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When building a website there are several steps to consider. First of all you must choose a domain name for your site and purchase this, and secondly you should choose a CMS like WordPress to build your website upon. But as well as these things, you must also choose a hosting service. Hosting your website is crucial and the provider you choose to run with is important.
That’s why we are going to talk through 2 different hosting providers today; Siteground and Bluehost, to decide which one is the best choice for your website. Before we delve into the key categories of comparison, here is a quick look at the biggest pros and cons of each of these hosting services.
Siteground
See the Siteground website here!
Siteground is a Bulgarian hosting company who host over 2 million sites worldwide. They provide hosting services for websites and email, and also cloud services. Here are their main pros and cons:
Pros
- Backups – They offer a free backups every day of all site content to keep it safe and secure
- Speed – with an uptime of 99.8% this is a reliable host
- Friendly – the customer service provided is personable and swift
- Cost – this is a good option for new site owners on a budget
Cons
- No free domain – most hosts, even CMS platforms like WordPress, offer a free domain with signup
- Lack of space – For sites with a lot of content, this might not be the best option
- Perks – if you pick the lowest plan you don’t get as much as with other hosts
Bluehost
See the Bluehost website here!
Bluehost is one of the most well-known hosting services and offers many great services. Here are their main pros and cons:
Pros
- Easy to use – for even novices, this is easy to navigate
- Speed – 99.98%
- Cost – the price of this service is affordable for both independent brands and bigger companies
- Free domain – when you signup you get a domain name for free
Cons
- Customer service – sadly, the customer service here is not as good as others
- Extras – when checking out for your product, there are a lot of add-ons that can bump up the price
After an initial view of both of these hosting providers we can see that they both have their merits and some downfalls. That’s why we want to delve a little deeper into which one of these services is the best.
Customer Service
Siteground customer service as we said earlier is friendly as well as incredibly easy to navigate. It has a fast response time and is open 24/7 allowing you to get the support you need at any time you need it. One of the key things to know about Siteground’s customer service is that they have so many staff employed that they never keep you waiting. As well as this they make sure you feel trusting of the customer service adviser by allowing you to see an online profile of them. It means that the service feels more human to human and often better than similar hosting services.
They offer live chat online, email, phone support and have an expansive FAQ section if you need a quick question answered. Overall Siteground has nailed their customer service efforts.
Bluehost, as we have mentioned, does not do quite as well in the customer service arena, however they aren’t the worst and still offer some helpful service. Bluehost offers live chat, phone support, FAQs online and tickets for cases that cannot be easily solved. The main issue with Bluehost is the time they take to complete a ticket, but the service is personalised and good quality.
Overall Siteground wins on customer service.
Cost
Let’s face it, when you are searching for any kind of service the most important aspect will always be the price. If you want to enjoy a great range of services and not spend the earth, we want to give you a quick rundown of how the prices compare and how the features offered compare.
Siteground
Siteground pricing is fairly competitive for any level of customer. They are a good option for those of you who are either new to the arena or don’t have a big budget to spend. The good thing about Siteground compared to Bluehost is that when you head to the checkout they won’t automatically add on a load of extra things for you to pay for. They are a little more expensive than Bluehost at face value.
Bluehost
When it comes to pricing Bluehost is a little cheaper than Siteground. The only annoyance is that they add a lot of things to your basket that you will need to expel effort to remove if you don’t want it. They are more features available with Bluehost for the money than Siteground.
For cost, Bluehost wins.
Ease
It is important for services such as these to be accessible to any level of customer. Whether a seasoned professional or a newbie it is important for the customer to know what they are doing as soon as they begin.
Siteground’s main advantage here comes back to their customer service because they are always at your beckon call if you need them. The system is very easy to navigate and you can access tutorials that will pull you through every step of the way.
Bluehost is just as good as Siteground when it comes to ease of use and the whole dashboard is easy to navigate for even the newest user. They offer simple steps to follow and you will never be stuck as you go through because they have simple support options to answer your questions.
It’s neck and neck with both on the ease of use.
In conclusion, both Siteground and Bluehost can offer a great hosting service for your website, and the decision you make will largely hinge on the things you find most important. If customer service is a must, Siteground is a great option, but if you simply want value for money, Bluehost is a little bit better.
