email marketing software for the first three months.
Pros
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Unmetered storage
- 24/7 customer support
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Free backup
- Free email marketing tools
Cons
- Lacks WooCommerce hosting plans
- Slightly high prices
- Lots of extras that cost more
2. Bluehost – Best Web Host Provider for WordPress Users
This web host provider has existed since 2003 and provides various hosting plans and reliable features for small businesses. They include WooCommerce hosting plans, dedicated hosting plans, shared hosting plans, WordPress solutions, 24/7 customer service (live chat and through phone), free domain in the first year, a 99.98% uptime guarantee, and VPS hosting plans.
Bluehost offers four shared plans. They include:
- Basic Plan – Consists of features such as 50GB storage, free SSL certificate, and unlimited bandwidth. Costs from $2.95/month.
- Plus plan – Consists of features such as unlimited storage, free SSL certificate, and unlimited bandwidth. Costs from $5.45/month.
- Choice Plus Plan – Consists of features such as unlimited storage, free SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, and automated backup. Costs from $5.45/month.
- Pro Plan – Consists of features such as unlimited storage, free SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, and automated backup. Costs from $13.95/month.
Moreover, Bluehost is mainly recommended for WordPress users due to its tailored features, such as the one-click installation, AI-driven templates, and the drag and drop elements.
Pros
- Affordable plans
- Reliable web host
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Excellent customer support
- 99.98% uptime guarantee
Cons
- Limited storage space for some plans
- Additional costs
3. GoDaddy – The Most User-Friendly and Affordable Web Host Provider
GoDaddy is ideal for small business owners with little web experience or business owners looking to create simple websites.
Some of the features offered by GoDaddy web host include unlimited storage, free domain name, unlimited bandwidth, SSL certificate, 24/7 customer support, webmail, and database backups. In addition, the web host provider offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you don’t like their services. The shared hosting plan packages include the following:
- Economy plan – consists of 25GB storage, free domain, email, and SSL certificate. Costs from $5.99/month.
- Deluxe plan – consists of 50GB storage, ten sites, free domain, email, and SSL certificate. Prices from $7.99/month.
- Ultimate plan – consists of unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited sites, free email, domain, and SSL certificate. Costs from $12.99/month.
- Maximum plan – consists of unlimited storage, sites, bandwidth, free domain, free email, SSL certificate,
Pros
- User friendly
- Free domain name
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- 24/7 support
Cons
- Prices increase on contract renewal
- Poor performance
4. Hostinger – Cheapest web hosting services
Hostinger is among the cheapest web hosting providers for small businesses. The hosting provider offers special features such as 24/7 customer support, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, SSL certificates, one-click WordPress installation, security, and free migration. In addition, Hostinger offers various web hosting services such as WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, cloud hosting, reseller hosting, shared hosting, and cPanel hosting, among others.
The different hosting packages include:
- Single shared hosting plan – consists of one site, 100GB bandwidth, 30GB storage, and 10k monthly visitors
- Premium shared hosting plan – consists of 100 websites, unlimited bandwidth, 100GB storage, and 25k monthly visitors
- Business shared hosting plan – consists of 100 websites, unlimited bandwidth, 200GB storage, 100k monthly visitors
The shared hosting prices range from $1.99 to $15.99/month. In addition, the web host provider offers a 30-day money-back guarantee so that you can test out their services.
Pros
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Affordable packages
- Variety of plans
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
Cons
- Poor performance
- Poor help and support system
5. DreamHost – Great Website Hosting for WordPress Beginners
DreamHost is the best web host provider for simplicity and affordability. Moreover, it offers excellent features such as automated backup, free domains, SSL certificates, a 97-day money-back guarantee, a 100% uptime guarantee, pre-installed WordPress, unlimited bandwidth, and 24/7 customer support.
What’s more, DreamHost offers two shared hosting plans. They include:
- Starter plan – consists of unlimited bandwidth, free domain, free SSL, automated backup, one site, and 50GB storage. Costs from $2.59/month.
- Unlimited plan – consists of unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited websites and email, free domain, free SSL, and automated backup. Costs from $3.95/month.
Pros
- 97-day money-back guarantee
- 100% uptime guarantee
- Affordable shared plans
- 24/7 customer support
Cons
- The starter plan lacks free emails
- Lacks direct phone support
6. InMotion – Most Trusted Web Host Provider for Small Businesses
InMotion is considered a reliable and great web host provider for small businesses since it has good performance and beginner friendliness. Some features of InMotion include free migrations, a 90-day money-back guarantee, excellent customer support, security, and storage space. In addition, InMotion offers shared hosting plans that include:
- Core – consists of 2 sites and 100GB storage space. Costs from $2.49/month
- Launch – consists of a free domain, unlimited sites, email accounts, and storage. Costs from $4.99/month.
- Power – consist of a free domain, unlimited sites, storage, and email accounts. Costs from $4.99/month.
- Pro 0 – consists of a free domain, 99.99% uptime guarantee, caching, unlimited websites, storage space, and email accounts. Costs from $12.99/month.
All the plans consist of unlimited bandwidth, free SSL, security features, and email accounts.
Pros
- Excellent security features
- Well-equipped plans
- Good value for money
- 90-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Quite pricey
- A limited entry plan
7. A2 Hosting – Great Support Team for Your Business
A2 Hosting is considered a great web host, especially regarding customer support. The support team is available 24/7 and has support phone numbers for more than 50 countries. With that said, A2 Hosting offers hosting plans such as:
- Startup – Allows hosting of one site. Costs from $2.99/month.
- Drive – Allows hosting of unlimited websites. Prices from $5.99/month.
- Turbo boost – Offers unlimited websites, storage, and bandwidth. Costs from $6.99/month.
- Turbo max – Offers more server resources, unlimited websites, storage, and bandwidth. Prices from $12.99/month.
Pros
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Excellent customer support
- 99.99% uptime guarantee
- Free domain and SSL
Cons
- Poor performance
8. Namecheap – Great Value for Money
Namecheap is a great web host provider in terms of value for money. To start with, their renewal prices are lower compared to others. In addition, their hosting plans are affordable and ideal for small businesses. Namecheap’s features include:
- A free domain
- Unlimited bandwidth
- A free SSL certificate
- Unlimited subdomains
- Unlimited email addresses
- Free backups
- A 100% uptime guarantee
The hosting packages offered by Namecheap include the following:
- Stellar – consist of 3 websites, 30 email addresses, 20GB storage, and unlimited bandwidth. Costs from $3.88/month.
- Stellar plus – consist of unlimited websites, email addresses, storage, and bandwidth. Costs from $5.88/month.
- Stellar business – consists of unlimited websites, email addresses, 50GB storage, and unlimited bandwidth. Costs from $9.88/month.
Pros
- 100% uptime
- Free 24hrs site migration
- 24/7 customer support
- Automated backups
Cons
- Low storage in the entry plan
9. SiteGround – Reliable Small Business Website Host
SiteGround is a reliable small business website host that offers managed cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, and WooCommerce hosting. In addition, SiteGround offers three hosting packages that include:
- StartUp – consists of 10GB storage space, one website hosting, and unlimited bandwidth. Ideal for up to 10k monthly visitors.
- GrowBig – consists of 20GB of storage space, unlimited websites, and unlimited bandwidth. Ideal for up to 25k monthly visitors.
- GoGeek – consists of 40GB of storage space, unlimited websites, and unlimited bandwidth. Ideal for up to 100k monthly visitors.
Pros
- Excellent customer service
- Daily backups
- Reliable uptime (99.99%)
- Good performance
Cons
- Premium prices
- Lacks a free domain
10. Nexcess – Best VPS and WordPress Host
Nexcess ranks among the ten great web hosting providers because it’s ideal for business owners seeking a speedy site without the trouble of configuring the backend. Nexcess offers the following eCommerce platforms: WordPress, Magento, WooCommerce, and big commerce, among others.
In addition, the web host offers a 24/7 support system that deals with any issues you may encounter. For WordPress, the plan starts from $13.30 per month.
Pros
- 24/7 expert support
- Great performance
- Security features
Con
- High prices on the various plans
How to Choose the Best Web Hosting Provider for Your Small Business Website
Here, we’ll discuss the factors you should consider when choosing the best web hosting for your small business website.
● Performance
Performance is more of the loading speed of your website. For small businesses, a fast-loading website is vital to create an excellent first impression to potential customers and help in search rankings. Therefore, you need a web hosting provider that guarantees a quick loading speed.
● Support
Customer support is the most vital thing that a web host can provide. The best website hosting providers should have a 24/7 support system. Furthermore, the best way to access the customer support of different web hosting providers is to take the free trial support test that web hosts offer.
● Security
Website security is important to prevent losing your important data to hackers and malware attacks. Therefore, consider choosing web hosting providers that take security precautions, such as regular backups and anti-virus checks.
● Uptime
Uptime is another crucial factor to consider when choosing a website host. It refers to the amount of time that your website is accessible, as opposed to ‘downtime’. Therefore, you want to choose a web host that guarantees 99.9 percent uptime or website accessibility for website ranking. For the best web host, 99.9% uptime means that your bill is discontinued in case of downtime.
● Scalability
Furthermore, scalability is a vital factor when choosing a web host. Scalability refers to the ability to expand as your business grows. Therefore, a great web host will offer different packages as your business grows, and you can easily upgrade your plan.
● Pricing
Pricing is another factor to consider when choosing a great web hosting provider. You want a web hosting provider within your budget and offering quality services. However, some hosts are cheaper but with terrible support and assistance. Therefore, you’ll find yourself spending more money on extra services than you would have spent with a quality hosting provider.
Conclusion
The web hosting providers that we’ve reviewed here offer a great service to small business owners – but you do need to know what you want to create and have a level of expertise to design and create the pages of your site (these steps are normally not technically complex, but do take time and effort to get a good-looking website).
For a quick and simple site that just advertises your business, you might find it easier to look at an all-in-one solution such as Wix or Squarespace. However, if you are looking at an e-commerce or more complex website and want full flexability, then using a website hosting provider will give you a great platform on which to build your site.
Each of the providers we’ve listed here offers services and features depending on your needs so we’ve chosen those that cater for small business websites and any of these will get you up and running with a new website for your business.
